Ellie's 75 - The sparkling seventh

Here we are again! Thread number seven to brighten up this muggy, rainy July day...

The earlier threads are here:
Thread 1: http://www.librarything.com/topic/79224
Thread 2: http://www.librarything.com/topic/83118
Thread 3: http://www.librarything.com/topic/86416
Thread 4: http://www.librarything.com/topic/90054
Thread 5: http://www.librarything.com/topic/92232
Thread 6: http://www.librarything.com/topic/93876

Since I've got my blog to keep up too, I've given up the 1010 Challenge in favour of FREE READING (yay!), but I'm still doing the Books Off The Shelf challenge to see how I'm doing clearing those shelves (links to all my threads are on my profile). The full reviews and most of the chatter will be here, as always!

I won't use touchstones in the Master List (!) - too much hassle to keep loading and correcting them - but I'll add the message number of each review/comment for quick reference.

BOOKS READ 2010

Thread 1:
1) Sunshine - Robin McKinley (post 31)
2) Persuasion - Jane Austen (post 100)
3) Thunderball - Ian Fleming (post 139)
4) Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science - Mary Roach (post 219)

Thread 2:
5) North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell (post 64)
6) The Snow Tourist: A Search for the World's Purest, Deepest Snowfall - Charlie English (post 98)
7) Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything - Elizabeth Gilbert (post 130)
8) Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris (post 175)
*BONUS READ* (MG): A Winter Solstice Celebration - DiDi LeMay (post 189)
9) Too Much Anger, Too Many Tears: A Personal Triumph Over Psychiatry - Janet and Paul Gotkin (post 194)
10) Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris (post 216)

Thread 3:
11) The Devil's Larder - Jim Crace (post 60)
12) Madness: A Bipolar Life - Marya Hornbacher (post 150)
13) Jaws 2 - Hank Searls (post 179)
14) The Secret Shopper Unwrapped - Kate Harrison (post 187)
15) Eating Myself - Candida Crewe (post 233)
16) Message in a Bottle - Nicholas Sparks (post 234)

Thread 4:
17) Club Dead - Charlaine Harris (post 22)
18) Crazy as Chocolate - Elisabeth Hyde (post 34)
19) Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris (post 46)
20) Teen Valour - Alaric Adair (post 88)
21) Rococo - Adriana Trigiani (post 151)
22) Bedlam: London and Its Mad - Catharine Arnold (post 171)

Thread 5:
23) Never Ever - Helena Pielichaty (post 17)
24) 84, Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff (post 34)
25) The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street - Helene Hanff (post 34)
*BONUS READ*: The Seventh Door - Norman Leach (post 50)
26) The Snow Goose / The Small Miracle - Paul Gallico (post 105)
27) The Bad Mother's Handbook - Kate Long (post 154)

Thread 6:
28) The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (post 68)
29) Library Confidential: Oddballs, Geeks and Gangstas in the Public Library - Don Borchert (post 95)
30) Green Angel - Alice Hoffman (post 112)
31) Book Lover, a.k.a. Literacy and Longing in L.A. - Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack (post 174)

This thread:
32) Housewife Up - Alison Penton Harper (post 8)
33) The Lion Children - Angus, Travers and Maisy McNeice (post 8)
34) Practical Falconry - James McKay (post 34)
35) The Silver Linings Play Book - Matthew Quick (post 64)
36) Beastly - Alex Flinn (post 84)
37) Dashing Through the Snow - Mary & Carol Higgins Clark (post 117)
38) I am Legend - Richard Matheson (post 178)
39) The Island - Victoria Hislop (post 222)
40) The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner - Stephenie Meyer
41) The Weight of Silence - Heather Gudenkauf (post 248)

Seven? Already? Wow!

Noooo! I saw your last post on your other thread as soon as you posted it, Ellie, and I thought I was going to be all sneaky and post here the second you created the thread. Stasia beat me!!!

*bows to the Stasia*

LOL!

Hehe, I always get everything ready to post for message 1, and copy message 2 ready to go double-quick, knowing full well that sooner or later Stasia's gonna get here in the three seconds between posts... Welcome both, anyway!

Two reviews coming up soon - I managed to finish a book yesterday morning and other last thing before bed... I've still got James's book Practical Falconry on the go so I can review it, and The World According to Clarkson for those little moments when nothing else fits. And right NOW I'm probably going to start Zeitoun by Dave Eggers and The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick, both acquired this morning during the charity-shop pick-up we do every other Thursday. One in the bag, one that I just happened to spot on the shelves as we were leaving. I figure if I start them TODAY they have a fighting chance of not gathering dust for five years before I get to them... ;-)

#6: I figure if I start them TODAY they have a fighting chance of not gathering dust for five years before I get to them... ;-)

Best of luck with that ambition! It never seems to work for me, lol.

32) Housewife Up by Alison Penton Harper



I was actually very pleasantly surprised by this book! I was unimpressed by its predecessor, 'Housewife Down', in which Helen, our leading lady, loses her vile husband in a freak accident just as she is losing the will to live in her own marriage. In this installment, Helen's inherited fortune has been frittered away by a fraudulent 'investment guru', and she finds herself having to step back into the world of work after thirteen years as a downtrodden housewife. Throw in a slimy boss, an even slimier toyboy, a luxury yacht and a whole bunch of sassy friends, and you've pretty much got it.

Fortunately for me, this book was worth the 'one more chance, Alison' gamble. The author has seriously upped her game since the last book, and I found the whole thing much more enjoyable. The writing was all-round better, with some very amusing dialogue, sparkier characters, a more organised plot and a welcome dose of attitude. It's light, fluffy and great fun - perfect for a sunny summer day with a cocktail or an evening in with a tub of ice cream!

33) The Lion Children by the McNeice family



I have to say, this is perhaps one of the most charming books I've ever had the privilege of reading. Sadly it doesn't seem to have made much of a splash, and having never heard of it before, I picked it up on a whim in a remaindered bookstore. Consider this my contribution to spreading the word!

This is a travel memoir, and an autobiography, and an exploration of how it feels to move to a new country to start a new life... but with a twist. This time it's written by the children! The three middle McNeice children, Angus, Travers and Maisie, wrote the book, with occasional contributions by their big sister Emily, their stepsister Philippa, and their endearing little brother Oakley (who is the definitive little monkey!).

The family moved to Botswana when Kate, their mother, developed a passion for evolutionary science. Where better to see it in action than in the African bush? There she met a lion researcher, Pieter, fell in love, and the whole family joined his research project. Taking it in turns to write a piece on each aspect of African life, the children cover everything from roller hockey in Maun and home schooling in camp, to getting lost in the wilderness and the perils of malaria. There are moving sections on trophy hunting and the threat of HIV in Africa, but likewise there are joyful pieces about unforgettable birthday celebrations and adventures with new friends.

These children come across as eloquent, intelligent and affectionate, and is evident how much they have learned from their experiences and how sincere they are in their wish to contribute to the lion conservation efforts in Botswana. I'll definitely be recommending their book to all and sundry, and keeping my copy firmly on my shelves - and if ever I need a guide through the African bush, there's no one I'd rather be out there with than these kids!

Good morning! *coughafternooncough* I should have known that it'd be futile to think I could get here before Stasia ah well.
*slaps star onto thread*
I'll be baaack!!

Your Ladyship! *curtsies deeply*
Please, take a seat, pull up a chaise longue and I shall have chocolate-dipped strawberries and half-naked men waving palm fronds dispatched to you forthwith...

*thinks for a moment...* Better pull up another for Richard, while you're there! ;-)

half-naked men waving palm fronds dispatched to you forthwith...

I thought you said I'd never have to do that again! :(

Hallo!

The Lion Children sounds very interesting... can't wait to see your review on that one!

*starred*

Hello!
Oh Stephen, poor deluded boy... Now, back to work! ;-)

It's always nice when an author redeems herself after a bit of a flop. Glad your one more chance worked out!

The Lion Children review's up... *excuses herself to go battle with her blog publisher thingy so everyone over there knows how good it is too*

Luxx - couldn't agree more! Here's to hoping the third book, which is also on my shelves - (*ahem*nicked from the shop*ahem*) - stays on form!

Oh Stephen, poor deluded boy... Now, back to work! ;-)

*sigh* Oh, alright. Just so long as Richard keeps his hands to himself. ;-P

*ahem* Love the reviews, Ellie. Just a heads up, your touchstone for The Lion Children leads to the wrong book. :)

Ah - that'd be where I edited in the review. Consider it fixed!

Half-naked men?! WHERE?!? *head swivels 360 degrees* Heaven knows it's a good start....

Well, now! I'm going to have to recommend The Lion Children to my parents -- they just left on vacation and they'll be in Botswana for a few weeks. They'd probably love to read it when they get back... I'll have to find a copy somewhere!

Wow! I have missed so much in your 75 book challenge Ellie. I have not read all those other messages from the previous threads I may when I have some time.

You could just sweep it under the rug and not mention it to anyone (*looks around furtively*)... I won't tell if you don't! You're here now, and the more the merrier for Sparkling Seventh! (Sounds like a kind of grown-up Priscilla Queen of the Desert-esque Blyton novel, doesn't it? With SEQUINS, daaaaahling!)

Well, no luck conjuring up sequins for your sparkling new thread, Ellie, although I gave it a go!

Here is some Sparkle though, just for you:

Ooh!...So beauteous!

Karen O.

Oooooooooh... Wouldn't that just be the most beautiful necklace? Thank you Stasia! :-)

I love that Stasia!!

Ellie, I am now following your blog. I think I follow more then I post in mine. Happy reading all!!!

#24-26: Glad you like it.

The Lion Children sounds wonderful! Thanks for your thoughtful review. I'm glad you're reading Zeitoun. I read it recently, and it's unforgettable.

23: Ooooh...sparkly...shiny...preeeetty...

*cough* *ahem* Errrr, ummmm, I mean... {big manly voice} Looks...expensive...

Well, that Stephen's Christmas present sorted then... would you like the matching earrings, darling?

Oh, no no no, don't you go spending lots of money on that. You can get the same reaction out of me by showing me tin foil. :)

31> Same as cats? My cats find tin foil balls more fun than the fancy cat toys. XD

...errr...I suppose! :( But I'll have you know I'm only mildly amused by balls of yarn!

... :)

I've finally finished James's book... Now I won't have to avoid the subject any more when he's here! ;-)

34) Practical Falconry by James McKay



James McKay is the director of the National Falconry School, based at Ashover in Derbyshire. He is a zoologist and lecturer as well as a falconer and animal trainer. In this book he offers a comprehensive guide to basic hawk care, falconry and its related sport, ferreting. Beginning with a brief history of falconry, he goes on to lay out everything a novice needs to know before acquiring their first bird.

The various equipment necessary for keeping a hawk is discussed, including instructions for building suitable housing and a run-down of the equipment needed to monitor a hawk on a daily basis, as well as advice on choosing vital items such as hoods, perches and swivels. There is information on selecting a bird, outlining the strengths, weaknesses and capabilities of each species, and a very comprehensive guide to manning and training. On top of all this the author offers guidance on how to maintain a bird's health, including nutrition, weight management and simple first aid, and everything the falconer needs to consider before beginning a breeding program. There is also a section devoted to the care and use of ferrets to aid rabbiting excursions (the author has written several books on ferreting which would make ideal companion volumes for a sporting enthusiast). The glossary proved very useful in clarifying certain terms and concepts, providing a handy reference point, and the bibliography and contacts list provide a valuable source of further information.

This is a book that should be on the shelves of any eager beginner and interested enthusiast, as well as being a source of information and reference to more experienced falconers. My only quibble with the book is that I would have liked more photographs - for example, showing various kinds of equipment alongside each other to show the differences (eg. flight vs. mews jesses, various lures and dummy bunnies), providing greater clarity for a complete novice like me! All in all, though, I learned an awful lot about falconry from this book, both in terms of the enormous commitment and potential pitfalls involved, and in terms of the pleasure and satisfaction a well-trained hawk can bring. Highly recommended.

7th thread! I can never keep up! :( Least I get to catch up with whats going on with you on your blog though :)

7th thread! I can never keep up! :( Least I get to catch up with whats going on with you on your blog though :)

34: ...so...is avian flu mentioned in that one? ... :)

#34: Since Practical Falconry is impractical for me, I will have to pass that one by.

Jess - so excited you had to say it twice! ;-)

Stephen - nope, not once... Thank heavens...

Stasia - Yeah, I wasn't expecting it to be a runaway mainstream bestseller!

Now, if you'll all excuse me, my dad has just returned from this month's working trip to Libya and has brought me a Cornish pasty from the nice shop in town as a treat... His lovely girlfriend Andrea was a little concerned when I mentioned that I was sick of tuna sandwiches so I'd opted for a bag of Hula Hoops instead... Free lunch, result!

Cornish pasty for lunch sounds better than whatever Hula Hoops are!

Haha, I didn't know what Hula Hoops were either. I googled:

Hula Hoops

I know I know, I'm really bad about posting pictures of food here, huh? :)

#41: I am glad to know I am not the only one ignorant of what Hula Hoops are. Thanks, Stephen!

Mmmmm..... I used to be addicted to Hula Hoops when I lived in the UK. That and Marks & Spencer's prawn cocktail crisps, oh and their stuffed baked potatoes, oh and their sandwiches. *sigh* time to try and wrangle a trip to London, I think.

#42: I've been to London twice, and I've never heard of or seen Hula Hoops, so neither of you should feel badly about not knowing what they are.

I did develop a near fatal addiction to West Cornwall Pasties though, especially the Lamb and Mint variety. Marks & Spencer's take away locations do have wonderful sandwiches, crisps and salads; who knew that carrot chutney and Wensleydale cheese on bread could taste so good!

I was up in Yorkshire working on a farm during one of my winter vacations and developed a yen for Wensleydale on Christmas pudding.

#44 Whenever my dad - a Cornishman by birth - travels up to London, he always gets a pasty from the West Cornwall Pasties shop at Paddington station. He loves them.

How does a pasty addiction become fatal?

ETA: #45 Caroline, that's revolting. How could you do that to a poor, defenceless and oh-so-tasty piece of Wenselydale? I'm shocked and appalled.

#46: How does a pasty addiction become fatal?

It happens if you eat nothing else for lunch, and you suffer pasty withdrawal upon returning to the US. :)

I was also hooked on fish & chips, from a place on London Street close to Paddington Station. There was also a great take away place south(?) of Victoria Station, on the street that the 24 bus travels en route to Pimlico. I missed the stop for Victoria when I took this bus from Soho one day, and stumbled upon this place.

>44 kidzdoc: who knew that carrot chutney and Wensleydale cheese on bread could taste so good!

Please please I beg of you please stop! I can't get Wensleydale without going into Manhattan and carrot chutney might as well be absinthe it's so hard to find!

*sob*

I can't believe how cruel your threadies are, Ellie, talking about such delicious things as real, lamb-and-mint pasties that us poor Colonials can't get.

*dashes off to rifle pantry in search of some tasty thing*

Well, the pasty was yummy. And there's a new batch of ducklings on the river, teeny tiny ones, including three little yellow ones! Cutest. Things. Ever. Which is a good job, because it provided a silver lining to the horrible woman who shouted at us right beforehand. She spotted me standing in the doorway of the little yard outside the shop, watching Frank (the big milky eagle owl) having his picture taken, and rushed at me, brandishing her walking stick thing (for hikers, not old ladies!), mouthing off about how cruel James is. We just smiled and said, 'oh no, no one's better for these birds than James.' On she went. 'Yes, but they're flown every day, and used for breeding too'. Still she carried on - about how it's cruel for an owl to be out in daylight. (As James says, 'what do they think they'll do, burst into flames?') The smiles started to slip as we pointed out that actually many owls fly in daylight and they like a bit of sunshine as much as anything else! Well, this woman was right up in our faces yelling at us (why?!), and actually pushed my mum out the way saying 'actually, I don't think I want to look at your books after all...'

I don't think she was 100% sane actually (maybe 80%), but I was SO PISSED OFF with her. It was the 'instant rage' thing you get when someone attacks something and someone you believe in, and I was so angry all my arms had clenched up and were shaking like anything! And then I topped it off by tearing up... Which was kinda bad, but I just couldn't help it! I think that angry energy just has to go somewhere! I guess it's a loyalty thing - James is such a good man. He loves those birds, he works 24/7 to keep them healthy and happy, he educates people and works on conservation projects, he cares for rescued birds, he's a top zoologist and lecturer, a world-renowned falconer... then some ignorant bitch sweeps in and lets rip like this, on something she has NO IDEA about, and doesn't bother to, y'know, ask questions. And why I, of all people, should end up being the one being yelled at with a bloody walking stick waved in my face, I don't know. I just HATE ignorance like that - plus given that we consider James a good friend, it felt a bit like when we were at school and people would say horrible things about my sister or something. Nothing worse for getting my hackles right up, and I have such a quick temper! GRRRRRRRRRR! In actual fact, I'm starting to hate the 'owl rights' moaners in the shop more than the ones moaning about our business. At least with them you can put them right in their place if you want to, because it's your shop to defend. And when it's a customer you never get closure either, and I find it so hard to shift from 'I'm going to throttle you' back to 'have a nice day' in two seconds flat.

*steps down quietly and summons army of LT-ers with encyclopedias - you have been taught well, my children, now fly.... FLY!!!*

Ahem, yes, sorry about that folks. But Mum didn't want to hear it - she's very good at brushing off stuff like this, whereas I go for the 'flawed woman with PMT' response - and sometimes I just have to get it out of my system! Back to my book - and a day off tomorrow, my last in a week and a half or so, so I've got the pizza all ready to go! :-)

ETA: Oh, and yes, Hula Hoops are round 'chips', as you call them (here chips means fries, it's the cookie/biscuit thing all over again!), baked potato rings with salt. You can get flavoured ones as well, but I like the original ones best. I used to eat them a lot when I had my braces on, because I could suck them without hurting my teeth!

Late to this Par-Tay!!

*Starred* as usual

;-"

Sorry to hear that Ellie. :( I'll try to fly in your army! But I'm not very stable when I'm carrying a heavy encyclopedia! Where's the ejection seat button, just in case... *searches pants*

ETA: Pants pockets people, geez, I know what you're all thinking! >:(

YEAH....and it's "encyclopedia"

*snort*

;-"

I always do that! :(

Encyclopedias at the ready, Ellie! Just point me in the right direction.

#49>Gosh, Ellie - some of your village people would be right at home in Royston Vasey!

The monumental arrogance of the ignorant old termagant is what chaps my cheeks. Make assumptions, fly off handle, cause ruckus...in what universe is that okay?

*fumes for James's sake*
*hurls brickbats transAtlantically for Ellie's sake*

The monumental arrogance of the ignorant old termagant is what chaps my cheeks. Make assumptions, fly off handle, cause ruckus...in what universe is that okay?

The universe in which Glenn Beck and the rest of the Fox News crew et al. reside seems like a proper home for this curmudgeon termagant.

>57 kidzdoc: a proper home for this curmudgeon

I shall thank you, sir, on pain of being called out and asked to name your second, not to insult my people again. This...this...virago, this fury, this fishwife is NOT a curmudgeon!

#58: Oop. Right, poor use of the word curmudgeon. Please strike that from the official record. I shall use the word "termagant" in its place (a word not in my personal dictionary, so I shall place my trust, once again, in the wise pundit Bheind).

Poor James ...and I'll be the owls didn't enjoy hearing that crabby shrieking stick-wielding virago dashing the peace either. I sometimes wonder if some elderly people actually believe it's their right to be crabby and unpleasant to others. Take a deep breath, Ellie ... and a big mug of laced tea. At least you'll be spared nasty people tomorrow on your day off.

I used to put 2 Hula Hoops on each finger on my left hand, and then eat them off one at a time as I read a book held in my right. I am now craving HHs.... :-(

It's a good thing LTers stop aging after 40, that's why they are all so pleasant and wise at the same time. ;)

Haha, yes... Well, my day off was lovely. I managed to eat an extraordinary amount of crap (a whole pizza, two pain au chocolat, a small bowl of potato salad, quite a bit of sweet popcorn, some mini millionaire shortbreads...), I've watched the latest 'TV Book Club' and two episodes of True Blood sexiness, I've done all my washing, and have not one but TWO reviews to catch up on tomorrow. Watch this space for my thoughts on The Silver Linings Play Book (finished late last night) and Beastly (read all day today)! I feel like I can work for ten days or whatever it is, and look forward to my next days off quite happily! Next Wednesday and Thursday we're closing for Bakewell show (the town was a dead zone last year) and I can't wait for two days of chilling and reading... :-)

Congratulations on the upcoming two consecutive days off, Ellie! I cannot wait to see what you get read.

Thanks Stasia! Looking forward to it indeed, especially since Hannah and Mum will be going shopping on one of the days, thus leaving me to sleep and read undisturbed for the morning... After that all my days off are on my own anyway - Hannah and Mum will both be working here - so I might be able to get more read on those days too, yippee!

35) The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick



I noticed this book on the list of titles from the last series of Channel 4's 'TV Book Club', so when I spotted it in a bag coming into our bookshop I started reading it straight away. I had no idea what it was about or what to expect, so I was going into it blind really! Which can often be a great way of discovering something new, after all...

The story is narrated by Pat Peoples, a thirty-something man who has just been brought home from a mental institution to live with his parents. He is an optimistic soul who believes that every cloud has a silver lining, and that life is a rom-com movie in which his happy ending will follow once all the other elements have been correctly played out. The novel follows his attempt to regain a normal life, control his urges and mental health problems (including banishing his hallucinations of his nemesis, Kenny G), resume his hearty support of the Philadelphia Eagles, and most importantly, to win back his estranged wife Nikki, putting an end to their 'apart time'.

In many ways this book is reminiscent of 'Curious Incident', with its innocent, naive protagonist, and the way in which the reader sees much of what the narrator does not. There is a lot of reading between the lines, and yet, Quick still managed to rip the rug out from under me when I got too complacent. Each time Pat has another realisation, or another memory returns from his time in 'the bad place', it slotted another piece of the puzzle into place and tugged the heartstrings a little more. It was certainly more bitter than sweet, which I hadn't expected from all the 'feel-good' quotes and references to 'Little Miss Sunshine' on the cover. It IS funny, but I also found it quite heartwrenching at times.

The main thing encroaching on my enjoyment of the book was the huge amount of references to American football. The Eagles feature hugely in the book, with Pat and his family and friends being steadfast supporters, and for me as an English lass it was a bit difficult to follow those parts. I don't know the players or the chants, so I just had to skim over those sections a bit and work with what I was given - and look up one or two things where I got really stuck!

All in all, it was a good little read, with an excellent portrayal of a disturbed mind fighting towards sanity, and plenty of twists as Pat's life slowly returns to normal. It won't be a keeper for me, but I'm definitely glad I followed the 'book club' ethos of picking up something different and giving it a go!

#64: I already have that one in the BlackHole or I would add it again. Nice review, Ellie!

Thumb from me, Ellie, that was a great review. :)

Thanks - another one coming up in a few minutes... :-)

And a lady's just brought in a copy of Nancy Mitford's The Sun King in a mixed load of books, so I have a new non-fiction to read alongside The Island for my next two reads, yay!

#67: Cool! I will be interested to see what you think of the Mitford book.

Me too - I've been wondering whether to buy it for a while but it's quite a pricy one, even online... This one's a little old and doesn't have a dust jacket, but it's FREE! And if I like it I know it'll be worth the investment. :-)

You cannot beat free books, that is for sure!

70: Don't I know it, I've been beaten by plenty of them around here to have learned that lesson already.

...or did I read that wrong. *inspects more closely*

;)

#71: If you have been beaten by the books, then you probably deserved it! (yes, you read it wrong, lol)

#22 Ahhhhhh, "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" (*happy smile*)

#40/41 mmmmmm Hula Hoops! I used to particularly like the mini ones you can't get any more - but then you can't put them on your fingers, so there was a trade off...

#60 "I used to put 2 Hula Hoops on each finger on my left hand, and then eat them off one at a time as I read a book held in my right. I am now craving HHs.... :-(" - me too!

#46 "Whenever my dad - a Cornishman by birth - travels up to London, he always gets a pasty from the West Cornwall Pasties shop at Paddington station. He loves them." - but that's just wrong! Surely Cornish pasties are better in the West Country!! ;o)

#47 "I was also hooked on fish & chips, from a place on London Street close to Paddington Station" - Darryl, all I can say is that one of these days when you're in the UK, you need to make a special trip to the seaside, preferably Aldeburgh (although I'm sure various Northerners will disagree with me and say you can only get proper fish and chips up North) and compare. You will not be disappointed.

The Silver Linings Playbook sounds great Ellie - but it sounds like it didn't quite hit the button for you?

American football = death. Lovely review, but no way can I get past all the Eagles junk. Thanks for the timely warn-off, Ellie!

I found a place that makes pasties nearby. I love them. They are scrumptious. Like junk casserole in a buttery, flaky crust. I am going to sail to England, because I will be too large for a plane to lift me, and kick you until you're purple for making me aware of them.

I can move fast for a fat man....

#74: Richard, you are going to have to take me to the pasty place while I am up your way! I have never had one.

>75 alcottacre: Oooh, be careful what you wish for...I strongly, strongly doubt that Sherman has a pasty-making place, and the cravings will be horrible!

#76: Yeah, but I have a friend in NY who could ship me some if I get cravings, right?

>77 alcottacre: Reserve judgment...they're nt the sort of thing that ships well...that flaky crust is not likely to live through the experience! God, I want a pasty RIGHT NOW and the place doesn't open until 11a!

*dripdrool*

#78: At least you are close enough to get there by 11am! Stop complaining :)

#76 Cornish pasties are of course better in the west country - but when you're obliged to leave the west country for a few days then you just have to make do.

(Dad wasn't impressed when he asked me whether I'd got a pasty at Paddington for the train ride back home when I was in London last autumn, and I told him that I'd picked up some sushi and fruit from Sainsbury's.)

E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!!!



Ooh! This Philly guy will have to check out The Silver Linings Playbook. Nice review, Ellie!

I'm curious how well they'll do with their quarterback situation. I rather liked McNabb...I'll definitely be keeping my eye on the Redskins this year. :)

#82: Right. My father & I passed by Lincoln Financial Field last week, when he picked me up from the PHL airport, and I noticed that the big mural of Donovan McNabb was still on the outside of the stadium; however, his number 5 had been covered over (as you know, McNabb, the long time quarterback of the Eagles, was traded to the rival Washington Redskins in the off season). My father said that the Redskins (with McNabb) were sure to beat the Eagles (with Kolb) twice this coming season, and I said that Eagles fans, a notoriously tough bunch, would be clamoring for McNabb by week 4 of the season.

I may be more of a New York football Giants fan this season (I have split loyalties, as we lived close to NYC until I was 13, when we moved to suburban Philadelphia). I all but hate watching Eagles-Giants games on TV, as I have a hard time rooting against either team (same with Pitt-Rutgers).

Hey Darryl! Yeah, there were constant references to people in green jerseys shouting 'Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!' then doing that chant and spelling out the letters with their arms and legs...
*strange whistling noise as it all goes right over Ellie's head*

Back to the food talk I see... I am such a bad influence, and now YOU'RE ALL MAKING ME HUNGRY! And a horrible couple have just complained their way all around the shop before telling me that "it'll probably be a whole different shop next time we're here anyway." At which point I choked on my drink and said "Don't say that! We're hoping to be around for a while to come, thanks!" Grrrrr. What is WRONG with people round here? That LibraryThingers-only day is sounding better and better! *puts on best 'woman with quick temper and PMT' face and tears open bag of Aero Bubbles in a suitably aggressive manner*

The second review now, of Beastly, which has had a whole lot of hype building on here and on the blogs, and what with the 'Alex Pettyfer with few clothes on' movie coming out soon... well, what better way to fill a day off?

36) Beastly by Alex Flinn



Having succumbed to all the hype around this book, and then discovered there was a movie coming out starring the delectable Alex Pettyfer (oh, and being a huge fan of Beauty and the Beast, of course!), I couldn't wait to get stuck in when a lazy day off presented itself. So yesterday I threw on my comfiest sweats, cooked me a pizza, and settled in for the ride.

I wasn't disappointed. This clever modern retelling of the much-loved classic story is told from the viewpoint of Kyle Kingsbury, a teen playboy with a rich daddy and a bad attitude. When the spring dance comes around, his cruel plan to humiliate the strange, 'ugly' Kendra goes horribly awry when she reveals herself to be a beautiful witch and curses him into ugliness, turning him into a furry half-man, half-beast. Thanks to a small kindness he showed to another girl just before his transformation, she offers him a small chance to break the curse - he will have two years in which to learn his lesson and find true love, or he will remain this way forever.

In some ways this reminded me of Jasper Fforde's 'Nursery Crime' series. It has been very well thought out, balancing the modern with the traditional in a fun, seamless way. All the elements you would expect are there - the rose, the mirror, the lonely house, the girl coming to stay, the loyal servants, the first dance, the sad parting... But at the same time, this is a thoroughly modern interpretation. The girl's father is a drug dealer who exchanges his daughter for his life when he breaks into the house, and Kyle finds support through an online chatroom for transformed humans (including 'Froggie', who hates living in a pond because his stuff keeps floating away, and 'SilentMaid', who is considering selling her soul to a sea witch for the love of a sailor...).

Kyle reinvents himself as 'Adrian King' and leaves his unsympathetic friends and father behind, instead depending on his housekeeper Magda and blind tutor Will to help him through his ordeal. He develops a passion for roses and for books, anything to get him through the long days imprisoned in his New York house. He is a very engaging character, quickly establishing himself as a sympathetic figure and becoming more and more likeable as the book goes on. I was aching for him to win the girl's heart and break the spell! *sigh*

So, yes, as you can probably tell, I really enjoyed it. There were one or two moments where it dragged a bit - hence four stars instead of five - but for the most part it was a well-paced read, with characters I could root for, some thought-provoking messages about looks, life and love, and that all-important happy ending. And just in case that wasn't enough, Flinn closes the book with a brief jaunt through the various reincarnations of this tale over the ages, including a few more modern versions to add to my list... And there's that film to look forward to as well. Highly recommended!

83: I'm the same way. I'm a Falcons fan but living in Ohio, I watch the Bengals every week of the season, so I'm a 'sub-fan' of their team. Fortunately, they don't meet too often. :)

>84 elliepotten: Alex Pettyfer is one pretty boy! So is he playing the girlfriend? Not even makeup could make that mug ugly.

I think we should fly Ellie to Philadelphia for a couple of Eagles games at the Linc (Lincoln Financial Field), preferably against the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. We'll load her up on Philly cheese steaks and beer, and put her in the upper section, with the diehard and foul mouthed Eagles fans from South Philly. After a week or two of that she'll be a complete hard @$$ Philly girl, and will be able to handle unruly bookstore customers with no problems: "Get the (bleep) outta my (bleeping) store if youse don't like it here, ya (bleeps)!" The bookstore will either be a complete success, or will go down in flames in a week.

Ellie, please listen to the Eagles fight song 10 times a day for the next month, in preparation for your visit:

Fly Eagles Fly

Waitaminnit waitaminnit if Ellie's coming here for some stupid, boring football game she's got to come to my birthday party FIRST!!! At least *there* she'll meet handsome young straight men with jobs, and have a chance to get them drunk and have her way with them! (Of course, that means horning in on The Divine Miss's plans for the evening, but she'll live.)

#86 Hmmm. Well he does look a bit like a girl...

>89 flissp: - WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT WITH SOAP! I have watched him grow up alongside me since his star turn in 'Tom Brown's Schooldays' and now I get a bit giddy every time I see him in a new movie! ;-)

Darryl - sounds good! I will listen to the fight song and think 'ah, so THAT'S what the bloody book kept going on about!' Then I will chase down that unpleasant couple and beat them severely with every ounce of drunken honesty I can muster... *cackles gleefully*

Ricardo - Oooooh.... That sounds like an interesting evening! You didn't tell me there would be handsome young straight men!

Alex who?

*googles*

He just looks like a child to me. At least, he does when he's got his shirt on. When did I get old?

(Sorry to hear you've had yet more annoying customers, Ellie. I hope the Aero Bubbles help!)

Sorry Ellie (*shamefaced snicker*)

...Edited to add: "hat sounds like an interesting evening! You didn't tell me there would be handsome young straight men!" - Richard, I don't suppose you could send a tasteful selection of them over to those of us in the UK who can't make it to your birthday? ;o)

>92 flissp: I don't suppose you could send a tasteful selection of them over to those of us in the UK who can't make it to your birthday?

In a word, no.

88: I thought I told you I couldn't make it, Richard. ;)

I'm just kidding of course...I don't have a job. D'oh!

Ellie, I miss your thread for a few days, and come back to find you battling crazy old women over birds, and books flying, and Darryl trying to turn you into an Iggles fan (that's the way it's often said in Philadelphia.) What next? ;)

>94 Ape: LOL

Y'know, Fliss darling, I *do* have an employed, handsome, single, 42-yr-old brother who likes to tavel and writes for a living....

#93 Damn!

#96 ;o)

96: *ahem* Do you have any 22 year old sisters? ;-P

>99 Ape: LOL

Stephen, even my *nieces* are too old or too young for you. Closest is the 17-yr-old, and she has a plutonium bra and man-trapped panties. (Or so it says here.) The others are in their latest possible 20s, and several are even older than that.

We won't go into the sisters. 40 is but a memory for all of us.

I suppose charmingly whimsical internet affairs with sassy English lasses will have to cut the mustard for now!

Even if it is an abusive relationship, at times. :P

Wow I miss a few hours of your thread and so much happens. Well I understand the EAGLES stuff considering I am from the Philly area, yet I am not a die hard Eagles fan. I use to be one until they had Randall Cunningham, he just made me dislike them. Then I started liking them with McNabb until this past year. My dad never pushed the team down his girls throats. He just watched them and let us make our own mind up. I have become more of a STEELERS fan because of my husband's family. Okay I guess that is enough about the American Football.

Back to the thread...

Ellie I like your review of the the book The Silver Linings Play book. Not sure I would want to read it though.

I may have to check out the Beastly book, that looks interesting. Now I think I will try and get some reading time in so that I could possibly get some book finished. I keep falling behind in my reading because of all these threads I follow... Happy Reading all!!!

Ellie - I'm definitely adding The Silver Linings Play Book to my obese wish list.

And if you're going to visit Darryl in Philadelphia, you definitely have to come visit me in Boston! We have great lobster, clam chowder, the ice cream in the country and plenty of it, and the Audubon Society has some very pretty owls.

Added Beastly to the wishlist and requested it at the library! Thanks for the great review :)

I just read your review of Beastly on your blog, watched the preview a few times, and now I'm determined to pick it up. The only remaining question is whether I'd rather order it on the Kindle and get it immediately, or order it in paperback and wait two days. ;)

What horrible, nasty customers!

LOL Stephen- I'll keep my eyes peeled for some cute 20somethings. :)

Ugh. I'm in one of those funny - not moods, exactly - but those funny times when you're feeling a little tired, a little bored, a little scatterbrained, and you'd like nothing better than to read, but you can't. Every time your eyes hit the page it's like a switch flicks off in your brain somewhere, and you come back down to earth a minute later to find that you have been staring into space like a complete moron...

*sigh* Given this terrible situation, and the fact that I'm working a Wednesday where normally we would be closed (darn you, summer holidays!), I have been FORCED to come online and buy a LibraryThing T-shirt (which may be far too big - I hedged my bets and went medium, given that I can always use it as my 'lazy day of reading' T-shirt), THEN buy a nice Paperblanks notebook from the shop to use as a book journal. I emailed myself a list of everything I've read since mid-2006 and I'm methodically adding titles and authors to the book, with a brief comment to remind me about each one. Ah, the life of a pathologically unorganised homemaker but ruthlessly enthusiastic LISTmaker...

Now, just for a gratuitous LOLcat (one my favourites - Richard, LOOK AWAY NOW!), here's what I'd really love to be doing right now:

107- Love the photo! Actually, a nap sounds good about now...I got up way too early this morning.

Hang in there - hope the rest of your day goes better...

Bah-ha-ha. That kitty is fun-nee!

BTW, I am completely disorganized and also a enthusiastic listmaker, too.

I have a list I call "Books I Might Consider Reading Some Day." I pulled the books from lists like 1001 books to read before you die, award lists, etc.

My list includes, title, author, year of publication, author's nationality, genre, comments such as what award it has won or if it is part of a series, and columns for whether it's been read, to be read, partially read, and whether or not I own the book. Currently there are more than 2,500 books on the list.

This list does not include my wishlist. I started it when I could not think of anything to read and I wanted to explore new genres. The list is pretty ridiculous now though. It seem that every time I finish it I think of a new column to add to the spread sheet, so I have to look all the books up again.

Love the LOL Cat!! Sorry you have to work on a day that you are supposed to be closed. I work everyday M-F except during the summer, off on Fridays which is very nice. Just hate the 10 hour days. I have actually been thinking about looking for a second job, maybe working in a books store or library. I just don't know.

I hope your day improves too.

"Ah, the life of a pathologically unorganised homemaker but ruthlessly enthusiastic LISTmaker..." - sounds EXTREMELY familiar to me! You should see my selection of Googledoc spreadsheets - ah, at last, they're nearly all in one place ;o) ...

Googledocs. What? Spreadsheets to share. Brilliant.

Forty minutes and a bit of cleaning and cashing up, and we can LEAVE! It can't come too soon today. Though tragically, I think we've done pretty well sales-wise, which means this will be a regular thing until the schools have gone back. *sigh* At least there's Bakewell Show next week - the death knell to anywhere in town that's not a car park or an ice cream van - so we can have two days off then!

Love my LOL cats, nothing like 'em to brighten my day!

>109 jmaloney17: - I was once like you... but one day last year, I took a very deep breath and DELETED MY SPREADSHEETS! I had LibraryThing and it was becoming so utterly hopeless. Plus LT has collections! Most of the time my wishlist includes all those 'maybe one day' kinda books. Every now and again I go through them all and purge some away. If they're going to get read they'll be back on there before long anyway and I take more note of them for surviving!

>110 crazy4reading: - We've been working Thursday-Tuesday since Easter time, but now we're stepping up. The good news is that we've roped my sister in for a few days so hppefully, all being well, Mum will get most Sundays off with my stepdad, and I'll get a day off in the week. And we're not planning to change our sign to reflect the Wednesday opening, so it's a bit of a bonus day really. Hopefully it'll deter people from bringing books in to sell on that day, and it means that if we have appointments that need making or we get sick or something, we can take the Wednesday off without annoying anyone... (I can hear them now, "Ooooh, but the sign says they're open! Well, that's not very good, is it?")

HALF AN HOUR TO GO!!!!

I keep resisting the lure of the LT T-shirts. I keep wanting one, but I know that if I had one I probably wouldn't wear it. (And yet, I keep buying books that I probably won't read for years. *rolls eyes*)

I could never get on with keeping a paper journal of my reading. I tried keeping one on the computer as a last-ditch attempt, and so far a combination of spreadsheets and OneNote notebook is working for me.

At least by now it's nearly time for you to go home, and the nap will shortly be a possibility.

I've been quietly ignoring people today and reading Mary Higgins Clark's Dashing Through the Snow... not exactly the right time of year, but come winter we'll have our table of Christmassy titles out again so I thought I might as well just read it now... One truly vile woman so far today, a couple of difficult people selling books, one or two lovely people, and a little girl with a huge smile and a love for 101 Dalmatians. Quite the mixed bag. Oh, and our old battleaxe, Mrs H, who has brightened up considerably since her mini-strokes around Christmas (though her eyesight is still troubling her) and mellowed delightfully since we first met her, and who has decided to leave ME all her books in her will. Not the shop, me. Nobody's ever done anything like this for me before and it made me quite emotional when she'd gone! Here's hoping she'll be around for a good while yet, bless her.

Right, coffee, cookies, book. Two hours left, a few chores back home, and I can once again settle into my cosy chair with some English muffins and honey and a big mug of tea, and RE-LAX. I live for it!

Hope you're having a lovely afternoon/evening, Ellie. :)

Thanks sweetie! :-)
Today was better - only one highly irritating woman, but some nice ones to balance her out and a new book from the charity shop to cheer myself up... The Resurrectionist by James Bradley, 99p, bargain!

37) Dashing Through the Snow by Mary & Carol Higgins Clark



This was my first Mary Higgins Clark - and reading it in July might have been a little strange - but I rather enjoyed it! It was one of those books that is best described as 'nice'. It doesn't have a particularly gripping plot or particularly memorable characters, nor does anything particularly dreadful happen. It's just nice. But I should explain! It's a festive offering which opens with a group of local market workers winning an enormous amount of money in the lottery, just in time for the town's new Christmas Festival of Joy. But the celebrations soon lose their sparkle when their fifth coworker, Duncan, who decided not to chip in that week on the advice of two dodgy financial investors, goes missing. Has he bought the second winning ticket without telling them and gone into hiding? Or has something terrible happened to him? When his girlfriend Flower flies in to surprise him and promptly disappears herself, it will take the combined efforts of stylish sleuths Alvirah Meehan and Regan Reilly to solve the mystery...

It was definitely a cozy tale - ladies of a certain age running around solving crimes amidst bucketloads of community spirit - but it was good fun! Kind of like 'Murder, She Wrote' in book form. There were some amazing 'coincidences' and rather a lot of conveniently rich people tumbling around the town of Branscombe, and the mystery just sort of bumbled its way to the happy ending... but it was a sweet little read and provided exactly the kind of gentle, warm froth I was looking for. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy one of these, but if another one happened to come into our bookshop I'd definitely be tempted to take it home, put the kettle on and settle in for a few hours' mental candy floss!

Nice review- I love cozy stories. *Ponders what mental candy floss looks like?* :p

#117: I will have to give that one a go when I am in the mood for more BC.

I tried my first Mary Higgins Clark earlier this year but didn't like it at all. I gave it to my mother to try and she didn't like it either, and she's a sucker for mysteries, so maybe I just tried a bad one by her. *shrug*

There wasn't much mystery about it, to be fair! It told me exactly what was happening to everybody, so all I had to do was sit back and wait for Jessica Fletcher Alvirah and Regan to work it out! And that, my dears, is mental candy floss. Light and whippy and nothingy, but hits the spot when you need a sugar hit... :-)

Too long in the Wasteland (Real Life)...stopping in to say Hello

;-}

Yeah - the Wasteland seems to be everywhere right now! *squirrels herself away in a corner of LT where she'll be safe*

Too long in the Wasteland (Real Life)...

Oh, I thought you were talking about my thread there for a second. >:P

#123: You can always come hide out on the Acre, Ellie. You are more than welcome there.

Hide out! On the Acre? Only if I have a REALLY fast speedboat to keep up! :-)
Nah, you're right, I really need to catch up on all my threads. And my emails. And, well, everything else that isn't sitting with my nose in a book!

Ah, You tried a Mary Higgins Clark book. I personally like most of her stories. The first one I ever read by her was A Stranger is Watching. I really enjoyed that book. I would like to read all of her books, but I don't know if that is possible. I like your review.

#126: LOL!

OK, I've officially given up on Dawn French. It's a funny book, don't get me wrong, but I think she'd have been better just writing a straightforward humorous autobiography instead of building it out of letters to various people through her life. Doing it this way tends to take any objectivity away and it was rapidly descending into the kind of gushy praise you might expect on a talking heads documentary when someone's won an award or something. How wonderful that person is, how much they have meant in your life, gush gush gush. Not In The Mood. I'll stick to watching 'The Vicar of Dibley'!

On the plus side, as one book leaves the building, another boxful is due to arrive in the next day or two... :-)
Yes, once again I have succumbed to the lure of Amazon and done a humungerous order, including loads of the YA-crossover paranormal mystery romance jobbies that have been flooding the blogs recently. Oh, and a book on cholera, The Medical Detective - not as gruesome as ebola, I know, but a girl's gotta start somewhere... And I've ordered a load of books from the Marketplace too - I can't even remember what or how many - so they'll be nice surprises as they arrive... *happy dance*

AND today's our laaaaast daaaaay before our two days off, yippee! Our last double day off until October, so I am well and truly gonna make the most of it. I've ordered the biggest amount of junk food EVER in our order - millionaire shortbread, popcorn, pizza, strawberries, and that holy grail of chocolatey goodness, the Terry's Chocolate Orange - plus of course all those books will be arriving... *even madder happy dance*

Five minutes and a bit of cleaning to go and I'm FREEEEEEE! And very hungry, my stomach was playing up again this morning so I've barely eaten a bite all day, and I can feel a nice tea coming on. Toasted muffins and honey, tea, delicious fresh apricots... AAAARGH! A WHOLE MID-WEEK WEEKEND TO MYSELF!!! :-)

Congratulations, Ellie! I hope you have a wonderful couple of days off.

Oh, and a book on cholera, The Medical Detective - not as gruesome as ebola, I know, but a girl's gotta start somewhere...

I'm proud of you, Ellie! :P And when you need more recommendations, you know where to look. Ohhh, I can be like a guide, like your teacher. Y'know, like that romantic scene with the pottery wheel at the beginning of Ghost, except with cholera and ebola. Yeah! :D

...what, why is everyone looking at me like that? ... *awkward silence*

I hope your days off are relaxing, Ellie! :)

Two books hath arrived already - Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (so much hype over Linger, I thought it was about time I joined the party!) and Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. It was one of my fave books when I was in my teens, one of the first YA books I really read.

Actually, it kinda sums us up doesn't it Stephen - what with your gleeful interest in ebola and my gleeful interest in Cadbury buttons! *Hums 'Unchained Melody' quietly to herself*

The mega-haul should arrive tomorrow, and hopefully the bulk of my marketplace stuff as well, since Mum and Hannah are going shopping and thus won't see how many packages the postman has to cart down our drive! ;-)

You sneaky devil, you!

Ellie : I love Dawn French in 'the Vicar of Dibley'. I haven't yet tried to read anything she's written though. Is she as funny in writing as she is on the tele?

Hooray for new books!

I liked Dear Fatty a lot. *Shrugs* Oh, well. Shame you didn't enjoy that one, but at least you have plenty more on the way.

132: We don't get those Button thingers in the US. No fair, I need a favorite candy that can't be found over there. Do you guys get Zero Bars? I haven't had one since I was a kid, but I used to be obsessed with them. They were all backwards and different, white on the outside and brown on the inside, all opposite and weird, they were the best! :D

I was enjoying it - it was definitely a gigglefest and she sure has a way with words - but she ruined it with all the sentimental bits. Of course it's important to reflect on the individuals who have shaped her life, but I don't know these people so it would have maybe been better for her to step back a teensy bit. I felt like you do when you go to a wedding of someone you don't really know, and the gushy speeches seem to go on forever because you don't get the insider jokes and you have NO IDEA what anyone's talking about. But maybe that's just me.

As Geraldine Granger, however, Ms French will ALWAYS have a special spot in my heart... :-)

Now I'm onto a book from my last uber-haul, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Bit of a change of pace there. And there's still The Island and The World According to Clarkson in the background - but I'm putting them on hold to read a punchy little title or two over these days off. Something exciting or romantic or weepy or just downright indulgent, something I can't really enjoy as much at the shop, make the most of it...

Oh, I am Legend, I realy liked the movie. It sounds like 'my kinda book,' but I don't know if I'll ever read it since I've already seen the film... *shrug*

Hey Ape. You really should read the book. It's a good one, but not much like the movie.

Ooo, I Am Legend...generally, Richard Matheson is a good, solid bet for slantwise storytelling. I've liked more of his books than I didn't.

#137 I felt kind of the same about the sentimental bits - it just got a bit luvvy occasionally - I was glad I got it from the library. I did enjoy it overall though and I thought her letters to her Dad were very heartfelt.

Enjoy I am Legend - I thought it was fantastic.

#138 Yep, what Kirconnell said - I enjoyed the film, but the book is soooooo much better. Definitely recommended to you with your love of post-apocalyptic stuff...

#140 I would have said that until I read Somewhere in Time a couple of months ago. I thought that that was just dreadful. Still, very much enjoyed 2 of the 3 I've read, so I probably just need to stick to his non-romantic books!

#140 Actually Richard, I've been feeling the need to find a new book by Richard Matheson to wipe the nasty taste of Somewhere in Time out of my mouth - are there any you'd particularly recommend (other than I Am Legend and Stir of Echoes?).

My library has a copy of I Am Legend...so...I guess I'll have to give it a try sometime! :)

#143 Yes.

>142 flissp: Flissykins poopsie-cuddles, I'd suggest Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, a collection of his short horror fiction. For a *real* change of pace, try The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok, which is pretty durned unromantic.

Hmmm, I'd spied and wondered about the Wild Bill Hickok book before. Okey dokey, on the list it goes...

Hi Ellie - have a great two days off!

lost and found

Oh ta you lot, I haven't even finished I am Legend yet and you're throwing more books my way... *makes mental note for next uber-order* It's definitely very different to the movie so far Stephen, and since there's no dog as yet I'm hoping to avoid that part in the book... :_(

Speaking of weepy stuff, last night I was messing about on YouTube and ended up finding a handful of old animations I used to watch when I was a child. Anyone remember 'Flight of Dragons'? Or 'Granpa' (that empty chair...)? Here's part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iisSLlv0-B4

Or my ultimate favourite, 'The Angel and the Soldier Boy'? With the tiny toy angel who has to gather her courage to save the little soldier boy from pirates and restore a birthday coin to her young owner before morning? This is the first part (it has no sound) - the second and third parts do and the music is beautiful!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07AJjN48JoE



No idea what the clips are here (don't look, just listen, it ruins it!), but this is the theme song for the tiny angel and her love, the little soldier boy... (whoops, here come the tears again!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtQdG2AViRs

As soon as I saw these clips I started crying and I had such an emotional hour watching them! Something about these beautiful old animations from such a happy, innocent time, when I think about everything that's happened since... It just broke my heart, completely unexpectedly, and every time I see/hear them it just makes me cry and cry! Those opening bars start, and I'm away! It's a bit like 'The Snowman' - you know it's going to break your heart just like it did when you were a child, and that sadness permeates the whole half hour animation, but it's irresistable all the same...

*goes to make herself a comforting cup of tea and grab a tissue*

On another note, my stuff should now arrive tomorrow (no idea why it's taken so long for an 'expedited' delivery to be dispatched)... here's what I'm expecting, all in all:

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (arrived yesterday)
Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause (arrived yesterday)
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Plain and Simple: A Woman's Journey to the Amish by Sue Bender
Dark Lover by J.R. Ward
Blood Price by Tanya Huff
Ill Wind by Rachel Caine
Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan

And the Amazon uber-order:

Numbers by Rachel Ward
The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
The Medical Detective: John Snow, Cholera and the Mystery of the Broad Street Pump by Sandra Hempel
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Happyslapped by a Jellyfish by Karl Pilkington
A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Under the Dome by Stephen King
Fallen by Lauren Kate
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Roll on tomorrow, I can't wait to unpack this lot! ;-)

#149 "It just broke my heart, completely unexpectedly, and every time I see/hear them it just makes me cry and cry!" - I had a similar reaction when I heard Rolf Harris' "Two Little Boys" for the first time in years the other day - floods of tears! No idea why ;o)

Oh!!! The Medical Detective is about John Snow and Broad Streat!? I loved loved loved loved loved The Ghost Map! :)

Stephen - Oh, hello there! I told you it was about cholera, did I not? *steps back to avoid Stephen's exuberant arm-waving*

Fliss - OK, that's weird... ;-)

I did the same thing at school once, when I had just gone up to secondary school at age 11. We were doing a dance P.E. lesson, and the teacher told us what to do, then pressed play on the tape recorder. Now, I had no idea where I'd heard that piece of music, no idea why it elicited the reaction it did - I just knew, deep down, that I'd heard it somewhere before and it broke my heart the instant it began. Within twenty seconds I was perched on the edge of the stage in absolute floods of racking tears, my heart aching as I prayed that the music, beautiful though it was, would end. Many years later, I worked out that this happened just after my parents divorced, and I THINK that music was played on their wedding/honeymoon video - which I'd only ever seen once or twice when I was about six or seven, I might add. But some part of me remembered, and tied these two things together in this extreme, unprecedented reaction. Nowadays I wouldn't react the same way, of course, but back then it just struck me like a knife. Amazing how the mind works...

It's an intensely powerful thing, when music stirs some deep subconscious memory like that. That one little story, with that one theme song, has had me in tears for nearly 24 hours now, off and on, which is pretty darn impressive! I found this version, actually - the original doesn't have the narration - someone's edited that in from the audio book I think - and the music's a tad out of sync once or twice, but this is the whole animation...

http://www.livevideo.com/video/DoubleDot/F077BC269276478B96E80F81D3039479/the-an...

Ellie: Yes, of course, I just didn't know it was about that particular outbreak. It's a good one! Errr, I mean...well...you know. :)

Music is a fickle thing, I guess because it works it's way into your subconscious on like anything else. Sometimes when I play a handheld game (Nintendo DS) and the TV is playing, a week later I'll play the same game and I get this itchy feeling, and realize I'm thinking about the show that was playing the last time I played the game. I'll pick up a game I haven't played in a year and start remembering the dialogue to a show I watched the last time I played it. The think music works it's way into you like that, when it's playing but you aren't focusing on it.

Yes! Those tenuous connections where a whole flood of things can be brought back by a particular scent on the breeze, a piece of music, a single photo... Amazing, really.

WOW! That is some wild collection of titles..

( I am trying in vain to stay caught up with you..)

#153 I know - I had to laugh at myself too (through the tears!) Must have been childhood memories...

Some great book discussion here- I have added I am Legend. I read Ill Wind and most of the story takes place in the town I went to college in and lived for all of my adult life- which was weird!

Wow ... now THAT's some haul, Ellie. I'm jealous .. really.... *sigh* ...although I'm so pressed for time these days that I probably wouldn't be able to enjoy all those books even if someone sent them to me. I'll have to enjoy them vicariously through you then.

*Ahem* Caroline dear, have you forgotten the first curse of bibliophilia? I ain't gonna have time to enjoy them all either, working in a honeytrap town over summer... I just couldn't help myself! Hehe, you can't hold a good bookworm back!

Tell ya what, I'll enjoy looking at/stroking them in spare moments, and you can enjoy THAT vicariously through me until we all get a little more time to indulge, k? We'll work our way up to being able to actually READ the new shiny books when real life calms down a little all round... ;-)

mmmmm.......ahhhhhh....ummm....wha? oh, sorry Ellie ... I was fantasizing about the day when real life calms down so I have time to read all the new shiny books..... waaahh....the fantasy bubble just burst!

#160: We'll work our way up to being able to actually READ the new shiny books when real life calms down a little all round... ;-)

So far real life has never calmed down for me, so I may never get all my books read!

Yeah, but that's because you have about a million in the Black Hole, Stasia... If you'd restrict yourself to a few hundred at a time like us more restrained individuals (*ahem*) you'd be through them in no time at your speed!

Oh my good grief, I just decided to take pictures of some of my new books for the 'Sunday Confessional' over on my blog (which, incidentally, I'm having to prune a little as my Mum's now discovered that it is an all-too-accurate account of how many books I've nicked from the shop! I need a Book Thieves Anonymous group or something, it's just so compulsive!)... well, I took a couple of extra pics of my bookshelves and the piles of books on my floor and just realised my living room looks like a bomb's hit it. A bomb filled entirely with books, magazines, bits of paper and day-off debris (mug, plate, chocolatey bites in a little plastic box, remote controls...)

Oh dear. I know what I'm going to be doing this afternoon then... I am Legend may have to make way for another afternoon of daytime crime drama and a whole lot of tidying! :-/

#163: Yeah, you are my definition of restraint all right, Ellie :)

*waves happily from the glorious planet of Denial*

(from the blog:) And I love Disney songs!

Errr, ummm, ehhh...so, well, "I" wouldn't know about such things, being a big manly masculine, um, DUDE. But I have this, err, 'friend' who says he stole his little sisters Anastasia soundtrack to rip the song "Once Upon a December" onto his computer. He's a big pansy though. :)

I love that song! Stupid iTunes warped my copy though, and now you can only buy the WHOLE ALBUM. Daaaaaaamn.

You know I just come here to read all this wonderful banter that goes on between everyone.

I have extensively limited my purchase of new books this year. Mainly because of the mountains all over my house of books that I still want to read and also money is something I don't have a lot of at the moment. And of course everytime I come on here I see new books I would like to read and most of the time my library doesn't have the books or there is a wait for them.

Have a great day all!!!

#167 Ellie - Spotify. It's a wonderful thing.

Spotify isn't available in the US! BOOO HISSS

Sorry Richard... ...but it is for Ellie ;o)

...available I mean...

It is such a good thing that my birthday is in November. I keep getting all these great suggestions through the threads in this group...

The cholera book has been added to my wishlist :-)

I love that song!

So do I! I mean, so does my friend! ;) I would've given him a hard time for listening to 'sissy girly' music, but every once in awhile you gotta give a guy like that a break, right?

:(

Just passing through and giving some thought o I Am Legend

Hey all! Thanks Fliss - I'll check it out next time I'm buying music... My iTunes library and all my files are on the home computer down in the main house, never bothered to transfer them anywhere, so I tend to bank up a few song titles then buy them all at once. :-)

Stephen - it IS a great song.

Kath - hello! I gave it 4 stars, just haven't reviewed it yet - watch this space!

:)

#176: Stephen, she is only about 8 hours ahead of us, right? Wait a sec, what is taking her so long? She has a head start on our day!

Hey! Some of us have work to do, and, *ahem*, 'errands' to run in town - y'know, like filling prescriptions, picking up some bits and pieces for lunch over the weekend, wandering into a charity shop or two... ;-)
Ooops, I did it again... I think it was about seven books altogether this time - but more on that later!

38) I Am Legend by Richard Matheson



It's hard to know what to say about this book without spoiling the unfolding narrative for future readers, so I'll keep it fairly brief! Robert Neville is the lone survivor of a mysterious plague that has killed everyone he loves and turned his friends and neighbours into vampires. He spends his days repairing his home, making garlic strings to protect his property, and staking vampires where they sleep. When darkness falls he must barricade his door and steel himself to a night of his neighbours calling to him from the garden, the men heaving rocks at his house as the women expose themselves in an attempt to lure him outside.

This book is many things. It is an accomplished, atmospheric and well-paced dystopian novel, in which Matheson excels at ripping the rug out from under the reader every time they become too complacent. It is a reminder of the ease in which a simple biological mutation could begin a pandemic with the ability wipe out a species and destroy humanity as we know it. It is a sly jab at the changing nature of society, in which one day's normality may become the next day's abomination. It is an exploration of loneliness, of the human need for companionship and the way the mind copes with enforced solitude. And it is a homage to courage, to the will to survive, and to the struggle for knowledge and understanding.

I'm not sure yet that this will be keeper for me - would it, I wonder, yield more on a second reading, or would it lose its sparkle with foreknowledge of the way the narrative unfolds? I'd definitely recommend it anyway, for anyone who enjoys a pacy dystopian thriller with some deeper questions thrown in for good measure...

Yes, this sort of procrastination cannot be tolerated. No excuses. None. She must be punished.

Oh wait, she's probably admiring all her new books! Yes, that's it. Ok ok, if that's the case, I forgive you Ellie. ;)

ETA: Haha, perfect timing Ellie, now my post doesn't make sense (not that many of them do in the first place!) :)

Eat. My. Shorts...
Review's up, Oh Impatient Ones! And yes... I may have been too busy buying more books in town to write anything! In fact, I'd actually considered skipping a review for this one, but it was making me feel so guilty I stopped and wrote one anyway... :-/

ETA: Darn it, now mine doesn't! Ah, sod it. Carry on, folks!

I'm definitely going to have to give it a try, it sounds a LOT different than the movie. I mean:

the women expose themselves in an attempt to lure him outside.

Where was THAT in the movie!? :P I mean, c'mon, haven't film makers realized by now that zombie/vampire breasts = better horror movie. Even the naked zombie strippers in that one Resident Evil movie were, well, slightly less repulsive than the clothed versions. I don't usually approve meaningly nudity/sex to increase sales, but it's different when it's vampire/ZOMBIE nudity/sex. Right guys?

Oh! Errr, ummm, I mean...nice review Ellie. Heh heh... *thumbs up*

*inches towards the door quietly*

New level of weirdness there Stephen, but since it's you, I'll let it go... And the good news is, there was no killing of loyal German Shepherds either, which will probably stop me ever watching the movie again, even though I kinda want to now I've read the book. Ah well.

I'm happy to know there are levels of weirdness I haven't yet reached, Ellie...phew!

I mean, it's not really my fault, it's just...well, after the necrotizing fascilitis pleasure house ordeal...zombies were just the next step up for me! :)

Definitely glad to hear about the dog thing.

I met my first Siberian husky today and fell in love... We went to Mind this morning to collect the usual load of off-the-shelf books, and Angie, the manager, was supposed to be off for the day. Well, she arrived two minutes after we did, with this beautiful husky in tow, a youngster called Storm, who was supposed to be spayed that day but had to be turned away for a week or two because she was in the middle of a phantom pregnancy. Oh, this dog was so GORGEOUS! That stunning wolfy face with the semi-smile every time she stopped to draw breath, and she was so strong! She hopped up to put her paws on the counter, looking over, and tried to steal a Barbie doll from under the display top, then nearly pulled Josie's (the loveliest volunteer) arm off trying to look round! I'm not a dog woman, since our German Shepherd died and we got our first cat, but I could have taken this girl home with us. I took half of her to work, judging by the great tufts of white-grey fur I had to pull off my black trousers, but hey...

ANYWAY, new Haul of Naughtiness for the day:

Plain and Simple: A Woman's Journey to the Amish by Sue Bender (Amazon Marketplace)
Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz (bookshop duplicate)
Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War by Ernesto 'Che' Guevara (like new, £1.49, Age UK)
The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman (£1.49, Age UK)
A Dog's Life by Martin Clunes (hardback, £1.50, Ashgate Hospice)
Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose (8): A Memoir of Love, Exile and Crosswords by Sandy Balfour (like new, £1, Ashgate Hospice)
The Smoking Diaries: The Last Cigarette by Simon Gray (£1, Ashgate Hospice)
Icefire by Chris d'Lacey (£1, Ashgate Hospice)

*sits back with a contented sigh*... Not bad for a day's work! ;-)

#184: Looks like another nice haul for you, Ellie!

*Reads #184*

*Glances back to #163*

"Restrained"? Definitely "ahem".

An interesting variety of acquisitions, there, though. And that husky sounds like a handful!

Some of those look pretty good.. and your review of Legend is wonderful!

184: Sounds like a nice day, you need more of those!

I notice you bought a book 'the Amish' (Oh, how desperately I want to type 'a book on Amishism.') I live right next to an Amish community! Their horse-drawn carriages go buy my place all the time, you can hear the horses trotting for a good while before they actually pass, with their hooves clattering on the paved road.

I remember once, driving slowly by one of their houses when I was maybe 10-11 years old, there was an Amish girl my own age in the yard, and she waved at me as we passed. I remember blushing up a storm, "A girl waved at me!" I thought. *sigh* You know you're destined to be forever shy and bashful when you are embarassed by an EXTREMELY conservative girl waving at you. *shakes head*

I also remember when I was a boy, we had stopped at a gas station in the small town near their community, my mom sent me in to buy a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi and a big bag of chips, for the family, and there was an Amish man in there chatting with the clerk. He joked with me, asking if I was going to eat all that myself. :)

Hey Missy, Just dropping in to say Hi even though I speak to you all the time on your blog I must not forget your thread!

Great haul you did the other day I very much want to get some books by Dean Koontz soon especially Odd Thomas. Make sure you leave at least *some* books for me and Rach at the chairty shops! ;)

Re: Amish Our house that we bought was redone on the inside by an Amish family. They were really nice people and their kids were too sweet. :) They did an awesome job on our house and built our porch in the front of the house. Come to think, I guess that would technically make them mennonite since they have to work with electricity? I don't know.

If it was electricity at your house, that is ok.
Here in Northern Indiana some work in factories. Using all kinds of power tools.

Oooh, thanks for that clarification. I really had no clue. :)

interesting info.... Sadly though, some Amish are guilty of running puppy mills..
http://www.google.com/search?q=amish+puppy+mills&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&a...

I always idealized them, their way of life.. until this became a big issue in our state..

191/192: Indeed, some just require themselves to be off the main grid, if they generate the electricity themselves it's fine, and consequently they can use power tools that use batteries. The 'rules' seem to vary a lot, like most religions. ;)

The puppy mills thing is definitely sad, regardless of who does it. :(

What?! Some Amish run puppy mills?! I had no idea... oh, that makes me so sad...

>190 leperdbunny:: Stephen's got it right (msg 194) -- and it depends on if they were New Order Amish or Old Order Amish (and even within those there are some variations). If the house is wired, it was very likely New Order Amish. Or, you're right, could be Mennonite (who also have New and Old Orders). It gets rather confusing...

I'd seen that book, Plain and Simple, around before, but there's currently a documentary on here in which a group of five Amish teens in their rumspringa 'year out' come to stay with various families around Britain to see how their lifestyles compare, and what the two sets of young people can learn from each other. It just got me interested, so I thought I'd take the advice of the excellent reviews and take a look!

Oh I've seen that documentary advertised, I really wanted to watch it but forgot all about it. A wonderful fiction book on Amish life is Plain truth by Jodi Picoult. I really liked that one.

Oh I had no idea about the puppy mill thing, how sad. :(

It made me sad too, believe me. It was awful, but our governer really stepped up. There are fewer now, but I am sure that not all of them have been shut down .

Is it really so surprising? I mean, these are the people who use animal labor to plow their fields. Have you ever a horse pulling one of those big heavy plows? :(

I know it's something that has been practiced for thousands of years, and still is in many parts of the world, but if they are willing to exploit a horse for their own gain, why not dogs too? =/ It's sad, but I don't find it all that surprising.

I mean, they tend to be very nice people, from what I've seen...but I'm sure plenty of puppy mill owners are the same, so... *shrug*

I'll look into the Jodi Picoult... not read any of hers yet, but I should give her a go at some point if only to see what all the hype is about! She flies off our shelves so fast, I'd be interested to see why. Back to work!

Hi Ellie, I just wanted to say I liked the 'list format' you used in your most recent Sunday Confessional on your blog. It makes things easier to digest when you buy, oh I don't know, 30+ books! ;)

Hi, Ellie -

Some how I have missed reading where you have a blog. Could you send me a link or something, I would enjoy reading it.

Thanks, Ruthie

Stephen - yes, it made things easier all round I think... easier to read, easier to post. Think I'll do it that way most weeks, unless I only have one or two books (she says hopefully).

Hi Ruth! It's here:
http://musingsofabookshopgirl.blogspot.com/

Now, just wanted to ask - does anyone here have any experience of hypnotherapy? Or know someone else who has had it? Only I've been getting rather complacent here at the shop, with only the occasional errand to run, but today we have two extra things to do and I'm terrified! I have to walk round to a customer's house to value some books in a few minutes, then after work we're driving out to Mrs H's (the thawed old lady who's leaving me her books) to look at her library. I immediately get all panicky, my stomach goes haywire, and I've had to take every tablet I've got! So I'm thinking about trying hypnotherapy once the schools have gone back and Mum and I are both off on the same day again, me not driving and all. I just don't know. I'm scared about even going to an appointment because the best place locally is still a little way away, and knowing the cost I'm a little reluctant without knowing more... Anyone got any experiences to share?

ETA: One errand down. Books sorted, and turns out the lovely Sandra has had similar problems herself in the past, so we ended up chatting for ages in her homely kitchen while her kids played in the living room... aaaaah. I dragged three bags back with me and we have four more to pick up after work, and now I've cooled off (and my arms are back to normal) I'm on a roll! Where shall I go next?! I might go check out that Bluebell Hospice place with the room of books upstairs, and maybe stop off for something yummy for tomorrow... Work? What work? :-)

Hello dear Ellie, I'm glad the first task went well. I'm sure visiting the famous Mrs. H will be perfectly enjoyable, from what I've heard of the lady. I'm happy for you. :)

I don't know much about hypnotherapy, but I know how you feel about the panicky feeling. It's like butterflies in your stomach, only dragonflies instead! I hope you find something that works for you, and be sure let me know so I can try it! :D

Actually, just the thought of having to see someone about my problems fills me with dread. I'm hopeless, aren't I? :(

Well Done, Ellie!

I am glad that you found someone to talk to. Believe me when I say that I have some understanding of your dilemma. It is one reason that I leave so early for work.. just fling myself out the door before I am awake. Social things.. well.. mostly to be avoided at all cost.

I am glad to see that you are doing so well with getting on. That is a huge thing. Hypnotherapy may be just the thing.

Hi, Ellie:

First of all ... thanks for the link to your blog. (Stasia had stopped by my profile page to give me the link also. Thanks, Stasia). I loved reading it and plan to stop by often to supplement our LT and Facebook chats.

I notice that you are interested in reading a book that has some background in the Amish way of life. Another member suggested the Jody Picoult, which I have not read and therefore have no opinion about.

However, I can offer a book that I really liked by Linda Castillo. Actually, she has two in this series, Sworn to Silence and Pray for Silence. The detective/Chief of Police, is a woman who grew up in an Amish household, but, left the Amish way of life and went into law enforcement. She still lives in the area where she grew up which includes many families living the Amish way.

She is brilliant and delightful as both a detective and a character in the tale. So far I have read the first two books in the series and will have to check to see when the newest one is to be released. Hoping this adds to you options re: the Amish way of life and brings you some good reading choices.

You are a delight to follow here on LT. I always look forward to catching up with what you are writing about and what you are reading.

I find it hard to believe that your friend would name the buzzard, Ellie! Doesn't sound like the characteristics of the Ellie I know and love at all!

Sounds as though you had a good experience with Sandra. Each success like the one you had, will bring you further and further along the path away from your anxiety over the upcoming meetings.

I have mixed feeling about hypnosis. It has been helpful to many people, and, at the same time, I think the brain does best not being "hypnotized" and being aware and conscious of the actions that one takes, instead of it coming from the subconscious. I'm not sure I'm stating this accurately, but, what you have already accomplished seems to me, more the way to defuse the "butterflies" or "dragonflies" IMHO.

Hypnosis is a shortcut around the feelings that stop anyone, but there is nothing like first hand successes to really begin the new groove in your brain of having relaxed and clear meetings that you want for yourself and others.

Just my two pence worth!

*Cheers and applause* to you, Dear Ellie.

Thanks Ruth... that was kinda my own thoughts, to be honest, but it's been such a long time with things plateauing I wasn't sure whether to just bite the bullet and see if hypnotherapy might just help me over that edge so I can carry on making headway. Oh, I don't know!

But every time I do something like today that pushes me is a real confidence booster, which is great. We bought books from Sandra once before, and she comes in occasionally, but this was the first time we'd really chatted one-on-one, it was really nice. Once my arms had gone back to their normal length (jeez, those bags were heavy) I went out trawling town for something for lunch, went across to my favourite coffee house a little way across town to buy some Bakewell crackle (treacly chocolate crispie slices), and went to the new charity shop I discovered. The clothes weren't that great, but the book section upstairs was okay. Not too much I wanted (I only bought one!), but lovely tub chairs and tables laid out up there, with a hot drinks machine and a food vending machine.

A whole morning window shopping, I did so well! I didn't come back until nearly half past one, I must have been out a good two and a half hours this morning. One day on my day off I'll go the other way along the main road from our house (one way is Bakewell, where the shop is, the other is Matlock), on the bus, trawl all seven charity shops in a magnificent book feast, buy myself a gorgeous turkey and stuffing cob from the little sandwich shop, and get me a taxi home with all my new books! *drifts away into a beautiful daydream*

Sadly Mum found this week's 'Sunday Confessional' on my blog rather interesting and banned me from buying any more for a while, especially with a measly two going out again this week! :-(

Hi Ellie! I was just recommended your thread by Ape, Jess, and Rachel by rants of amazing. . . and I am not disappointed, lol. A lot of interesting reads that I have heard nothing about, hello tbr pile.

Checked your blog too. Super fun and entertaining. Love the stuff on dumb customers. I work at a take n bake pizza place and we get some horribly finicky customers. Our grumpiest ones are the stay at home moms in their 40/50s. Heaven forbid they forgot their coupon at home, and just can't justify spending the extra $2. . . which is still cheaper than other pizza places by $5!

Too bad about being banned from new books. On the bright side, shrinking of the site wide tbr pandemic?

I enjoy your blog too, Ellie, even though I forget to mention it. The stories about the customers are just priceless. I cannot wait for you to publish a book.

Hello! Alas, my book pile may slowly diminish, but my wishlist will continue to expand unchecked! Your pizza customers sound a lot like my book buyers... what is WRONG with some people? Seriously?!

Update: We went to Mrs H's house after work, and it was so sad. The grounds of her house are so beautiful - she has huge picture windows in her living room looking right out over a bank of great shrubs and flowering bushes, and the beautiful, wooded, rolling hills of Derbyshire. And she has decided that since it costs so much to amend a will, she'd like us to remove as many books as possible before she goes, which according to her (and, apparently, her doctor) could be tomorrow or in several years... So we ended up coming away with a box and two bags of books, completely unexpectedly and in a move riddled with awkwardness and sadness. She showed Mum some of her old lace working and beautiful stitching that she had done many years ago too, which was beautiful, and so sad that she has no one to cherish any of these things when she's gone. I couldn't help it, I started to tear up as we headed for the door, and my voice went all wibbly and I was a bit speechless, and I just couldn't help myself, I gave her a big hug. After a split-second's hestitation she hugged me back, and smiled sadly, and said she was just happy that her books were going to such a good home. And I cried all the way home in the car... :-(

She's like a surrogate grandmother these days, I don't want her going anywhere yet! *sigh* I've got a day off tomorrow, so I'd better get on with pricing this heap of kid's books - Mum's hopeless at it - then I can choose what to read next...

Also enjoying the blog, although I usually forget to comment.

Surrogate grandmothers are much more valuable than any possessions: I'm glad that you've got that.

How sad - you're making me tear up now. But I am sure that you and your Mum make her life happier.

It sounds like a lovely relationship. I am glad that you found each other...

You're sweet Ellie, and the whole story about Mrs. H is very touching. I'll have to keep her in mind whenever I come across one of those old battle axes.

Ellie dearest, please tell Mrs. H that someone on the other side of the Atlantic is a little in love with her for her beautiful heart.

The books are beautiful too. I'm a very lucky girl. Beautiful folio collections of poetry and short stories, and neat hardbound sets of Woolf, Hardy, Dickens, Bronte, Austen, Trollope, Galsworthy... And to think that she could have left them, with the rest of her possessions, to the local hospices. I know exactly what would have happened to them then, being older books - they might have sold a couple for a pound or two a time, and disposed of the rest. *shudders* We're not going to do anything with the books until 'the time comes', as it were (though how we'll even know given that she has no one around, I don't know) - a few will go to the shop then, but a lot of them I'll keep and care for... *sigh*

Ohhhhh my head. Why does something always happen on my day off?! Headaches, stomach upsets, there's always something! It's another muggy day, that's why, all rain and thunder and beating sun. I've had one lot of uber-painkillers and a little nap, but all it's done is simmer it down just enough for me to go wash my hair, now it's back with a vengeance! 'Scuse me all, time to initiate round two and get another dose washed down...

P.S. You remember that atrocious Alaric Adair young adult novel I read a while back, the one where the editor should really have been taken quietly out back and shot for crimes to teen literature? Well, guess who just won the third in the series on Member Giveaway? Hehe... Still, it benefits the author really. I ordered the second in the series so I don't miss anything, at a whopping £9.99 (this better be good, Alaric) and if it's all better now the editor situation has been cleared up I can eat my words and finally give him the glowing review he was looking for! ;-)

I forgot to say - I finished Victoria Hislop's The Island, which was wonderful - but no review yet, given that my head is splitting itself in half from the inside right now. I've been reading Stephenie Meyer's The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner to distract myself, and it's actually really good! And after hearing the hilarious 'Janet and John' stories on Terry Wogan's breakfast radio show a couple of years back, I'm having a nice time smirking over the original stories, collected together in See John Run by Kevin Joslin. For anyone who doesn't know, they're written in the style of the original 'Janet and John' children's reading books, except about the sixty-ish John Marsh and his wife Janet, who always ends up clobbering John when his innocent reports on his activities come out sounding all wrong! I'll copy one out in a bit, they're so funny!

I hope your headaches subside soon, Ellie. :(

Ellie I’m very jealous that you got One moment, One morning I want that one as well! You’ve been giving me a lot of green faces lately m’dear! I’m glad that you’re enjoying The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner I found it good. A little unnecessary but a good read all the same.

I just finished Bree Tanner and I really enjoyed it. A MUCH better addition to the series than, say, Beedle the Bard was to Harry Potter... It was interesting seeing how everything tied together from the newborns' perspective.

Stephen - thanks sweetie, the second batch of pills has taken it down nicely again, so I'm just sitting tight and hoping that might be it now! If not I'll take one last dose before bed and try to sleep it off. It won't be pleasant fending off lots of Friday customers and noisy kids if it's still lingering tomorrow... :-(

39) The Island by Victoria Hislop



I don't normally choose 'family saga' novels, but there was something very appealing about the premise of this one. Set on Crete, specifically around the little fishing village of Plaka, it tells the story of several generations of Petrakis women, and their ties to the leper colony on Spinalonga, the little island just off the coast. Alexis, British-born and half-Greek, is determined to find out about her mother's family history, despite her unfathomable secrecy. Finally relenting, Sofia sends her daughter to an old friend in Plaka, who finally tells her the story of her family, beginning with her great-grandmother Eleni and her great-grandfather Georgiou and continuing through the years to her mother's lifetime.

I found this to be a very evocative book, filled with the sights, sounds and scents of life in rural Greece. It was also quite educational, giving as it does a comprehensive, if fictionalised, account of life in the leper colony on Spinalonga. It taught me a lot about leprosy, in terms of the disease itself and of the way it was viewed by society at that time. Aspects of the stigma of having a disease and the embarrassment of its physical manifestation continue to ring true for other illnesses and disabilities today, providing an interesting comparison and a pause for reflection. The descriptions of the community on the island were alive with colour and feeling, and I felt myself sinking into the unfamiliar setting and becoming deeply absorbed in the narrative as the family's story unfolded.

I can't believe it's taken me so many years to finally get to this book, but I'm glad I finally plucked it down from the shelf and gave it the attention it deserves. I can see why this book became a bestseller, and I'll be recommending it heartily to anyone looking for a summer read with an wide sweep, a Mediterranean flavour, a thoughtful theme and a whole lot of heart.

What a nice review, Ellie. I'm so glad you liked The Island ... it's one of my favorites and I've got it on my re-read shelf although, shamefully, I have yet to re-read it. Your review's reminded me that I really should dust it off and sit down with it and a nice mug of green tea again soon.

I'll be keeping it too - it feels too important to let go of, somehow... Hopefully I'll get a review for Bree Tanner up sometime as well (here comes the non-review guilt again) but right now that headache's quietly creeping back up, trying to catch me unawares I suspect, so that it can have a nice party up there before I zap it with codeine-y oblivion. Sooooo, I'm going to get into my PJs, put the telly on, take some more tablets with a last cuppa, choose my next read, and keep my fingers tightly crossed that by the time I wake up tomorrow morning this monster will be nowt but a whisper of a memory.
*reads back over mad last paragraph and wonders if stupid headache might have made her slightly delirious*

#222: Nice review, Ellie. I already had that one in the BlackHole, but I need to bump it up. Unfortunately, my local library does not have it yet.

I don't do 'family saga' as rule, either, but you make that one sound interesting. Hmmm...

Hope the headache is gone by morning.

Hey, Ellie, so sorry about the headache. I get them too, when those low pressure fronts move through, but thank goodness I finally have some effective medication to knock them down. Still no fun, though. Hope you are feeling better soon!

The headache seems to be more or less gone this morning, hallelujah! Still that faint lingering whisper of pain and the slight dullness of a day on painkillers, but other than that I'm mercifully free! It's another wet and windy day here (August, my posterior), plenty of people tramping in dripping everywhere and time-wasting... I've got my orders done, managed to squirrel away the book that arrived for me in the post this morning, and now I'm hiding myself behind my cup of coffee and The Weight of Silence and trying to ignore everybody! :-)

Hi Ellie, I haven't visited since you began the sparkling seventh thread and now that it's almost time for a new one I'll just bypass all 228 posts and wait for your new thread to catch up. Hope all's well with you and the shop.

#228: I am glad the headache has cleared, Ellie. I hope you have a wonderful day!

>229 Carmenere: - We're all good, thanks! Being tossed around in the whirlwind of summer trade, just trying to keep those shelves tidy through the hours until we can breathe a sigh of relief and go home for a rest before the next day's onslaught! Nice seeing that roll of banknotes growing each week for paying in, though... :-)

I've decided not to review Bree Tanner btw - I started one but it's such a short book, there are 80 reviews on here already, and let's face it, you're either going to read it or you're not. I liked it much better than Beedle the Bard anyway - at least this was relevant to the original series and filled in some interesting blanks from an entirely new viewpoint... 4 stars!

>230 alcottacre: - Thank you Stasia! Same to you! :-)

I don't blame you for not wanting to review a book after a day of headaches and pain medications! I'm just glad you're feeling better. :)

Glad you're feeling better. The Mrs. H story was very sweet, thanks for sharing it.

Glad the headache is (more or less) gone, Ellie.

Ooooh, this man's just brought us a load of books to see if we want them... He's been really pushy right from the start trying to make me look at them on the spot, made a load of comments about first editions and signed copies... and made the mistake of leaving his Black Book of Hilarity in the bag. He's written each book on a new page with comments and how much he's found them for online - things like 'a risky one!' or 'online copy @ £8.00'... Some of them are just regular hardbacks but he's been searching for them in rare book catalogues! Don't think he's going to like us much when he comes back and we offer him £20 and a little wakeup call! ;-)

235 I look forward to the update on this one ellie.. :)

Me too!

We whupped his ass, my darlings, we whupped his A-S-S. He argued and argued, he wanted more money, he was gobsmacked that we weren't diving headfirst into the bag after his books, he mentioned the black book he'd left in there showing what he'd paid for them... Apparently he'd bought a magazine for book collectors, picked up a few volumes, and was now absolutely confident that he knew better than we did. He left still positive that he was right, even after we pointed out that he would NEVER sell his books to a book dealer - another middle man - for selling price, and that a lot of these books were bog standard editions anyway. Stupid man. I'd have loved to have a candid camera following him if he had followed his original plan to tout them round all 35 harried booksellers who were exhibiting at the Book Fair over at the Agricultural Centre today...

I just found a single slipper sock on my chair and wondered where the other one had gone, only to find it on my foot five minutes later. How does that happen?! *wanders off with a vacant expression*

Awesome! you show those smarmy upstarts who's boss! :P
LOL I'm sure I've done something daft like that before, I'm so ditzy sometimes that it's easily done.
Oh and my review of the Maze Runner is up now for your reading pleasure at your own risk ;-) If your worried about this one just wait until Monday/tuesday when the review of The Knife of Never Letting Go goes live - I apologise in advance for any damage to your bank account.

You tell 'em Ellie! *high fives*

Good for you Ellie! I enjoy putting out-of-line customers who's the knowledgeable one :P

On a particularly bright and sunny day, I was looking for my sunglasses I leave in my car for driving. I looked up to see if I had put them on the rear view mirror, and lo and behold, I see my reflection. . . wearing sunglasses. That day was waaaaaay too sunny

#238: You go, girl!

I just found a single slipper sock on my chair and wondered where the other one had gone, only to find it on my foot five minutes later. How does that happen?! *wanders off with a vacant expression*

I am very glad to see that things like this happen to other people too..

243 - I have a dear older friend who calls these things 'senior moments.' She's always surprised when I tell her that it happens to me too! I tell her "Senior moments are not just for seniors!"

I had a colleague a few years back who called them her 'blonde moments'; so far as I can tell, they happen to brunettes at precisely the same rate.

when those dumb-ish moments happen to us, we refer to ourselves as being a 'space cadet'

#246 That's what we say too- space case, space cadet, out in left field. :)

One of James's birds is sick! He's got a new gyr-saker hybrid, a youngster called Jethro, who should moult into white gyr plumage in a few months. White gyrs are the creme de la creme of falcons, the birds that kings and rulers used to present one another as diplomatic gifts. And now the poor thing's in our office in his box, with a fan on to keep the room cool and mashed up cat food to be hand-fed at lunchtime. James whipped him to the vet's this morning but they couldn't find anything wrong (aside from the whole 'lying on the box floor' thing) and he couldn't take him home because there's no one there, so...

Update: James has just been in and fed Jethro his lunch - which stinks, by the way - and the good news is, he seems a tiny bit perkier than he did, not as woozy. That was a sight to see, a great falcon sitting on top of a giant carry box in front of our office bookshelves, the delicious scent of eau de cat food permeating every inch of the tiny room... :-)

Anyway, I figure I can squeeze in one more review before it's New Thread Time again:

41) The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf



This wouldn't usually have been the kind of book I'd pick up to read, but since it is a TV Book Club pick I thought I'd follow that finest book club ethic and give it a go.

It opens with two little girls, Petra and Calli, leaving their homes in the early morning. Calli, a selective mute who stopped speaking after a tragedy when she was a toddler, is dragged into the forest by her drunken father Griff, and Petra follows the two familiar figures she sees out of her window, hoping to say hello. Within hours, both girls have been reported missing and the story really begins. Where are they, why have they disappeared, and who is responsible? And will this dreadful day help unravel the mystery of why Calli lost her voice?

The narrative is split into short, bitesize chapters, switching between several characters as events unfold. I found this quite a compelling device, as it helped slowly fill in the blanks as to what was happening and kept up the pace effectively. It also allowed the history between characters and within the two families to be explored from different viewpoints, though at times this felt quite dull and dragged me too far out of the excitement of the search for the missing girls. The viewpoint of Ben, Calli's devoted older brother, was my favourite, as it managed to help explain their family dynamics and offer a moving portrait of a protective sibling relationship, without ever becoming dull or cloying. Calli's narration is the only one written in the third person, which seemed odd since she may be mute, but she still has the same thoughts and reactions as her friend Petra.

On the whole I enjoyed the book, but found it a bit bland. There are a lot of intense themes incorporated into this novel, including domestic violence, child abuse and alcoholism, but Gudenkauf never really delves deeply enough into any of them to make it a serious fictional study; nor is the investigation into the girls' disappearance exciting enough to slot this into the category of crime thriller. It was definitely a well-paced book, easy to finish within a couple of days, but it didn't really hit the spot for me and I won't be keeping it to read again.

... Which is probably a good thing, since a certain Miss Jessica has dibs on it for a certain return trip with a certain Miss Rachel - looking forward to seeing what you think, Jess! ;-)

#248: Glad to hear that the bird is recovering. I hope it continues to do so!

I think I'll pass on The Weight of Silence. There is no time to be reading "bland" when there are so many other good books to read. Good Review, Ellie

Thank you! Yeah, it was okay but not one I'd pass on with rave reviews. And it's NEW THREAD TIME! (Sorry Richard, pipped you to the post again...)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/96848

See you there...