tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20550720029708183632012-02-16T08:10:27.998ZTracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.comBlogger1581100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-12426206526860854862012-02-09T20:31:00.000Z2012-02-09T20:31:18.569Z

This challenge is hosted by Katherine at November's Autumn. This is the second book I've read out of seven I promised to read this year. 'I cannot help thinking it unjust to include all poor working people under the general and insulting name of 'the mob,' and continually to think of them and treat them haughtily.' 'You are a little democrat, Caroline: if your uncle knew, what would he

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-40832759224847881852012-02-02T19:35:00.002Z2012-02-02T19:35:56.215Z

If you listen, you can hear it. The city, it sings. If you stand quietly, at the foot of the garden, in the middle of a street, on the roof of a house. It's clearest at night, when the sound cuts more sharply across the surface of things, when the song reaches out to a place inside you. This was an impulse buy. I've never heard of this one before, but I saw it in a charity shop the other

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-90850108686502789812012-01-23T22:00:00.000Z2012-01-30T21:07:51.253Z

For this is the challenge, to make biography an agent of real knowledge. To find in a day, a moment, a passing image or gesture, the very spring and source of his creativity; and to see in these details, too, the figure of the moving age. This is the first book in my self-styled What The Dickens! Challenge. As I've had no luck trying to read a Dickens' novel so far in my life, I realised

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-91454857174332111382012-01-15T19:32:00.000Z2012-01-15T19:32:00.668Z

"Whereas Crowther and I can blunder about asking whatever we like, and people will assume we have simply discovered murder to be an enlivening pastime?" Harriet's voice was softer than it had been hitherto, and was laced now with amusement. This book is set in 1781, sixth year of the American Rebellion, third year of the Franco-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce. It begins with a naval

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-77216544646072690412012-01-11T19:26:00.000Z2012-01-11T19:26:23.861Z

I really enjoyed the first book I read by Iain Banks, the dark fairytale The Business, and have been looking out for more books by this author. I liked the introduction to this one when I saw it, so I bought this copy from one of the many charity shops in town recently (and it's so good to be buying books again!): Trapped. Crushed. Weight coming from all directions, entangled in the wreckage (

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-68536363542150017732012-01-09T21:06:00.001Z2012-01-09T21:08:19.503Z

So, year after year, Silas Marner had lived in this solitude, his guineas rising in the iron pot, and his life narrowing and hardening itself more and more into a mere pulsation of desire and satisfaction that had no relation to any other being. His life had reduced itself to the mere functions of weaving and hoarding, without any contemplation of an end towards which the functions tended. This

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-72877693386489378472012-01-05T20:03:00.002Z2012-01-05T20:05:05.414Z

It began with my father not wanting to see the Last Rabbit, and ended up with me being eaten by a carnivorous plant. It wasn't really what I'd planned for myself. I'd hoped to marry into the Oxbloods and join their dynastic string empire. But that was four days ago, before I'd met Jane, retrieved the Caravaggio or explored High Saffron. So instead of enjoying aspirations of Chromatic advancement

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-18952339723429001702012-01-01T16:53:00.007Z2012-02-15T18:23:43.788Z

Charles Dickens  Another year, another stunningly-titled blogpost. Welcome to the booklist for 2012. If you're interested, this is last year's list. I'm doing three challenges this year, one official one, a Classics Challenge in which I've promised to read seven books, my own What The Dickens! challenge, in which I've promised to read three of Dickens' novels plus at least one biography,

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-76234088252389708422011-12-30T20:16:00.003Z2011-12-31T09:25:34.889Z

This is my first full year as a bookblogger, and what a year it's been! Total Number of Books Read: 88 (including 4 I Did Not Finish) Not bad, and more than 2010's total of 73, though I'm happy if I read at least 50 books in a year. My favourite books this year? So hard to choose, but Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver are certainly in the running. As for

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-535205324854614542011-12-22T19:57:00.001Z2011-12-22T19:58:35.196Z

Frida Kahlo - self-portrait As regular readers of my blog know, I always post an art picture in the sidebar each month, either a painting, drawing, sculpture or installation. Here are a handful of my favourites from the ones featured this year: This is Turning The World Inside Out  (1997) by Anish Kapoor, which was placed in the middle of the Rollright Stones (Oxfordshire) for a few weeks in

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-85386754685998190492011-12-19T16:39:00.035Z2011-12-30T21:12:56.941Z

Cause he done completely shift his gears. No longer the high-C hitter, that crazy showman fluttering so tight on the high register he sound like a flute. He'd calmed down, grown up, bleeding a lyricism so pure it like the voice of a old, old gate - burned of excess, holding nothing but just what he needed for each single note. I ain't hardly believed it. Hiero, Chip and me was so harmonious, so

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-7754381260169866672011-12-16T20:53:00.000Z2011-12-16T20:53:57.358Z

The Fairy of Eagle NebulaI've been interested in astronomy for a good few decades, for which I blame my middle brother, because having read and re-read all of my small collection of novels, I used to get so bored I'd start reading his astronomy books, including the chapters on refractive versus reflective telescopes.Throughout 2011 I have been regularly featuring images from the NASA website,

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-7016313546984656112011-12-14T17:28:00.000Z2011-12-14T17:28:55.047Z

It's that time of year again, the work Christmas Party, and we all have to bring a wrapped present for a Lucky Dip (they've abandoned the Secret Santa this year). So we are under strict instructions to provide a 'gender-neutral' gift. Everyone else is bringing either chocolates or wine, but I decided to buy... a book. I just like buying as many books for presents as possible. When my children

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-88315795298481852512011-12-11T14:08:00.002Z2011-12-11T15:01:01.319Z

'Mr English Gentleman, you think they do things so much differently in London? Yes, they are more subtle, ecco, more nice, more clean' - here he mimed washing his bony hands - 'but it is the same. In Italy also. In everywhere the same. Strong and weak, power and no power, money money money. It isn't because of Russia. This is life.' I posted the blurb on the back cover and the intro to this

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-16030235743961918052011-12-06T18:36:00.001Z2011-12-06T18:37:51.818Z

2012 is the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens, and since I've never read one of his novels, I thought the bicentenary would be the perfect year to acquaint myself with his work. I'm hoping to read three of his books, as well as the odd biography. Great Expectations will definitely be one of those three, but which other two books would you recommend me to try? What is your favourite Dickens'

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-46475777542757399432011-12-04T18:12:00.000Z2011-12-04T18:12:59.852Z

Deliberately, there are no neat lines dividing periods of history in this book, and now there is to be no neat ending either. Logically, of course, history cannot have an end; unless we extinguish the human race someone will always be able to think about its past. History is always unrolling - as this is being written and while it will in due course be read - and a history of the world cannot be

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-72633423648245483242011-12-01T16:30:00.001Z2011-12-01T18:18:56.494Z

I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one... Humans are caught - in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity  too - in a net of good and evil... A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-86096166357251164822011-11-22T18:03:00.000Z2011-11-22T18:03:30.424Z

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-By-The-Sea OK, confession time. My local library let me down, for the first time this year.  I tried to borrow this book, and with one copy I had to join a waiting list, and it wasn't due back until June (this was in September)  - it didn't say of which year. The only other copy is currently incarcerated in the local prison - no idea what it's been

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-76274330234839596052011-11-15T19:07:00.002Z2011-11-15T19:27:37.954Z

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea In need of a book that I know does have a happy ending, I opted to reread this one, which is often funny, even though it does have a couple of shocking incidents in it. It's been five years or so since I first read it, and this is how it begins: Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blonde Ukrainian

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-39571955073381020562011-11-15T18:43:00.002Z2011-11-15T19:20:30.277Z

I'm afraid I stopped reading this book today - I got to page 61 and was just finding it too depressing. So I'm abandoning it. It's not the writing style that's a problem. Harrison, the main character, is very likeable, but  I just find the whole scenario far too grim, and I'm really not in the mood for it. So I've started rereading  A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka and

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-50768333610770011362011-11-13T10:04:00.002Z2011-11-13T10:15:39.852Z

This was another of our fears: that Life wouldn't turn out to be like Literature. Look at our parents - were they the stuff of Literature? At best, they might aspire to the condition of onlookers and bystanders, part of a social backdrop against which real, true, important things could happen. Like what? The things Literature was all about: love, sex, morality, friendship, happiness, suffering,

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-67725366957461417492011-11-12T09:25:00.005Z2011-11-22T18:50:41.430Z

'Where is the black horse? Why are you still riding Tub?''I had a change of heart and have decided to keep him.''I don't understand you, brother.''He has been a faithful animal to me.''I don't understand you. That black horse was one in a million.' I've already quoted the the blurb on the back cover and the introduction to this one. On the one hand it's an evenly-paced (so even you can

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-35176464880587278182011-11-10T20:39:00.002Z2012-01-01T11:21:36.513Z

I've decided to sign up to the Classics Challenge hosted by Katherine Cox at November's Autumn for next year. I was planning on doing a Brontë Challenge anyway, and this way I can incorporate it into an 'official' one. So I'm promising to read seven classical works over the twelve months. Thanks to JaneGS for alerting me to this. These are the seven I'm going to read: Silas Marner by George

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-9278524987416961752011-11-08T18:20:00.001Z2011-11-09T08:16:51.699Z

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-by-the-Sea Part of my continuing series on this year's Man Booker nominees, following on from the cover and the blurb, which one of these intros tempts you the most? Have you changed your mind a little? I was born twice. First in a wooden room that jutted out over the black water of the Thames, and then again eight years later in the Highway, when the

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-63471197603899001072011-11-06T18:53:00.000Z2011-11-06T18:53:55.225Z

Julian BarnesImage courtesy of guardian.co.uk Following on from the cover, which of these descriptions of this year's Man Booker Prize nominees do you find the most tempting? Young Jaffy Brown never expects to escape the slums of Victorian London. Then, aged eight, a chance encounter with Mr Jamrach changes Jaffy's stars. And before he knows it, he finds himself at the docks waving goodbye to

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-38610954698134180512011-11-03T13:32:00.000Z2011-11-03T13:32:14.076Z

Then another came, also from the west, a beautiful oyster-pearl column with what seemed like a pale cloud rising within, and then a third, wider at the top like the funnel of a trumpet and tapering down to a place on the water with the appearance of grey fire. These two joined the first. The three stood swaying, sinuous, spinning gloriously on our lee. So beautiful. I never saw anything so

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-6558909346570692952011-11-02T14:36:00.001Z2011-11-06T22:23:11.939Z

This meme is hosted by Brooke at The Bluestocking Guide This book has been put forward for our next round of bookclub, though we're only halfway through the current round. A Pride and Prejudice sequel written by P.D. James and which is published tomorrow - can't wait! Darcy, who was standing by the window, gave a sudden exclamation. 'My God! What does that fool of a coachman think he's doing?

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-17071315882672643022011-10-28T19:00:00.002+01:002011-10-28T21:06:40.361+01:00

In bookclub we've (very) recently decided to read all six of the Man Booker shortlisted books for this year, to see if we agree with the judges' decision as to the winner. So we (all six of us) bought the whole collection a few days ago. This is going to be as well as our normal bookclub choices, just quietly and slowly ticking away in the background  (like knitting). Apart from Jamrach's

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-78314563947705276402011-10-25T08:08:00.000+01:002011-10-25T08:08:37.639+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-by-the-Sea My neighbour brought this book round to my house for me to borrow a couple of weeks ago - she'd tried to read it and abandoned it, unfinished. It did win last year's Man Booker Prize (this year's winner was announced last week - The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes), so I'm giving it a go, even though it's not a book that I'd normally

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-72831784083516590432011-10-24T22:38:00.000+01:002011-10-24T22:38:09.977+01:00

I've recently finished reading the classic trilogy of books about nineteenth century history (give or take a few decades) by Eric Hobsbawm Words are witnesses which often speak louder than documents. Let us consider a few English words which were invented, or gained their modern meanings, substantially in the period of sixty years with which this volume deals. They are words such as 'industry'

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-12794303657924841962011-10-20T21:05:00.003+01:002011-10-21T08:21:40.327+01:00

'And do you wonder why I'm so confused,' I said, after a long explanation, 'when every book has a different Doctor Dee? Not one is alike. The past is difficult, you see. You think you understand a person or an event, but then you turn a corner and everything is different once again.' Matthew Palmer inherits a house from his father, a house he never knew existed, and discovers that it once

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-4837408438740082592011-10-18T18:40:00.001+01:002011-10-18T18:41:20.968+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-by-the-Sea This book was a Christmas pressie from Red Witch two years ago.  I saw the movie when it was out all those decades ago, the one with Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny de Vito - the flip side of Romancing the Stone. I can still remember certain scenes in the movie pretty clearly, which is why I've delayed reading the book, but my

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-56150313311223282642011-10-11T18:34:00.000+01:002011-10-11T18:34:06.039+01:00

This wonderful meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-by-the-Sea The book I am currently reading is about the famous sixteenth-century alchemist, mathematician, philosopher, astrologer and sorcerer - John Dee. This is the first paragraph: I inherited the house from my father. That was how it all began. I had heard nothing about it until after his death, and it was not until the summer of this

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-87994189035222228302011-10-07T18:42:00.001+01:002011-10-08T08:16:16.787+01:00

I started reading this book the other day. It's one of many I bought secondhand from a charity shop in 2010, one I'd heard of but have never read a review for. The descriptions on the back sounded pretty good - 'knits together science fiction, political thriller and historical pastiche', 'captivated', 'an elegiac, radiant festival of prescience, meditation  and entertainment'. Sounds perfect!

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-56763838902270339822011-10-05T22:49:00.006+01:002011-10-06T11:27:05.373+01:00

I went to see this movie with my partner this afternoon (Orange Wednesday - 2 for 1 tickets!). Forget James Bond glamour, this is the relentlessly murky world of the dead unsexy cold war seventies. A world of double-agents and safehouses and the Circus and the spooks' office Christmas party, and instead of M and Moneypenny, we have Smiley and Kathy Burke. It's a post-Anthony Blunt world where 

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-88182147706692446542011-10-04T18:09:00.000+01:002011-10-04T18:09:07.321+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-by-the-Sea. I guess I've been too influenced by all of the other bookbloggers who are participating in RIP Challenge, but at the moment I'm reading The Woman in Black, by Susan Hill: It was nine-thirty on Christmas Eve. As I crossed the long entrance of Monk's Piece on my way from the dining room, where we had just enjoyed the first of the happy,

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-22210993275164611172011-09-28T19:36:00.002+01:002011-10-15T09:22:34.926+01:00

On the weekend of 24th/25th September, we (four women, one small spaniel)  walked the last 30 odd miles of the Cotswold Way, from Wotton-under-Edge to Tormarton on Saturday, and from Tormarton to the end of the walk at the Abbey in Bath on the Sunday. Spindle Tree  - Euonymus latifolius wildaboutbritain.co.uk I'd never seen this species before, though I've heard of it.Saturday's walk was

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-78700369573785889392011-09-27T19:45:00.000+01:002011-09-27T19:45:59.482+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-by-the-Sea This is the non-fiction book I'm reading at the moment. It's one of my partner R's travel books, one I bought for him several years ago, and it's about time I read it: Last year, in the spring of 1981, my work unit moved me from the staff dormitory block to a small house in Nanxiao Lane. Number 53. The house is squeezed between Dongsi

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-39834086132092551602011-09-20T19:50:00.001+01:002011-09-20T22:15:03.816+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-By-The-Sea This is the book I discussed with my friends at bookclub last Friday evening: It seems increasingly likely that I really will undertake the expedition that has been preoccupying my imagination now for some days. An expedition, I should say, which I will undertake alone, in the comfort of Mr Farraday's Ford; an expedition which, as I

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-76117137390214697692011-09-13T08:13:00.000+01:002011-09-13T08:13:08.051+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-by-the-Sea  I bought this book from a bookstore in Galileo Galilei airport in Pisa, Italy a few years ago - I was going to start reading it on the flight home, but my partner bought an English newspaper, so I read that instead - and it's been languishing on my TBR shelf ever since, even though I bought it as a reminder of a wonderful holiday in

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-46577488542370672962011-09-10T08:32:00.005+01:002011-09-10T22:03:05.467+01:00

All images courtesy of  http://www.rsc.org.uk/ On Thursday evening I headed to Stratford-upon-Avon with three friends from bookclub, for a much-anticipated visit to the newly-refurbished main theatre, in this the RSC's fiftieth anniversary year. Our previous visits had been to the Courtyard Theatre, itself newly-built as a temporary venue whilst the main site was being transformed. And we were

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-28923813560557332072011-09-06T08:17:00.000+01:002011-09-06T08:17:32.701+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-by-the-Sea. I first read and reviewed  this book last year, but I'm currently re-reading it for bookclub: I first saw Hundreds Hall when I was ten years old. It was the summer after the war, and the Ayreses still had most of their money then, they were still big people in the district. The event was an Empire Day Fête: I stood with a line of other

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-9011346813103402062011-09-05T08:17:00.002+01:002011-09-05T18:13:00.900+01:00

This meme is hosted by  Amused by Books  for September.   It's a meme I didn't think I'd be participating in this year, but I reckoned without my birthday (last week - and 47 since you asked nicely). And what an impressive list of books I received! From my partner: Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde A non-Thursday Next book, this has been on my wishlist for ages. Started Early,

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-29000853550223155652011-08-31T18:36:00.002+01:002011-08-31T18:58:16.236+01:00

This meme is hosted by Brooke at The Bluestocking Guide And this is a book I heard about yesterday morning on the Today programme (BBC Radio 4), when the author was interviewed. I immediately added it to my wish list for next year - I want, I want! Yes, Peter Ackroyd is writing a history of England, and this is the first volume, out on 2nd September over here. This is the blurb on

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-43524000955258023112011-08-23T08:15:00.000+01:002011-08-23T08:15:24.306+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-by-the-Sea This is the non-fiction book I'm reading at the moment when I'm not reading Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy. It's my partner's book (he's the one with the extensive collection of travel books by various authors) and it's been on our bookshelves for years (it was first published in 1999) - I kept looking at it and thinking I really ought to

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-47222041026042892822011-08-20T19:57:00.005+01:002011-08-24T17:38:35.862+01:00

In this, our fifth year of bookclub, we've just introduced a new rule for future book choices - we can't put forward another book by an author we've already read (prompted when one of our number realised we'd chosen a second Sarah Waters book - mea culpa!). So to avoid the same mistake happening again, this is the list of authors we've already done (in alphabetical order by surname):

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-38588448998979616022011-08-16T21:36:00.002+01:002011-08-22T08:04:45.719+01:00

But I observe that you, sir, have stopped eating. Can it be that you are full? Very well, I will not insist; I will, however, order us some dessert, a little rice pudding with sliced almonds and cardamon, the perfect sweetener for an evening such as ours, which is taking a turn towards the grimmer side. This is the story of two protagonists who meet in a café in Lahore: one is an American who

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-74607254510049808222011-08-13T22:15:00.000+01:002011-08-13T22:15:28.615+01:00

'You've done so much with your life. Travelled, studied, raised a child. Why do you want to be reminded of what you used to be?' This story is narrated by Grace Bradley at ninety-eight years old, who started work as a housemaid at Riverton Manor when she was fourteen (in 1914). Grace the passive observer, Grace the survivor. The blurb on the back describes this book as 'a thrilling mystery and a

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-67218220735814656632011-08-10T17:50:00.000+01:002011-08-10T17:50:11.409+01:00

As you all know, I'm trying to avoid buying any books for the whole of this year, the only books I'm reading that are not already on my bookshelves are either borrowed from the library or friends, or are bought for me as presents. We were on holiday in the Brecon Beacons last week, when my partner suggested "Why don't we head over to Hay-on-Wye for a day?" I raised an eyebrow and reminded him

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-66734145196531879472011-08-09T07:55:00.001+01:002011-08-09T18:39:15.741+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-by-the-Sea This week's intro is from a book I read recently whilst away on holiday, a very short, classic science fiction novel written in 1895 - one I've never read before. The Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-52034798561634943402011-08-07T20:49:00.004+01:002011-08-10T13:08:54.814+01:00

Seems ages since I've written a post, but I was on holiday in Wales for the last ten days, and spent today walking the Cotswold Way with bookclub (four women, just one very small spaniel with us today), from Dursley to Wotton-under-Edge, via the Tyndale Monument, built in honour of William Tyndale, who translated the Bible. Via sounds so gentle, doesn't it? It's up a very long and extremely

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-38280698069789681752011-07-21T21:35:00.001+01:002011-07-21T21:38:30.777+01:00

The final two books for us to choose between have been decided. They are: Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake - the second book of the trilogy. or Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey I've decided that I'll read the whole Gormenghast trilogy anyway, early next year, whether it's chosen as a bookclub choice or not - I enjoyed the excerpts from the TV series which were featured in Sebastian Faulks' 

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-6613499045502060412011-07-19T08:24:00.000+01:002011-07-19T08:24:34.579+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea  I've just started reading this book, and this introduction irresistibly reminds me of the start of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: Last November I had a nightmare. It was 1924 and I was at Riverton again. All the doors hung wide open, silk billowing in the summer breeze. An orchestra perched high on the hill beneath the ancient maple, violins

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-23815969582761951842011-07-13T19:41:00.003+01:002011-08-18T19:51:16.543+01:00

Today I caught up with some of the walk I missed due to illness on 26th June. R and I met up with an old friend, an ex-work colleague who lives near Dursley, and we walked from Coaley Peak, up (very steeply!) to and along Cam Long Down and back down to Cam, mostly on the Cotswold Way (apart from the last mile or so). So not strictly a bookclub walk - me, two men, no dogs, and no poem on the

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-25968457221315350722011-07-12T08:13:00.000+01:002011-07-12T08:13:04.904+01:00

This, my favourite meme, is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. And this is the book I'm currently reading. Would this introduction tempt you? "Ah, you ladies! Always on the spot when there's something happening!" The voice belonged to Mr Mallett, one of our churchwardens, and its roguish tone made me start guiltily, almost as if I had no right to be discovered outside my own front door.

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-76764044269496842892011-07-05T19:12:00.003+01:002011-07-05T20:47:08.404+01:00

Every night without fail Lady Pole and Stephen Black were summoned by the sad bell to dance in Lost-hope's shadowy halls. For fashion and beauty these were, without a doubt, the most splendid balls Stephen had ever seen, but the fine clothes and smart appearance of the dancers made an odd contrast with the mansion itself which exhibited numerous signs of poverty and decay. The music never varied

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-42442658347919839522011-07-03T20:25:00.001+01:002011-07-03T20:38:12.923+01:00

Our next round book choices have almost been finalised, and they are: SC's choice, this is the first book of the next round, and one I've had on my TBR shelf for a while. H's choice. I've never read any Steinbeck, so I'm interested to see what this is like.  L's choice, an 18th century crime thriller by an author none of us have read before. My choice. I was

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-88916982336077232952011-06-30T12:12:00.001+01:002011-06-30T12:19:54.967+01:00

It's the end of June, time to assess how I'm doing so far with the challenges I set myself back in the New Year. Challenge no. 1:  To not buy any books;  to just read books off my shelves, or borrow them. I promised I would read or re-read 50 books from my bookshelves this year. As you can see from my list, so far I've read 31 books which were already on my shelves out of a total of 45,

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-81692118171383893072011-06-21T08:19:00.001+01:002011-07-10T15:32:14.054+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile By The Sea. Here is the introduction from one of the books I'm reading this week. I seem to be reading more than my usual number at the moment, but one book I've virtually finished, one I just read in my breaks at work, and this one? This one I really need to read, to remind myself of all of those little grammatical rules which I've either forgotten (

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-73357136795225101072011-06-14T21:45:00.002+01:002011-06-20T19:34:40.117+01:00

With hindsight it seems improbable in the extreme that barely a week before the Berlin Wall came down, a journalist who had spent years living there, and even covering the remarkable events happening in Eastern Europe over the previous months, had no idea it would happen. But then you have to take into account that neither did the CIA, MI6, nor West Germany's intelligence service the BND, nor

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-81973692450022693842011-06-12T15:41:00.003+01:002011-06-13T08:18:23.294+01:00

In the Volcanoes National Park [Hawaii], you can walk inside a lava tube, which has long since voided it's last molten load. The Thurston Lava Tube now lies in the rain forest, and tree ferns decorate it's entrance. It had a curiously familiar feel to me, and it was some minutes before I realized that this was because it had the exact dimensions of that other Tube - the Piccadilly Line tunnel in

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-73369167583079996552011-06-07T08:09:00.001+01:002011-06-07T18:28:09.065+01:00

As you can tell, this is one of my favourite memes, and it's hosted by Diane at Bibliophile By The Sea This is a book I've had on my TBR shelf for a while (though it's actually my partner's book, he owns copies of all of Robert Harris' novels). And I realised recently that I'd better read it before I completely forget what happened in Imperium, Harris' first book about Cicero. 'Two days before

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-77804735426227962362011-05-31T08:28:00.002+01:002011-07-06T20:52:41.319+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile By The Sea I've just started re-reading volume I of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.  This was a present from a friend several years ago, and though I'd read the first book, I never got round to reading volumes II and III , mainly because it would have meant re-reading this first volume to remind myself what had happened, and I just

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-16936541645871399942011-05-30T19:21:00.000+01:002011-05-30T19:21:21.051+01:00

  Yesterday we (three women, two dogs) walked from Painswick Beacon to Woodchester Park - the longest walk so far, one which seemed especially long after the drive to get to the start point. A couple of miles after we started hiking, we passed the halfway marker - Bath 55 miles! We would have had a celebration at that point but it was in the middle of a field surrounded by cows with young calves

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-50745256802093621582011-05-25T08:11:00.001+01:002011-07-10T15:36:06.476+01:00

This meme is hosted by Brooke of  The Bluestocking Guide.Must admit, I've had this book on my wishlist for a while, but I still haven't gotten round to reading it. So now it's officially been added to my birthday/Christmas pressie list (since I'm still trying to resist buying myself books for a whole year). This is the Product Description on Amazon.co.uk: 'The adjective 'medieval' is now a

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-51699343352628205252011-05-17T08:16:00.000+01:002011-05-17T08:16:03.792+01:00

This meme is hosted by Diane of  Bibliophile By The Sea. This book is H's choice for the final bookclub book for this round, although we won't be discussing it until July. As usual I try to read all of the bookclub choices as soon as they are decided, though as I've been relying on the library for most of this year's books it's taken me longer than normal (plus many of them have been on the

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-6879365653828757692011-05-10T08:15:00.001+01:002011-05-10T12:02:18.485+01:00

This is a meme hosted by Diane at Bibliophile By The Sea I am reading this book because I have seen it referenced in three books I have read in the last year: The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, American Gods by Neil Gaiman and, of course, Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuscinski. So I decided I really must read it, and borrowed a copy from my friend RKW (who has an incredibly

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-78074706010297230582011-05-08T20:13:00.001+01:002011-05-08T20:24:47.035+01:00

I know, this is a constant refrain, but it's been yet another beautiful day walking the Cotswold Way, from where we finished last time to Painswick - despite the rain when we were driving to the start of the walk. Looking towards Gloucester and on to Wales - R's photo This time, we (four women, three dogs, plus my partner did the first part of the walk with us) were mostly walking through

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-86857898589248871252011-05-06T18:41:00.000+01:002011-05-06T18:41:01.030+01:00

And then, how charming to be entrusted with the care and education of children! Whatever others said, I felt I was fully-competent to the task: the clear remembrance of my own thoughts in early childhood would be a surer guide than the instructions of the most mature adviser. With these words, our heroine, Agnes Grey, endeavours to persuade her parents that she should earn her living as a

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-35411917679196443522011-05-03T22:48:00.000+01:002011-05-03T22:48:55.897+01:00

The innocuous appeal of craftwork as a remedy for boredom should not be underestimated. A major defence of accomplishments from both traditionalists and liberals was essentially negative - that they kept women occupied and so stopped them getting up to anything worse. This book investigates the history of the home between 1688 and 1832, with chapters on setting up home, the homes of the nobility

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-75170804243970946252011-04-30T20:57:00.002+01:002011-05-28T10:15:53.473+01:00

Midnight - My Photo You may remember this post  from a month ago (no, I hadn't forgotten it). Well, I'm pleased to announce that the winner of a copy of  The Magnetic North  by Sara Wheeler, as chosen by my cat, Midnight (the handsome devil pictured)  is...    Anachronist! Congratulations, my dear. And thank you to everyone who posted comments, I'm just sorry I couldn't give you all copies. 

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-78370563675095733812011-04-29T08:25:00.002+01:002011-05-02T20:24:41.989+01:00

La lacuna ... Not a cave exactly but an opening, like a mouth, that swallows things...Some of the holes are so deep they go to the center of the earth and you'll see the devil at the bottom. But some only go through the island to the other side.  People who make a study of old documents have a name for this very kind of thing, a missing piece. A lacuna, it's called. The hole in the story. I

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-90442618450262517692011-04-26T20:19:00.000+01:002011-04-26T20:19:56.371+01:00

This is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile-By-The-Sea. This is the introduction to the book I'm currently reading, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson, described by the author as 'an experimental novel: it's interests are anti-linear'. And I think that's two very short paragraphs: Like most people I lived for a long time with my mother and father. My father liked to watch the

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-40660883956922502082011-04-25T22:42:00.000+01:002011-04-25T22:42:39.306+01:00

Image courtesy of qibuzz.blogspot.com   This meme is from Trish's blog, Desktop Retreat Four Books Read Over and Over: These are the books on my shelves I've read the most times 1. Anything by Jane Austen 2. Lord of the Rings - I've read it four times, once to my son 3. My general yoga book the KISS Guide to Yoga - good for inspiration no matter what your level. 4. The Wild Flowers of

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-37628382650733982742011-04-25T19:14:00.000+01:002011-04-25T19:14:24.976+01:00

This is the first book I've read by Diana Wynne Jones, who sadly died recently, and I read it thanks to TIF's online bookclub, Tales to Tomes. It's the story of Sirius, a Luminary, a hot-tempered Dog Star who is sent to Earth as a punishment, and made to inhabit the body of a dog until he tracks down the mysterious Zoi he lost, and ends up adopted by the sweet Kathleen. It's a story about

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-87013241207923840302011-04-20T17:41:00.000+01:002011-04-20T17:41:00.203+01:00

This meme is hosted by Brooke at The Bluestocking Guide. The book I've just added to my Amazon wishlist is Girl Reading by Katie Ward: (from Amazon.co.uk) 'Seven portraits. Seven artists. Seven girls and women reading. A young orphan poses nervously for a Renaissance maestro in medieval Siena, and an artist's servant girl in 17th-century Amsterdam snatches a moment away from her work to lose

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-62548412000606392742011-04-19T20:53:00.000+01:002011-04-19T20:53:55.622+01:00

This post is inspired by Diane's latest post at  Bibliophile-by-the-sea. But it isn't the latest book I'm reading that I'm going to quote, but one of the most memorable introductory paragraph's I've ever read  (with that last as one of the longest sentences, too) - from Salman Rushdie's The Ground Beneath Her Feet: 'On St. Valentine's Day, 1989, the last day of her life, the legendary popular

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-88613205770946850442011-04-15T21:49:00.004+01:002011-04-16T09:15:54.003+01:00

The whites, teachers and diplomats and agents of virtue, at dinner parties had pretty much the same things on their minds as their counterparts had in the 1960s. They discussed relief projects and scholarships and agricultural schemes, refugee camps, emergency food programs, technical assistance. They were newcomers. They did not realize that for forty years people had been saying the same

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-65374457028385147102011-04-06T19:34:00.002+01:002011-04-07T10:11:56.212+01:00

I've just started listening to the June bookclub choice, Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, on audiobook - I accidentally clicked on the wrong item on the library website, *doh!*. The audiobook has one big advantage over the normal book - you don't have to imagine the voices or figure out what the different accents sound like, because they are perfectly - voiced for you by the

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-17539851764008855972011-04-03T17:36:00.000+01:002011-04-03T17:36:25.239+01:00

Another beautiful day, another walk along the Cotswold Way, from Cleeve Common to Seven Springs, via Dowdeswell Reservoir. This time my partner joined us for the first half, despite the threat of a poetry reading. The spring flowers were out in force - cowslips, violets, wood anemones, wild strawberries, primroses, spurge, bugle, bluebells even, and everywhere is looking so fresh and verdant.

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-63397807474484506362011-03-31T20:14:00.001+01:002011-04-07T09:55:50.227+01:00

Yes, it's been a whole year since I started this blog, a whole year of having the opportunity to spout my undoubtedly biased opinion on an eclectic range of books, and occasionally on plays, poems and DVDs, and even more amazingly a whole year of all of you reading it. But more than anything, it has enabled me to find you, my fellow bloggers, and through you I have been encouraged to read books

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-8826483705763146492011-03-20T20:12:00.004Z2011-09-14T11:25:53.107+01:00

This is the book of a BBC TV series, presented by David Dimbleby, which in my usual way I managed to watch all of two episodes of. But those two episodes were definitely worth watching, and I'd like to have seen the whole series, so I bought this book last year. This richly-illustrated hardback tells the history of Britain through its art, and I bought it predominantly for the images rather

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-81465365509622332402011-03-10T20:00:00.004Z2011-03-12T20:03:59.306Z

The complex interrelatedness of human life could reassure or disturb in equal measure. This is the story of Adam Kindred, a climatologist, whose Fall from the heights of the clouds is initially precipitated by the words 'It's like you're playing God, Adam.'  Several weeks and thousands of miles later, Kindred's instinctive reactions have even more profound repercussions, leaving him as a

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-25090062478976544262011-03-06T17:18:00.001Z2011-03-06T17:40:50.489Z

Another month, another day spent walking the Cotswold Way with bookclub - and what a beautiful, sunny Springlike day it was! We have been sooo lucky with the weather, so far. Today we started at Hailes Abbey and finished at Cleeve Common, via the longbarrow at Belas Knap. And today there were four of us, plus two dogs, though for the start of the walk another bookclub friend and her family (and

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-3261036882142643342011-03-05T11:29:00.000Z2011-03-05T11:29:58.237Z

'Think of Saint Hilda founding the original monastery here,' she said 'long before Whitby was even called Whitby. Think of the devotion, the sheer strength of spirit invested in this place. A little powerhouse of prayer, perched on a clifftop next to a wild sea. I find that thrilling - much more thrilling than serial killers.' Paper conservator Sian is desperate for a change of scene, so she

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-47805399444354410312011-03-01T08:25:00.000Z2011-03-01T08:25:25.685Z

Photo courtesy of fossewaygardencentre.co.uk My good friend Anachronist posted daffodil photos (and poems) yesterday, but it's 1st March, and it's St David's Day, the patron saint of Wales - so that's my excuse for posting a photo of daffodils on my blog. Cheerful yellow flowers and blue skies, what more could you want? I would post my own photos, but my daffs are only just appearing, so it will

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-66239275690231910342011-02-28T17:38:00.002Z2011-04-06T21:26:16.465+01:00

 I've just finished watching a four-part series on TV, Faulks on Fiction, where Sebastian Faulks discusses four main character types in novels, The Hero, The Lover, The Snob and The Villain. From Defoe's Robinson Crusoe to Martin Amis' Money, from Austen's Pride and Prejudice to Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty, from Wodehouse's Jeeves to Ali's Brick Lane and from Peake's Gormenghast to

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-34882302467644077382011-02-24T18:22:00.001Z2011-02-24T18:22:51.916Z

The survey confirmed that the distribution of stronger sound was distinctly and almost precisely contained within the ring of stones [Easter Aquorthies circle, Scotland] Anyone outside the perimeter of the monument would have remained largely unaware of the acoustic effects within - a charmed circle. I own or have read several of Paul Devereux's other books, and I first read this one five or six

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-5958211394136637392011-02-23T19:23:00.002Z2011-02-23T19:40:09.071Z

This meme is hosted by Brooke at The Bluestocking Guide I didn't think I'd be posting on this one much in 2011, since I've promised not to acquire any more books this year, but here's one book I can't resist: Published yesterday here in Britain, out on March 8th in the USA, it's the latest book in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. Here is the product description from Amazon.co.uk: 'It is

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-4240018982780837072011-02-20T18:51:00.004Z2011-02-24T18:55:48.882Z

"What must you think of me, madam?" asked Margaret, throwing her head back with proud disdain, till her throat curved outwards like a swan's. "You can say nothing more, Mrs Thornton. I decline every attempt to justify myself for anything. You must allow me to leave the room." This is the story of Margaret Hale, who at the beginning of the story is living with rich relatives in London, then

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-73528361223253153882011-02-15T20:27:00.003Z2011-03-20T18:29:11.424Z

And this is the world of children. Half the population of Africa is under fifteen years of age. There are innumerable children in all it's armies; children constitute the majority in refugee camps; children work in the fields, buy and sell in the markets. The Shadow of the Sun is a collection of essays and articles dating from 1958 onwards and covering several African countries, from a bus

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-82370754172804954862011-02-10T09:58:00.002Z2011-02-13T20:25:57.466Z

The votes are all in, and these are our choices for the next six months: Short and sharp, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark is a classic. Set in the Goth Mecca of Whitby, The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps by Michel Faber is part ghost story, part historical thriller. A Booker prize-winning novel, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy has been on my TBR shelf for years, until

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-57858173426990523742011-02-09T16:43:00.005Z2011-02-09T17:21:17.098Z

All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in it's own way. These are the well-known words which open this epic novel, and we begin by meeting the first unhappy family, that of Steve Oblonsky and his wife Dolly, who has just found out about her husband's affair with their French governess. Dolly's youngest sister is Kitty Shcherbatsky, who is in love with

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-22218675512237702642011-02-06T16:24:00.003Z2011-03-06T17:42:05.129Z

Image courtesy of walkideas.com We did the second section of our bookclub Cotswold Way walk today, approximately ten miles from   Broadway  to Hailes Abbey  - gale force winds meant we cut short our planned route to Winchcombe (but only by under 2 miles). 'We' is three women and two dogs, and today we were accompanied by a couple of John Clare poems, including I Am: I am: yet what I am none

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-38310786966060208182011-02-05T14:55:00.001Z2011-02-05T14:57:44.585Z

Image courtesy of victorianweb.org There was an article on the BBC website today about a day of protest at the threat of closures to many local libraries. I'm lucky, my local library has been spared, but many others aren't so fortunate, when local councils are trying to keep as many services as possible going with less funding. These are some of the relevant figures: 4,517 public libraries

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-91692748251899408612011-01-31T20:18:00.002Z2011-01-31T20:24:05.227Z

Image courtesy of poemsandprose.blog.co.uk Adlestropby Edward Thomas Yes, I remember Adlestrop - The name, because one afternoon Of heat the express-train drew up thereUnwontedly. It was late June. The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat. No one left and no one came On the bare platform. What I saw Was Adlestrop - only the name And willows, willow-herb, and grass, And meadowsweet, and

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-33870636150375963422011-01-31T09:46:00.002Z2011-01-31T09:49:20.508Z

 My New Year resolutions were to:i) Not buy any books this year.ii) Borrow more books from the library.iii) Read more history non-fiction books. So, just one month on,  how am I doing? Early days, but I've kept 100% to my first promise. All of the books I've read or am reading so far were already on my bookshelves by New Year's Eve, except for two. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie I borrowed from

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-27799428799954964112011-01-26T18:06:00.002Z2011-01-26T19:13:22.314Z

But he never reached the far pavement, for the cobbles were moving under him. He turned. The outline of the church rippled in the air, and vanished. He was standing among boulders on a sea shore, and the music died into the crash of breakers, and the long fall of surf. This book was first published in Britain in 1962, and is about four siblings - Roland, Helen, David and Nicholas, who stumble

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-86450540624203494982011-01-20T20:27:00.001Z2011-01-20T21:24:44.131Z

 It is said he knows by heart the entire New Testament in Latin...His speech is low and rapid, his manner assured; he is at home in courtroom or waterfront, bishop's palace or inn yard. He can draft a contract, train a falcon, draw a map, stop a street fight, furnish a house and fix a jury. He will quote you a nice point in the old authors, from Plato to Plautus and back again. He knows new

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2055072002970818363.post-5832616742639474812011-01-12T23:17:00.002Z2011-01-19T19:11:56.935Z

 The recognition of symbiosis as a major evolutionary force has profound philosophical implications. All larger organisms, including ourselves, are living testimonies to the fact that destructive practices do not work in the long run. In the end, the aggressors always destroy themselves, making way for others who know how to cooperate and get along. Life is much less a competitive struggle for

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.com8