Ellie's 75 - The fabulous fifth

Here we are again! Thread number five for the warmer weather - and a new thread for a new year as well, since my b'day was on Saturday...

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

I'm doing the 1010 and Books Off The Shelf challenges this year as well (links to all my threads are on my profile), but this will be where the whole lot comes together, and all my full reviews will be here too. This is the Mother Ship!

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)

This thread:
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)

15+ minutes late and I still beat Stasia!? =D

Stasia must be catching a rare nap this morning! Hi, Ellie!

Hi guys! Welcome, welcome...

I thought I'd start my thread off with something a bit different this time. When I was little I had a little pamphlet of writing ideas that mentioned a 'birthday book'. Each year on your birthday you'd write a list of your favourite things and maybe a couple of notable things that happened to you over the last year. Well, since then it's grown and matured from a little book listing my favourite teacher, my best friend and who I'd fallen out with, into a yearly 'Favourites List', always interesting to look back over since it marks my favourite things and my changing tastes as the years go by. This is a pared down version of this year's entry - like a 'Getting to know you' meme really!

Ellie's 23rd Birthday Favourites List

Novel: The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Song: 'Lake of Fire', from the Nirvana MTV Unplugged set, with Cris and Curt Kirkwood
Colour: Leafy summer green
Screen icon: James Dean
Film: The Jane Austen Book Club
TV programme: Currently 'The L Word' - but as with everything else, prone to change by the week
Food: Potato salad, made with mayo, chives and a dash of cayenne pepper, all mixed together
Flower: Gerbera daisies
Hobby: My books, of course!
Non-fiction book: Biblioholism by Tom Raabe
Word: Serendipity
Poem: 'She Walks in Beauty' by Lord Byron
Compulsory cinema food: Popcorn and hot chocolate
Stone: Amethyst
Chocolate: Cadbury's Giant Buttons
Place I want to go: Venice
Thing I want to do: See the Northern Lights
Cause: Mental health awareness and gay rights
Hate: Air raid sirens, ventriloquist's dummies, wasps
Artist: J.W. Waterhouse
Painting: Waterhouses's 'The Mermaid' and Caravaggio's 'The Flagellation of Christ'
Magical film scene: The Ice Dance in 'Edward Scissorhands'
TV character: Bernard Black!
Sculpture: Rodin's 'The Kiss'
Life's little pleasures: Blackbirds singing, church bells, sitting in the sunshine, catching snowflakes, buying books (obviously), curling up with a cup of tea, the scent of cut grass, putting your feet up at the end of the day... oh so many!
Quote: "When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes." - Erasmus

And lastly, my mottoes in life:
Everything that happens, happens for a reason.
and
Never regret anything that made you smile.

Very cool! I wish I would have been insightful enough to do something like this in my childhood...all I ever wanted to do was play video games and eat candy. :(

*considers starting one now anyways*

Cool way to start off your new thread, Ellie. It's nice getting to know you better! We share a few favorites: the color green, the word "serendipity," and books "of course"! I also badly want to see the northern lights. It was the off season for them when we went to Alaska two years ago.

P.S. I love all of your "life's little pleasures" except for blackbird's singing. In my area, they don't sing - they squawk -, but, ah, we have wrens (those little nondescript brown birds) who can belt out an aria that makes me weak at the knees!

I'm likin' this favorites meme (spelled correctly, of course)! Permaybehaps you would start a thread of it, Miss Eleanor Potten the almost-quarter-centenarian?

Stasia caught her 2.5 hours of sleep this morning and apologizes profusely for being so late to post here, Ellie.

There are quite a few blackbirds around here, too, and I love listening to them sing. :)

(I'm also quite fond of Cadbury's giant chocolate buttons.)

I love your favorites list, and I'm so glad you decided to share it!

*swoops over to new thread*
Hello! Love the meme - I actually have that Erasmus quote on a bookbag the darling bf gave me for Valentine's Day this year (I'm so nerdy that makes me go all gooey :P)
*wanders off to scavenge for tea and biscuits*

12:LadyViolet, I giggled aloud at your comment. That is so sweet!

Karen O.

I love your list, Ellie. I might just steal that idea and start one for myself next year, maybe put together a Christmas list if I can't wait until next year. Starred you again... of course.

Yello everybody! Gee, thanks Rach - the mere thought of a BAG with that quote on it has led me to the 'Bookish Gifts' section of the CafePress website, which I may end up browsing extensively over the next few days...

*bows* you're quite welcome Miss Ellie :D
Dang I am in the *weirdest* of moods! I'm practically bouncing off the walls - I'm going home tomorrow for the summer so it's mayhem while I'm trying to pack everything!!

My first review of this thread!

23) Never Ever by Helena Pielichaty



I mainly picked this up because we weren't sure whether to shelve it under young adult or adult fiction - and we didn't want any complaints from parents if we got it wrong!

I'd place it as a top-age young adult novel, girlie and great fun. Erin is in year ten, and she is having to move from her posh house onto the local council estate following her dad's bankruptcy. Not only is the family struggling to make ends meet and fighting between themselves as they settle into their new home, but to Erin's horror they're now living just down the street from Liam, the arrogant class stud. Of course, events throw them together and as time goes on each realises the other isn't so bad after all. Ever few chapters the viewpoint switches between these two chalk-and-cheese characters, so the reader can sit back and watch their walls being knocked down and their prejudices fading away.

Pielichaty is a teacher by profession and her understanding of teenage life shines through. She touches on everything from alcohol to sex, money to friendships, moving house to family identity, with sensitivity and insight, and throws in a hefty helping of humour and a stirring message of loyalty, generosity, and How We're All The Same Really. The interactions between friends, classmates and siblings ring with authenticity, and the sweet growing attraction between Liam and Erin is the icing on the cake. The verdict? Pure fluff, but it's fresh and smart and for older teens it really hits the mark.

Rach - my sister's home tonight too, she has an exam to do online from home tomorrow morning but she only has to get 1% so she's not exactly worried... My mum's so excited about having her home - she's due back with my stepdad any minute - but I'm not sure how long it'll last once she's scattered her stuff all over the house after about two days! :-)

Ohhh, and I had such high hopes after Bedlam. Good review and all but, as you can probably guess, not exactly "for me." ... =)

No, I don't think it's quite your style - I was really only reading it myself so we didn't make a terrible mistake! I didn't want an irate mother storming up to the desk after I'd sold her precious darling a book laden with swearing and sex... ;-)

Swearing and sex? Well hell, in that case I better start searching the bookstores for it immediately!

Um, yeah... this book doesn't have those things - we'll be shelving it in the YA section the moment some little sweetie (*fixed grin*) enjoying their half term hols buys something and makes some space. Tell you what, go to the fiction section, pick out something pink and garish, and you'll be sorted! (Expert advice from a Bookshop Girl there).

Awww, well crap. You know, I don't really get a lot of swearing and sex in all the apocalyptic outbreak books I read. Well, ok, maybe some swearing...but not a lot of sex. Who wants to sleep with someone contagious with a flesh-eating disease? -.-

#23: Who wants to sleep with someone contagious with a flesh-eating disease?

If the flesh-eating disease would take off my excess 70 pounds, I would consider it :)

Haha! I think you may be on to something here.

*considers the sales pitch*

"Need to lose weight? No problem! Our escorts are flesh-eating disease patients! If the sex doesn't take the extra weight off, the bacterial infection certainly will! We have male and female workers of all sizes, shapes, and ages so everyone is happy! Try us today!"

This message brought to you buy Stephen's Necrotizing Fasciitis Pleasure House.

Hmmmm...

#25: See? I just gave you the incentive to start your own business! lol

>25 Ape: *appalled horror*

EW!

*flees Ellie's thread, never to return*

No no no! Come back Richard! *Wearily eyes the encyclopedia within Ellie's reach* Nooooo! *ducks and covers*

Oh, good grief. I leave you alone for two minutes and you trash the place... Ricardo, get back here and stop pretending to be such a delicate flower. Stephen, please don't use my thread to pimp out people with, erm, unfortunate health problems. You'll have exploitation authorities and Equal Rights for Zombies campaigners down on us like a ton of bricks. Stasia, stop encouraging him! *quietly sets to burning the toxic bordello curtains*

Just thought I'd drop by (thank heavens I did!) since I'm attempting to read but failing miserably. My little inner bookworm is sitting there interrupting every sentence I try to read. Something along the lines of:

'Ooooh, 84 Charing Cross Road. That was a bookshop you know.'
*back to reading*
'You could watch the film tonight.'
*back to reading*
'You know what else has a bookshop in it?'
*back to reading*
'Keep the Aspidistra Flying.'
*back to reading*
'You haven't read that yet. You should read it next.'
*back to reading*
'Ooh! Ooooh! You could watch THAT film tonight instead.'
*back to reading*
'You really should read some Orwell soon, you know.'
*gives up on reading and slopes off to Stephen's HOT ZONE Brothel*

Aw shucks, Ellie, it is fun encouraging Stephen! Party pooper.

*Ignores rioting and tries to think of something sensible to say*

Definitely read Keep the Aspidistra Flying. I love both film and book, despite Gordon Comstock being one of the most irritating characters in literature.

*Chokes on smoke from burning curtains*

*Hoses down thread with a fire extinguisher*

*Opens a window*

*fearful peer into Zombie Brothel*

Is it safe yet? *whew*

Keep the Aspidistra Flying is a howling hilarity from start to finish! TOO funny, and yes, if I ran across Gordon Comstock at a zebra crossing, I wouldn't swear that he'd make it across alive, but he's a riot.

I love the movie! Back when British films were all about Richard E. Grant, not Hugh Grant, and before Helena B-C turned into Tim Burton's Bonkers Wife. Those were the days. The book keeps calling to me, but since it's being drowned out by the other eight billion around it I've not succumbed yet...

I've been debating whether to include this as one or two books, since they're both in the same volume. On balance, since I felt rather differently about each and they differed so much in style and subject, I'm taking them as two. Anyway, it's my thread (so there! *blows raspberry*) so I'm allowed. You should know I just entirely rewrote that sentence TWICE because I feel a bit like I'm cheating, counting them as two...



24) 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

I am definitely drawn to books that are witty, charming, and full of, well, books - so this, er, book, a compilation of letters between two witty, charming people brought together by, yes, books, fits the bill perfectly! Helene Hanff wrote to the Marks & Co. bookshop in London's Charing Cross Road for twenty years, acquiring all kinds of books from them without ever leaving her typewriter. In doing so she broke down the reserve of Frank Doel, her chief correspondent and buyer at the bookshop, and formed friendships with everyone from his wife to his colleagues to his elderly neighbour. Her generosity and wit charmed her English friends just as they charm readers still. Although the book is short, it is just delicious to read, putting a happy smile on the reader's face on every page. It evokes nostalgia for the 'good old days' of bookselling, and I could almost smell the dusty pages as Helene opened each new package, freshly arrived from England. I just wish there were more letters remaining from those years to make for a longer book!

25) The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff

Now, this one didn't blow me away. Sadly Frank Doel died, putting an end to the pair's refreshing correspondence. After years of promising herself she'd get there, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street sees Hanff finally making her pilgrimage to London. Suddenly in demand after the publication of 84, Charing Cross Road, Hanff's opportunity arises when a British publisher decides to take up the book and asks her to visit London to do some publicity work for the launch. This sequel is her diary of her weeks in England, seeing the sights, visiting the closed-down store she had written to for so long, and, perhaps most importantly, meeting Frank's widow Nora and daughter Sheila at last.

Perhaps because her letters are so pithy and giggle-inducingly funny, her lengthier prose disappointed me a little - though her astute observations and ready humour were still in evidence. It was interesting seeing the London of the Seventies through the eyes of an American visitor, particularly since Hanff had romanticised the city for so long, but it definitely fell a bit flat for me. Perhaps because I'm too young to remember the times, perhaps because I'm not an American looking in at English life, perhaps because I've only been to London a couple of times and barely know it at all, perhaps because the bookish world of 84, Charing Cross Road was something I understood so inherently... whatever the reason, it wasn't a patch on its predecessor. I'll be keeping it because both books are contained within the one volume, but I'm glad I didn't buy it separately expecting more of the same sparkle.

Now I'm looking forward to watching the movie, which I hear is wonderful and which I am fervently hoping will fast become a firm favourite! (Try saying when you've had a couple...)

you guys are a riot ... i haven't laughed so much all day. Thanks for the giggles.

After my excessively bad eating week, I wouldn't actually mind engaging one of Stephen's flesh-eating zombie escorts for the weekend and feed them all the extra weight I 'accidentally' put on. *wonders if Stephen's crew works weekends and makes housecalls*

84, Charing Cross Road sounds wonderful. You know, I've never read a "book about books." I need to change that soon.

#36: Stephen, there is a 'Books About Books' group here on LT if you need further recommendations.

There is?! *big grin*

Try Biblioholism by Tom Raabe as well Stephen - it's funny, awesome, and I think there were only about three pages out of the whole book where I didn't think 'wow, yep, that's me!'

Unfortunately, my library doesn't carry either 84 Charing Cross Road OR Biblioholism, but I've added them both to my long-term list of books I'll probably read, errr, eventually...sometime. :(

Having great fun catching up on your thread, dodging flesh-eating zombies and picking up yet more book recommendations. I've seen the film of 84, but never read the book... One of these years!

It was a rather humid, wakeful night last night, so when I couldn't sleep at gone midnight I made a cup of tea and decided to watch 84, Charing Cross Road until I was tired enough to go to bed... well, naturally, an hour and a half later, I sat with tears in my eyes and a big smile on my face, watching the credits roll... THEN went to bed. It was lovely!

I have just finished 84 Charing Cross Road myself and agree wholeheartedly with your reviews. You have hit it right on.

I have never seen the movie but after reading the book and #41 I will have to locate a copy to watch.

#38: Yes, there is: http://www.librarything.com/groups/booksonbooks

#41: Glad you enjoyed the movie, Ellie! It is one of my favorites.

> 34 Absolutely fantastic reviews of both books!! I enjoyed your insightful comments. Both books are already on my wishlists, I'm looking forward to them.

I'm so glad you enjoyed both the book and the movie! I think they're both gems. Hope you're having a great weekend!

Darn you, Stasia! I headed over 'for a little peek' at the group and ended up adding about thirty books to my wishlist over the space of four or five threads... ;-)

And thank you Anne! It's been good shop-wise - the kind of weekend where MOST people are okay, the takings are healthy, but it's been sedate enough for me to read my book! It's the last weekend of half term, so I'm assuming a lot of people are at home getting ready to go back to work/school. Oh, and yesterday James ('The Owl Man') brought me a beautiful framed certificate with a photo of Gilbert flying to go with my sponsorship, and a birthday card (it was pouring last weekend so he wasn't here) signed 'Love, Gilbert xxx and James x' which I thought was so sweet! Plus my sister's home from uni for the summer and actually bothers to come up to the flat for a chat sometimes! She'll be working odd days for us over the summer to give us each an extra day off or two as well, which is nice. On the downside, it's been very humid and the brief thunderstorm in the wee hours of this morning didn't clear the air at all, so it's been a headachy few days over here... Maybe it'll rain a bit more tonight so we can all breathe again tomorrow!

Now, if you will all excuse me, I have a pressing appointment with a mug of tea, something nice to eat (hmmm... must restock 'naughty food' cupboard) and a certain charismatic Count...

Sorry I'm late...can't stop myself!

way back at #5....Donna Tartt...The Secret History is ...veddy good..but...The Little Friend is much better..IMHO

84 Charing Cross Road.....have you seen the movie/film...w/Anthony Hopkins???

sorry to be a pest...it's my nature

;-)

#46: Oh, good! Glad to know I am not the only one.

Have you started writing your book yet? 29 votes already, I'm sure you'd have a huge LT audience. And this thread is hilarious.

Hi Jude - Yep, just a couple of days ago. It brought it to life wonderfully and I thought the two lead roles were played beautifully. I might even watch it again this week!

Stasia - Oh, heavens no...

elkiedee (not sure what to call you!) - Ummmm, who, me? *whistles innocently and looks studiously at the ceiling* It's very possible that I may have been reading too much to write anything. Y'know, for research and all that... Like this book, for example, which I'm including as a bonus read since it's only a children's book - but I had to review it, it's too gorgeous to pass over!

THE SEVENTH DOOR by Norman Leach



No touchstone, but product page is here.

This book came into the shop in a boxful of children's books, and it immediately leapt out at me. It's one of those books where you take a cursory glance through the pages and as your eyes widen, you just know you've found something special.

It tells the story of a family of young women, each named after the colours of the forest when they were born, living with their parents in a little cottage. One year the harvest fails and just as the girls' parents fear they will starve, a king appears in a noble coach. Each year he takes one of the girls to be his bride, promising to send a daily hamper of food to help her family, and each year returns alone bearing the sad news of the Queen's death, selecting another daughter to take her place. Finally it is the turn of Carrots-and-Cream, the last and youngest of the girls, to take her place as Queen, using all the wisdom of her sisters before her, and her own courage, to find out what really happened to her sisters.

The story is simple and lyrical, with eloquently composed elements of rhyme and colour, and a careful maturity to challenge the young reader. In the finest traditional fairytale style, there are whispers of menace and wistful sadness lingering in the magical air, adding atmosphere and depth. But the most lovely and striking thing about this book must surely be Patricia Ludlow's illustrations. They are, quite simply, beautiful. Each large page is brought to life by her watercolours, by turn dark and grotesque, merry and bright, and mistily ethereal. Her characters are beautifully wrought, her fairytale settings exquisitely drawn. They made this book a genuine pleasure to read and admire.

In fact, you know what, I may not have children but I think I might keep this one for myself - at least for the time being!

I'm on the shop counter right now

Well, get down! Shoes aren't good for counters. Scuff marks, cracks from all that unintended weight, carelessly kicked whatnot sailing into the streets and smashing pedestrians...silly Ellie!

*hops down and perches on her chair looking very ashamed of herself*

And whose weight is going to be cracking the counter?! *sucks stomach in and holds her breath*

#50: That one sounds very good. Into the BlackHole it goes!

found and starred Ellie-dear

THE SEVENTH DOOR by Norman Leach looks lovely... *wanders off to consider it*..

The Seventh Door does look good. Usually I pass on kids or young adult books, just because there are too many books in the world, but this one looks so lovely - also, I guess it wouldn't take too long to read.

The Seventh Door sounds like an absolute gem... I'll have to keep my eyes open for it.

I've added The Seventh Door to the boys' wish list. Fantastic review! I love surprise finds.

Thumbs up! Good review...once again you almost made me want to read a book that would be totally embrassing to walk out of the library with. =P

I love that it's from a line of books called "Child's Play Library", and it has a redhead on the cover. I'm picturing a little doll reading me fairy tale books to sleep and then whispering "friends 'till the end!" while brandishing a large knife. Eek!

I may not have children Indeed you may NOT! You are *far* too young and beautiful to do such a thing this soon! Go have a misspent youth, *then* have children.

It was a beautiful book - it's listed as for age 4-8 anyway. The kind of book where it's a pleasure for an adult to appreciate too, but 'young' enough to have those beautiful huge pages and gorgeous illustrations for children to pore over.

I must admit, I quite often find myself reading the kid's books as I'm pricing them, especially when the illustrations are beautifully done. I read one yesterday about a dog who meets a rather annoying goose when his owner takes him out on her little rowing boat, but unexpectedly finds himself bereft when Goose leaves... until he comes back the next migration season, of course! The illustrations for that one were thick oil paintings, you could almost touch the brush strokes. Not as beautiful as 'The Seventh Door' though!

Oh, and Richard - very diplomatic. I might even forgive you your earlier rudeness in light of such a compliment...

>60 elliepotten: ...rudeness...? *skritchskritch*

Oh! Commenting upon your avoirdupois, you mean? Unless your shop counters are waaay overbuilt, they're only meant to hold 200lb...oh dear...I sense I could be digging myself in deeper....

;-P

You are a very naughty man, Ricardo. It's a good job you're so darn endearing... ;-)
*defiantly tucks into a chocolate biscuit*

...chocolate (shudder) biscuits? Ew.

I'll stick up for you, Richard!

Ellie, umm, you see, the economy here isn't the greatest. You might have converted that lbs amount to kgs, but that's not fair you see, because of the exchange rate. You guys get a good deal, like when you convert currency. So what he really said, after the exchange rate, is "Those tables can only hold 125lbs, not many ladies could have stood on it, but you? Well, you are perfectly fine with it...and you did it so elegantly!"

Yep yep, that's exactly the truth of it.

>64 Ape: *awe*

Are you SURE you're only 21? That was superb!

Actually I'm 22 now, having turned so in late April. But shhh! *whispers* Let's not mention age. The last time that came up Ellie nearly killed me with an enclypedia. She's having a hard time coming to terms with her elderly-ness in comparison to myself. *stifles giggle**

I didn't know (or remember) that it was your birthday...as for Ellie's age, I can divide my age by hers and have a whole-number answer, so shuddup.

killed me with an enclypedia Sounds omnibus...what might said thing be? An encyclopedia, maybe?

I was hoping that by removing a letter from the word it would make the book being thrown at me smaller...

You've done better. Keep trying.

Ummmm...

I didn't have a dictionary to look up how to spell encyclopedia?

Now children, play nicely... (oh good grief, I just got an instant Lucius Malfoy flash when I said that)...

Richard, chocolate cookie, ok? A chocolate cookie! Here 'biscuit' means anything sweet and yummy, from shortbread to oat biscuits to wafers to chocolate coated yumminess. A 'cookie' is a biscuit with chocolate chips in it. The biscuit in question was an orange Club bar - a shortcake-esque biscuit with a layer of orange cream stuff and all covered in chocolate. Perfect fodder for the four o'clock need-coffee slump at work!

Now it's 2:20am, and having watched a really scary film on telly earlier in the evening (anyone seen 'Cloverfield'?) I ended up drinking an energy shot and staying up semi-watching 84, Charing Cross Road (again) and cataloguing a load of books to get them OFF the floor piles and ONTO the shelf. On the plus side, my sister's working for me tomorrow so I now have two days off in which to read a couple of quick books to get them back to the shop and thus keep the peace with my mother. On the minus side, I'm down to my last half-empty shelf and I have about four times as many books still to catalogue. Which means there'll still be some on the floor/table/wherever I can jam them. That word 'decimate' is hovering menacingly over my head again... :-(

Ohhh! Brilliant Richard! You got her talking about cookies and it distracted her. =D

Ellie: I've seen Cloverfield. Borrowed it from the library. It seems like most people either thought it terrible or amazing. I am kind of in the middle.

It had its ups and down. Some genuine moments of suspense, some funny one-liners and a couple of good shocks, and I thought the ending was a bit sad - not the usual 'Humanity Wins Again!' ending I was expecting. My sister pre-warned me about the subway bit so that didn't freak me out too much. But sorry, when the monster kind of swallowed up the camera guy before he got spat out again, that was soooooo bad. It kind of kills it a bit the moment you REALLY see the alien, I mean a really good close still look, rather than a glimpse of it roaring past a nearby skyscraper or something... I enjoyed it though, I think it'll stay with me a while.

What did you think of the whole "shaky" camera thing? I was annoyed with it at times, but I think the "documentery" feel of the movie definitely helped me connect with the characters. It felt much more realistic.

My biggest problem with horror movies is, 9 times out of 10, I just don't care about the characters. I go into the movie knowing many of them will die, and add that to the fact that horror directors always cast TERRIBLE actors, it tends to just ruin the whole genre for me. Realistic characters was definitely something Cloverfield had going for it.

I liked it! It was so... personal. It made me feel like I was there, which tends to get lost a bit in the 'wow, look what we can do' special effects of some big-budget blockbusters. I don't usually watch horror films actually - too much of a scaredy cat and they tend to prey on my mind a bit - but I saw the ads on TV a few days ago and thought it looked pretty good. Kinda like some 'not my kinda thing' books jump out at me sometimes.

My 'Blissful' Day Off

The Good: I read Paul Gallico's The Snow Goose this morning, which turned out to be wonderful. I had pain au chocolat and coffee in bed while I read and it was lovely. No one woke me up, and after breakfast I really felt in the mood to blitz my flat at last and get cleaning. So far, so good...

The Bad: Just as that thought was forming, my dad called. He ended up coming over for a couple of hours, disrupting the cleaning process somewhat. My overbearing 'strained-relationship' paternal grandmother called for him while he was here and ended up back on the phone to me at the end going on about woodpeckers and toy windmills. Don't ask.

The Ugly: When I conscientiously stepped up onto the chair to wipe down the damp area above my bathroom window with some bleach spray, my thumb went through the ceiling as if it was kitchen towel. In a soggy patch I didn't even know about. Which started dripping coppery water everywhere. I taped an old margarine tub over it to catch the drips. Then my washing machine broke, mid-cycle, and I've had to drag everything down to the house, dripping red water from my throws everywhere, to put it in Mum's washer, and try to empty my machine a bit with an old tumbler. I'm now covered in water, bloody knackered, and all I have to show for it is a clean bathroom (minus the floor which hasn't been mopped yet - and that margarine tub on the ceiling)...

ALL I WANTED WAS TO MAKE MY FLAT LOVELY AGAIN! *sighs* As soon as Mum's home from work and finished instructing me what to do next about my Little Problems, I'm having a cup of tea. Or a rum and coke. And a nice sit down. *sighs again, more deeply*

Sounds like your 'sit down' might need to be a 'lie down', Ellie!

Sorry the day turned from Good to Ugly. Hope the rum and coke helps!

#75 Sorry your day off was so stressful Ellie! Pain au chocolat with coffee in bed sounds lovely though and I don't even like coffee. I think a rum and coke is definitely called for, and possibly some chocolate too.

Oh dear, Ellie.... I hate days that fall apart like that. The plus side is, tomorrow will certainly be better!

On horror movies: I'm not a big horror movie fan either, but for different reasons. I just hate how directors don't know how to MAKE them anymore. They always cast actresses purely based on their looks and not whether or not they can act. This is always a problem...but it's ridiculous in the horror genre. It's always predictable whose going to die. "See that bone-headed blonde actress with the huge chest? She'll die first. She's hot and the director picked her for a nude scene or 2, but as soon as those are over she'll die" *sigh* Generally speaking the worse the acting/larger the cup size, the sooner they are killed. *yawn* The movie "monsters" are just silly, and the endings tend to cause eye-rolling effects for me. Blech, the whole genre is crap.

Except for 28 Days Later. One of the best horror movies to be made in a long time in my opinion. The sequel was...not bad. But the original is fantastic. :)

On your "blissful" day: Too bad! See, that's what you get for deciding to clean. :( Hope the rest of your day/night is better!

I hope you have time to curl up with a good book

Get into bed, pull the eiderdown over your head, cry a little, and then drink lots of rum. Everything will feel better in the morning. Except your head. But aspirin will cure that.

The Snow Goose sounds really good, Ellie. Found a place for it in the Giant Wishlist.
Sorry about your day off coming apart. I once shoved a couple of fingers through the kitchen wall (termites) - horror and depression ensued thereafter.

Ellie - forget the coke .. just chug down the rum and curl up in bed. Sorry you had a progressively bad day despite such a wonderful start. But hey, as Annie was wont to sing... the sun will come out tomorrow!



So I hope you have a beautiful cloudless day tomorrow, complete with happy chirpy birds, and model customers who buy loads of books from your bookstore.

Oh and I hope the hole in your ceiling is easily fixed.

Thanks all! No luck finding where the water in the ceiling came from and my stepdad's not back to do anything with it for a few days, and after a little fiddling with the washing machine we ascertained that it was well and truly dead, so both issues have been set aside for now. And Caroline - don't worry, my sister gave me an EXTRA day off today, so tomorrow's a day off as normal for all of us... Thank heavens! I've had a small sit down with a mug of tea and an episode of something frivolous on DVD - now I'm going to go fetch my washing and maybe, er, vacuum a bit. THEN I'll sit down with that rum and coke! Not just rum - I'm not good at the alcohol taste - but I'll be generous with it all the same, and blame you lot if I can't get out of bed tomorrow! I'll review the Gallico book in a bit/tomorrow as well, when I've read the second of the two stories in the volume.

but but but.... Ellie... you have tomorrow off ... so you can stay in bed for as long as you like tomorrow!

What frivolous DVD are you watching ... enquiring minds would like to know

Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

...

=P

#85: Do not blame me if you cannot get out of bed tomorrow! I just suggested you have a lie down, not a guzzle down!!

Sound like you've had a plethora of advice, so I'll just send a hug!

{{{{{Ellie}}}}}

Well, I carried on cleaning - but discovered that rum and coke WHILE cleaning made the whole thing a lot more bearable! Three of my rooms - including the hallway - are now pristine from top to bottom, vacuumed and scrubbed and wiped down and dusted and tidied and all that jazz. I fell into bed at 3am and have spent today in the living room, eating garlic chicken pizza, watching 'The O.C.' (there's your answer Caroline - I just can't get enough of the wit and wisdom of the Cohen men!) and reading the second of the stories in my Gallico book - review tomorrow...

Garlic chicken pizza!? Geez, I'm an American and you're is eating more exciting pizza than I am. *Puts garlic and chicken pizza on list of things to eat*

Sounds like the perfect day so far, Ellie ...... and I'm envious of your cleaning spree yesterday. I love a tidy and clean house .. I just hate doing the cleaning, generally because every time I get it all spic and span, somehow things creep out while I'm asleep and throw themselves all about again. And don't even let me get started on the party mad dust bunnies!

Then again, since alcohol made it all the more bearable for you, I should try imbibing jugs of gin & tonics this weekend when I'm planning to bring out my inner charwoman.

gin and tonic sounds perfect!

I keep cleaning, then John comes and saws and buzzes and clips while doing the electrical work and I have to start over.. but I am glad.. no really .. I love his company..
@X$ an hour.. ( I haven't figured out his system yet.. I I just give him what he asks for)
:P

My inner charwoman is actually an outer charwoman team that comes and polishes, dusts, washes, fluffs, and generally does all those things that I flat refuse to do. The jug of G&Ts might make it even *more* fun to have the house cleaned, though!

Only partially clean - still MUCH work to do before the lovely new furniture arrives in a couple of weeks. The good news being that with the big sofa gone and the smart chair sofa thing in its place, I MIGHT HAVE ROOM TO BUY A NEW SET OF BOOKSHELVES! WHICH MEANS I CAN BUY BOOKS AGAIN WITHOUT MUM DECIMATING MY LIBRARY! Well, if I can bear to spend any more after the nice delivery men have lightened my bank account so casually...

Now, I just have to try not to think about the wall of mouldiness I found behind my wardrobe where the outside walls have gotten damp. The perks of living in an old tithe barn, indeed - can't wait to tackle that one. Oh, and my (very messy, 'oh look at all that dirt, was that me?') stepdad coming in to do dusty, disruptive things to my otherwise-pristine bathroom when he's fixing that ceiling of mine... Still dripping so I have the margarine tub underneath it, ostensibly to hold the water but actually spattering half of it across the floor. Oh well, at least it's a clean floor. For now. ;-)

And I WILL REVIEW THE GALLICO BOOK! TOMORROW! I spent the whole of today doing a rather tricky book search for someone, and trying to get through my neglected email inbox. And now I'm falling asleep so I'm having a VERY early night, in an attempt to avoid a repeat of this morning, where I woke up blearily to the sound of my mum doing her 'you're running late - hurry up and get out this door!' ring on my doorbell. Ooooops. We missed our appointment picking up books from Mind and I got a lecture about Proper Placement of Alarm Clocks for Maximum Efficiency. Tonight the clock goes somewhere I have to get up to switch it off, and we'll try again tomorrow morning on the charity shop trip! Until tomorrow, sweet friends...

the clock goes somewhere I have to get up to switch it off

That sounds like the proper placement of alarm clocks to me. Although ideally the alarm clock out of reach should be set 10 minutes after one by the bedside to ensure gradual but thorough waking up, and if the early morning appointment is really important, the mobile phone alarm can be set another five minutes later and placed on the opposite side of the room to the second alarm clock.

Congratulations Ellie! No no, not on the clean bathroom. Congratulations for finding space for MORE SHELVES. Yay! =D

#96 Although ideally the alarm clock out of reach should be set 10 minutes after one by the bedside to ensure gradual but thorough waking up, and if the early morning appointment is really important, the mobile phone alarm can be set another five minutes later and placed on the opposite side of the room to the second alarm clock.

That is exactly my arrangement. But even this does not work reliably. What I really need is a Wallace-and-Grommit-type arrangement that would tip cold water over me and render the bed soggy and unpleasant to remain in (and that would dry it all out nicely ready for bed-time again).

Hope you have a good sleep, and achieve Maximum, or at least Sufficient, Efficiency tomorrow to get to the charity shop, Ellie.

Sooooooo Late to your loverly part-ay!!

Way Back...vis a vis Cloverfield...watched it twice...then put in on SwapaDVD..i figured it was The Blair Witch Project...done Urban rather than Rural...was still Silly to me!

New Furniture is always a Positive to a Woman's Heart/Head...the mould can be eradicated..might take some work though....New Bookshelves/Bookcases..Yippeee!

best to you
;-}

I don't always set the alarm clock but whenever I do, I find regardless of the time it's set to go off, I always wake up about 5 - 10 minutes before it goes off.

New bookcases ... ALWAYS an excellent reason to celebrate ....with more books!

For you sleepy heads:

Congratulations on the room for new shelves, Ellie! Now that is what I call making lemonade out of lemons.

LUXX! Fancy waking me up at 5:54 when I didn't need to leave the house until quarter to nine! I was definitely on time, between the mobile alarm and the across-the-room alarm AND the fact that I deliberately left my over-bed light on so I'd wake up more quickly. On the downside, it kept bringing me up out of sleep, just to that strange half-waking place, all night and I had some really weird dreams... Oh well, c'est la vie! The end justifies the means and all that jazz.

Now, I'm settled in behind the counter with a cuppa and a sausage sandwich (ah, morning impulse purchases, you gotta love 'em), so I can finally get this book reviewed!

Have a great day, Ellie! (and get that review written soon!)

26) The Snow Goose, and The Small Miracle by Paul Gallico



I had two customers asking for this book in the last week or so, which often happens if it's recently been featured on the radio. The second customer, a sweet little old lady, fell into a tone of deep reverence and told me it was 'lovely, just lovely - I knew I needed to have a copy!' Well, happily for me, I have a copy, so I searched it out and read it straight away!

The back of my copy says 'The Snow Goose' is 'a beautiful tale of a hunchbacked artist, a girl, a wounded bird and a courageous act at Dunkirk.' It being a short story, there really isn't much I can add to that without ruining it. All I can say is that my customer was right - it is lovely. From the first page it resounded with poetry and bravery, deep sadness and a profound love and respect for the natural world. By the end I was in tears and absolutely certain that this book wouldn't be leaving my shelves any time soon.

The second story, 'The Small Miracle', is a modern fable about a poor orphaned Italian boy, Pepino, and his quest to save his best friend and only remaining family, his beloved donkey Violetta. She is very sick, and his only chance is to get her into the crypt of his local church at Assisi for St. Francis to heal her. Again, it's a very moving story - orphan boy, sick donkey, here come the tears again! - and it's woven through with an appealing atmosphere of innocence and faith.

For me, the first story will be unforgettable; the second story less so, but still far surpassing every other short story I have ever read, at least as far as my memory serves! Very highly recommended.

OK, looking for that one! Thanks for the review and recommendation, Ellie.

I think I heard the programme on the radio about that recently - it did sound very good, and it's been sort of on my radar for a long time. With your recommendation I must definitely seek it out.

The book sounds wonderful. Unfortunately the only book by the author my library carries is a nonfiction book about cats... Glad you enjoyed it though! :)

The book does sound sweet...

whow! you are really getting your flat fixed up! how fun :)

Ahhh, Paul Gallico...reliably schmaltzy tearjerkers-R-us, Paul Gallico. I'm quite sure he got rich off those books, and deservedly so. That one was The Bridges of Madison County of its day.

Oh, yes, Richard. I sobbed my heart out over The Abandoned numerous times in my youth!

ETA now apparently titled Jennie.

Just stopping by to say hello, and wish you well with your ceiling repairs!

*waves*

#95 When I first met my husband he had three alarm clocks in different places out of arm's reach in his bedroom. Now we have one alarm clock. I wake up (before it goes off!) and then make sure he gets up. I wish I were a heavier sleeper! Sigh.

The alarm-clock-across-the-room thing seems to be working, though it's not exactly pleasant! Ah well. I'm dreading going home tonight because my stepdad's going into my flat, unsupervised, to tighten up the dripping pipe that started my hole-in-the-ceiling palaver, FROM UNDERNEATH. Which means more of my bathroom ceiling will be coming down. My nice, clean bathroom. Needless to say, I've removed everything non-wipeable from the area - towels, toothbrush, makeup bag, you name it. Last time this happened I came home to find my bathroom floor swimming in water with bits of dust in the bath, and MY BATH TOWELS in a heap on the floor where he'd used them to mop up. And don't get me started on the replastering once it's all dried out! *sigh*

On the plus side, it's a BEAUTIFUL day here in Bakewell, I think the World Cup matches are probably keeping a few people away (thus leaving a nice collection of book enthusiasts to come see us here), I have a yummy sandwich to hand, and I'm settled right back into 'The Count of Monte Cristo' and enjoying every page. So if you'll all excuse me... :-)

During the last world cup, I spent an absolutely glorious hot, sunny June day at Chatsworth: it was wonderfully peaceful, because England were playing at the time.

I keep meaning to re-visit The Count of Monte Cristo: I remember starting it years ago, and I have no idea whether I actually finished it or not.

Hope that not too much of the bathroom ceiling ends up on the floor!

Oh, yes Caty! I'm hoping that as England progress through their games, Bakewell will become quite the tranquil haven for a little while! And quite honestly, I don't even know if it'll be worth coming in when the final's on, no matter who's through... Very telling, the little flurry of people we had first thing this morning, tailing off mysteriously just in time for today's first match...

world cup~ I keep hearing aobut it, but have no idea what it is aside from some sport. Go England! (?)

Is that the sparkling use of irony? This football tournament is taking over the whole country - 'Three Lions' playing over the radio, bunting and flags everywhere, mini-flags on all the cars, TV schedules completely taken over... And if you're yelling it across a stadium, it's pronounced ENG-ER-LAND! ;-)

Now, back to the important stuff: THE SPAWN OF SATAN IS IN MY SHOP! THE DEVIL CHILD HIMSELF! Masquerading as a small but revolting boy called Oscar, apparently. I may have to take him out myself, since his simpering blanket of a father doesn't seem to be able to control him... *smiles sweetly in case nice LT-ers think she's turned psychopathic in the space of two messages*

Ellie you need to get a special anti-satan-spawn trapdoor installed, just lure the evil one onto the door, pull a lever and the little tyrant gets sent back to their maker! Simples! *also smiles sweetly* Can't let the little darlings ruin your day can we? ;-)

Soccer (errr, football?) isn't very popular here in the States. I can't name a single person who watches a bit of it. I think we're all caught up in Fantasy Football(of the American variety) right now, as we eagerly anticipate the season opener in a few months. :)/:(

Never sure whether I should be happy for you when the shop is quiet and peaceful or disappointed in the lack of business. Hmmm, well, whichever way it is, have a nice day! :)

(Note: I'd try to offer words of encouragement in dealing with the spawn of Satan, but unfortuantely I wouldn't react much different from yourself! All I can say is DON'T KILL IT! Killing Satan or his offspring is bad luck, dontcha know? ...)

#117 Go England! (?) Treason! Treason! (Not that we don't need the help.)*

#118 Are we talking about the sort of small, sticky creature (usually equipped with big, soulful eyes and attached to a small toy of some description) that pulls things off shelves, leaves sugary fingerprints all over the place and shrieks loudly, all the while watching you and wearing the kind of expression that says 'I know {parent/grand-parent/other adult supposed to be in charge} isn't going to stop me, and if you try to stop me then they'll shout at you instead'?

You have my sympathy.

*ETA - for those who don't know, England kick off against the USA in about 2½ hours' time.

Off to the Rose Festival Parade here in Oregon this morning and then to a World Cup Party. My husband coaches two classic soccer teams, my oldest daughter is an assistant coach and my son plays on a team, all for the same club. (I'm a has-been player myself.) We will be cheering loudly today!!

USA! USA!

Um...can we borrow Wayne Rooney and David Beckham, so that it's a fair match?

You can have Beckham (heh heh don't you know he's injured?)

No; I knew that Michael Owen didn't make the club due to injury and lack of playing time for Manchester United, but I didn't realize that Beckham wasn't healthy.

Can we borrow Steven Gerrard, then? We'll give him back after the match is over.

No, sorry, he's our hero (I mean my family's - we support Liverpool).

Rats. Maybe we can get Ronaldo and Ronaldinho to play for us, since the Brasilian coach left them off of the national club.

USA too? Go EVERYBODY!

soccer eh?

I somehow was thinking it was tennis.. shoulda googled.

:P

Janet, you haven't been lending out goalkeepers to Darryl, have you?

LOL! Has anyone ever seen a softer goal in professional football?

No... Green deserves a clunky boot thrown at his head. What was that loss of concentration all about?!

At least he seems to have got his act together now.

I'm sure he was slapped silly in the locker during half time for that. They are at least a lot aggressive now too.

Ummmm... yeah, that was bad. But 1-1, that's good for us here on LT because now we can all stay friends and drink to each other's health instead of muttering black sentiments of triumph/bitterness, right? ;-)

Okay, you were all commenting on here WHILE WATCHING the match? What is that about? Football is SERIOUS. Anyway, in a weird way, we did lend the US a goalkeeper. Tim Howard, the very good US keeper, plays for Everton in the English Premier League.

One good thing about the result is that Friday's England v. Algeria game should be very exciting rather than ho-hum, as England will want to get lots of goals to make sure they come top of the group. My daughter is going to that match!

I know many Americans who are World Cup crazy, including my husband, though he has only recently become an American.

I picked up The Snow Goose at the library sale recently. I really look forward to it, especially after your review!

Someday, professional soccer games have just got to get a lot more popular. So much less barbaric than our football, plus way more inclusive. It seems like every boy and girl plays team soccer for at least a few years, and many play through high school. Can't say that about football or baseball--the latter a yawner of a sport as far as I'm concerned--but I do like apple pie! I guess the problem is where to insert the commercials if they're ever going to be on TV.

Ellie, it must be especially satisfying when your customers recommend good books to you--plus you can read them right off the shelf for free. Now, if those crabby/insensitive customers could just leave you to your reading, it would be perfect!

137: It seems like every boy and girl plays team soccer for at least a few years

Oh, you're right there. I played for 3 years when I was around 8-11, and we played every day during recess in elementary school. Funny, how most people grow up to forget the sport and begin to like (American-) football, myself included.

I like your book choices, ellie ... so relaxing sounding for the most part :)

Soccer is pretty popular in Washington DC. Granted there are a lot of people from other parts of the world that live in DC. Also, our soccer team DC United was the only winning team in the city for quite a while. I went to a viewing party in a park on Sat. We had a lot of fun. There were tons of people there.

I'VE FINALLY REACHED THE HALFWAY POINT OF THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO! Just over, in fact. I measured it. ;-)

My sister went to York with my dad today (sweet York, where I was at university so happily until it all went pear-shaped!) so despite falling rather ill yesterday evening, I sent her to my favourite cookie shop for a mixed box of their finest. And my dad bought me Bill Bryson's new book, At Home as a late birthday present. Yay!

One of our favourite customers came by the shop which was wonderful. Oh, two, in fact. One is a local writer and all round nice chap who is clearing out his beautiful collection of books. One is a wonderful woman who seems to be battling every bad thing life can throw at someone, one thing after another, since her husband died a year or two ago. She's younger than my mum probably, and she's struggling so much to hold her life together, you can almost see the tears welling behind her smile but she's always so honest about everything. I just want to throw my arms round her and give her the biggest hug. It always seems to be the loveliest people, doesn't it?

Anyway, tonight I shamelessly used the fact that I still feel a bit like I've been kicked in the stomach by a horse, together with the fact that I nevertheless managed a very productive and cheerful day at work, as the perfect excuse to get my PJs on early and snuggle down with my book. Halfway point reached, I'm spending the next couple of days reading something light and frothy before I embark on the second swathe of Edmond Dante's adventures. At the moment it's looking like The Bad Mother's Handbook, which I've been quite looking forward to since I realised it had been made into a Brit-flick quite recently.

Now you can go back to your sporty talk - all this soccer/American football/normal football talk is spinning my head in circles trying to decipher who's talking about what!

P.S. Can you tell this is another one of my 'I should probably be in bed now' updates? They always seem to be so.... rambling. My apologies! :-)

Ellie: You need to make late-night posts more often! They're always your best. Not because they are funnily written as a result of drowsiness, but because of the very fact that you do ramble! :)

I'm sorry you're not feeling well, Ellie. I hope it's nothing serious and that you're back up on your dancing feet tomorrow morning.

I don't really understand why American football isn't call handball or something else because the feet aren't involved in the game except to run on or to punt. I've always thought it a misnamed game. Football aka soccer, on the other hand, is exactly that .... feet connecting with the ball at all times ... well, except for when they header the ball.

#141: Congratulations on hitting the halfway point of TCoMC. I am not anywhere close :)

I hope you feel better soon!

I do feel better thanks! I have IBS, so every now and again I get poorly no matter how careful I am and how many tablets I take! But I feel much better today... My sister's sitting in the office reading a Mills and Boon book with a large bag of crisps on hand, and I'm sitting here trying not to strangle the very noisy small child currently tormenting her little brother in front of the desk. Oh my good lord. *deep breaths*

>145 elliepotten: Now THAT is the summation of customer service as a career! You're a better person than I am. I'd've spirited the little monsters to a nearby fen and turned them loose, driving away cackling maniacally.

Then again, I posted "ONLY well-behaved children with vigilant parents welcome" on the front door of my sister's bookshop forty years ago.

#145 Glad you are feeling better Ellie, and I hope the deep breaths are helping you stay calm with those little darlings in the shop!

OK you're another whose last thread is going to have to wait to be finished another time, but I'm now waving a BIG HALLO! having caught up on this one...

#5 What a great idea! ...and belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

"TV character: Bernard Black!" ;o) - I take it you've also been watching the reruns?! ...and I so agree about the Northern Lights and blackbirds singing.

#25 Ape "...This message brought to you buy Stephen's Necrotizing Fasciitis Pleasure House. " *cackles gleefully*!

#29 snicker...

#41 84 Charing Cross Road film - hmmm. I must hunt that out at some point. Glad you enjoyed the book - I also thought the sequel didn't really live up to the first, but there were a couple of good moments ("MORE gin?" ;o)

#80 Agreed on 28 Days Later - fantastic. Have you seen Shallow Grave or Dog Soldiers?

I'm not at all a horror fan most of the time (unless they're utterly ridiculous, in which case they can be very funny), but all three of those are firm favourites...

#95 "I MIGHT HAVE ROOM TO BUY A NEW SET OF BOOKSHELVES! WHICH MEANS I CAN BUY BOOKS AGAIN WITHOUT MUM DECIMATING MY LIBRARY! " - sympathetic JOY! ;o)

#98 gennyt re alarm clocks. Me too. In a major way.

#103 I want to know of these "really weird dreams" ;o)

#105 The Snow Goose, and The Small Miracle is definitely going on the list...

#128 mckait, "I somehow was thinking it was tennis.. shoulda googled." - it was tennis also (*grumble, grumble, bloody football disrupting my tennis viewing, grumble, grumble*) ;o)

Actually, one of the few news items I picked up while I was in the US (I don't tend to turn on the TV when I'm on holiday) was that, after South Africa, it is in fact, the US that has bought the most tickets for the World Cup (in the region of 74,000 I think they said, vs 43,000 from the UK)... I suppose it's a population size thing...

All I know is that any matches involving England are usually a good time to travel long distances!

Sorry you've been feeling unwell Ellie - glad you're feeling a bit better now.

#80 Agreed on 28 Days Later - fantastic. Have you seen Shallow Grave or Dog Soldiers?

I haven't. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've never even heard of them. :(

As far as funny/bad horror movies, I know what you mean. You can't go wrong with the Leprechaun movies. *laughs*

I just stopped by for a simple Hello...

.....all this talk about the World Cup?? Don't do Sports in my house (long story there) but I've seen Pics of the Brit Team...some tasty-looking fellows there, for sure!!!

;-}

Hello from me, too!

146~ I need a sign like that for work...

Yello everyone! I was sure World Cup Fever wouldn't hit me, but even I am planning on settling in and watching the England-Algeria match tonight (followed by the WONDERFUL Ricky Gervais Show) while I'm feverishly trying to tidy my living room. The first of my new chairs has arrived down the road, but the other's coming from a different supplier so I asked them to wait until both were in before they delivered - mostly because my living room still looks like a bomb's hit it! That new bookshelf's coming ever-closer though, I need to find me a nice one and get ordering in the next week or two!

Now, I have a review to write, so Stay Posted...

27) The Bad Mother's Handbook by Kate Long



I picked this up expecting a light, fluffy, humorous little read to give me a break from the meticulously plotted revenge of Edmond Dantes. Well, it wasn't quite as fluffy as I'd thought. In fact, this book covers everything from teen pregnancy to adoption to child neglect to dementia.

Charlotte has discovered, to her horror, that her less-than-idyllic dalliance with arrogant Paul has left her pregnant at seventeen. Thank heavens for oddball Daniel, her new best friend and confidante, who just might prove to be the haven of sanity she needs. Charlotte's mum Karen is left reeling when she finds out she's adopted - will her enquiries bring her a fairytale reunion, and can she cope with Charlotte's revelation on top of everything else? And as for Nan, poor senile Nan with her colostomy bag and her penchant for toasting letters - well, she just wants everyone to be happy...

With all this going on, it's fortunate that the characters are so endearing, and that Long has managed to create an absorbing story that never loses its lightness of touch and sense of humour. The narrative switches between Charlotte's rapidly maturing voice, Karen's rather self-absorbed musings, and Nan' wistful recollections of her own past, bringing together these three women, three ages, three personalities, into one winding family history. There were amusing moments tempered by moments where the tears were prickling the backs of my eyes; unhappy moments contrasted with moments of hope and happiness.

Ultimately this is a story about family, about relationships, about a shared history, and about pulling together to get through everything life throws at you. I wasn't completely blown away, but I'm glad I read it and I'm sure I'll enjoy the other two of Long's books that are still waiting eagerly on my shelves!

NOW - has anyone seen the movie, and is it worth a look? I suspect the movie trailer went some way towards forming my expectations of the novel, since it stars Catherine Tate and looks rather amusing...

Fantastic review, ellie!

When I read the title and saw the cover, I laughed to myself as I imagined you using it to "quiet" a misbehaving child in your shop. :)

#154 Great review - if you weren't blown away, maybe I'll just rent the film, then I can let you know if it's any good!

#149 Shallow Grave is Danny Boyle's first film. Starring a young Ewan McGregor (the reason I can forgive him Star Wars) and Christopher Eccleston with a significant cameo from Keith Allen.

If you enjoyed 28 Days Later, I'd definitely recommend it to you. It's one of those films where most of the scary stuff is left to your own imagination - I have very vivid memories of seeing it in the cinema when it first came out. It has a pretty good soundtrack too...

Dog Soldiers is another British independent film. It's a pretty gruesome werewolf film, but it's also very witty (as is Shallow Grave incidently)...

(The links are trailers, but I couldn't find a very good one for Dog Soldiers)

Wonderful review!!!!! thank you :)

What are you thanking me for?! Just goin' about my LT business, as usual...

I hate to say it, but I'm getting quite excited about this match tonight. Right now it's Slovenia 2-1 USA, which means less work for us to reach the knock-out rounds if (sorry, guys) you lose this one... ;-)

I'm never interested in "soccer," but with all the talk on LT about it I've watched both USA matches. Bah! :)

!!!!! 2-2 :)

DAMMIT! This place has been dead as a chuffing dodo all day - what with the rain and the Group-C footie helping determine England's fate before tonight's match - and now, just as we start to think, 'right, if no one comes in in the next five minutes we'll shut early', EVERYONE DECIDES THEY WANT TO COME IN! AND THEY'RE NOT EVEN BUYING ANYTHING! JUST TREADING FOOTPRINTS ROUND THE FLOOR! Where have these people been the rest of the day, huh?

But wait... wait.... YES! They didn't buy anything anyway. And Mum's still in the early-closing mood. Think I can get the door shut and the signs inside before anyone else arrives?! ;-)

Oh, my good grief, how rubbish were we? I spent ninety minutes alternately squeaking at the television (well, I'm on my own, no need to create a one-woman mob or anything) and sitting with my head in my hands. Thank heavens David James at least provided something nice to look at... and he saved a couple of near misses to boot. *sigh* Oh well, back to adding books to my LT catalogue. Not a complete waste of an evening if I do something productive!

Ohhhh, good interview there. "So, Steven Gerrard, what do you think was missing from that match?"
"Er... goals?"

That remark by Gerrard was exactly what I'd have wanted to say to the interviewer in his place, and I had a bit of a giggle at it. It wasn't exactly the most inspired question to ask.

Poor sod, he was pretty good as well - it must be rubbish being captain after a match like that! :-S

I admit I have no idea what you are talking about, so I will just wave as I make my way through the threads :)

Ah well - I get like that when there's baseball/American football/cornbread and biscuits talk... just play along, you'll be fine! The World Cup's a soccer tournament and England drew 0-0 with Algeria last night, we were flat as a pancake all the way through. We need to do better in our next match to get a high enough score within our group of four countries, so we'll be in the top two and get through to the knockout rounds. I can't believe I know this because until last week I THOUGHT I'D ESCAPED THE FEVER! I don't even follow football (soccer) the rest of the time, on any scale, but - and my apologies here - the World Cup Madness has temporarily swept England again and there's nothing to do but ride it out!

On the plus side, I spent a good few hours while the match was on cataloguing books on here, so that was productive, right? More cataloguing tonight probably, or maybe some reading, and my sister's giving me a day off tomorrow, yippee!

I do know what the World Cup is, just not what you were talking about in relation to England :) I think World Cup madness is sweeping through everywhere right now, so you can be forgiven it, Ellie!

I should probably take up your suggestion of cataloging books and get some of mine done while the College World Series is going on.

A lot of World Cup fans in America are steaming right now after the game with Slovenia. I wonder how many refs wish fans had no access to instant replay? ;-D

ellie, I think yours is my favorite thread. I love hearing about your life and store and I love the way you tell it :)

I hope that you are having a happy saturday !

I agree with Kath. I feel like a stalker in the way I visit your thread first every time there is a new post on it. When I wake up in the morning and there are 15+ threads on the "your posts" page with new posts, I always look for yours first! Always enjoy your book shop tales. :)

Oh stop it... *blushes furiously* If I don't get any sleep tonight because my head won't fit on the pillow, I know who to blame...

I haven't watched ANY FOOTBALL tonight, just a funny movie (anyone seen 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'? It's actually pretty smart!), Big Brother (cringe, I watched it the other night when I couldn't sleep and now it's too late - I know who they all are!) and now... Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Well, I'm still awake and some bad special effects and Leonard Nimoy wandering around looking aloof might be just the thing to catalogue YET MORE BOOKS to. I really liked the new movie and I used to watch the TV series - the old repeats and the newer ones - back in the distant past.

I had a horrific moment earlier where my mum arrived suddenly in the flat (she doesn't bother coming up much because I usually pop round there anyway - and we have an internal phone) and not only was Big Brother on (I repeat: cringe) but I was cataloguing a pile of books that I've stolen from the shop over the past year! I mean, I've taken a helluva lot of books back to the shop as well, given up a load of my own books too, but still... I was just talking nine to the dozen trying to distract her so she wouldn't start looking at titles! You know that bit in the Bridget Jones movie where she realises that the 'Professor Leavis' she's been 'talking to' on the phone died years ago? A bit like that... ;-)

Shop update: We had some lovely customers in the shop today. Someone who left gushing about how our shop was 'adorable', a lady who chatted a while about Santa Montefiore, one puzzled 20-something lad wielding Prince Charles's biography who hadn't realised that Prince Henry and Prince Harry are the same guy... and one unfortunate woman who pulled her purse out of her bag only for a fluffy unwrapped tampon to tumble out and slowly roll away under the display table. I had to rapidly shift from 'Let me help you with that' to 'Tampon? What tampon? Oh, hahaha, this book is so funny! *stifled giggle*'... :-D

#171 I love 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'! The mad aunt! The hideous wedding dress! The Greek flag on the garage door! The horrible alternative boyfriends the parents inflict!

Oops and more stifled giggles re. the shop books, and the unfortunate customers.

Big Brother? Is that pernicious tripe still on? (Well, obviously it is if you're watching it. Duh.) I thought they cancelled it.

This is the last series... I think I watched season 5, one of them in the middle anyway, but that's all until now. They don't seem such an awful bunch this year - fairly normal, even - so maybe that's why it wasn't so painful to watch!

I love that scene in MBFGW where the mother and the mad aunt sit down with Toula's dad and make him think it was HIS amazing idea for her to work in the tourist agency. That totally deadpan "Oh, woe to me. Business is bad..." Or the classic line: "There's a hole in this cake!" Brilliant.

Or "Yes. It was my twin."

You're making me want to watch it again...

Great movie! "You don't eat meat? That's ok, I make you lamb."

The last series? That explains it.

(What *is* Windex, anyway?)

Isn't it that window-cleaning spray everyone used to use? You know, back in the days before the cleaning products aisle morphed into a dazzling array of confusion?

We always had Windolene, but I suppose it probably is the same.

ETA: You don't mean to say you haven't tried every one of the 847 different brands of identical kitchen cleaner in a systematic attempt to find one that is distinguishable from the rest? *gasp* Whyever not? ;)

ETA again: New Zealand are a goal up against Italy. Has the world gone mad?

Re: My Big Fat Greek Wedding - I can never hear the word "biopsy" without thinking the word "bibopsy" in my head and wanting to giggle out loud. Unfortunately when the conversation is about biopsies that is usually NOT a good time for giggling.

I've never seen my Big Fat Greek Wedding - sounds as if I should add it to my Lovefilm rental wishlist!

I watched quite a bit of the NZ-Italy match - what a difference from the England match the other night! I told my stepdad that it was like watching Federer play tennis at Wimbledon after watching an opening-round warm up between two players you've never heard of... WIMBLEDON STARTS TOMORROW PEOPLE! GET THE STRAWBERRIES READY!

Now, just one more thing to say. On my day off today, I managed to get some more books sorted, had lovely cottage pie with my stepdad AND my dad (and Mum and my sis) for Father's Day (my dad's going back to Libya for another month tomorrow), and de-weeded and tidied my whole garden. Only problem is, I managed to get a cracking good sunburn across my back and shoulders in the process. NOW (listen carefully), I had a hat covering my head and the back of my neck. Which is good. But I also feel a bit icky, I had awful cramps down my legs and I feel like I might just get a headache to boot. And my back feels very... warm. So, I would very much like everyone to keep their fingers crossed that I don't get sick overnight. I never have before from too much sun, at least not since I was little, maybe, but I am TERRIFIED of being sick! Anything else I can spirit away with some painkillers and plenty of water... Every hour that passes is another hour closer to safety, and I'm hoping I'll sleep it off and wake up right as rain, but if a few of you lovely people would KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED that would be wonderful!

Oh, I'm such a wuss... Goodnight all, may tomorrow's update be entitled 'Another Day in Paradise: Reading and Bookselling in Flaming June', and not 'Me and My Bucket: One Girl's Tragic Tale'... :-S

#181 Oooh, ouch! :( You poor thing.

Here's hoping you don't get sick and do feel better tomorrow.

Oooohh! *shudders* This is why I avoid the sun at all costs. :P

Fingers crossed Ellie! Just don't ask how I'm typing with them that way. ;-)

I will cross fingers, toes, eyeballs, anything if it will help you not be sick, Ellie!

Awwww, Stasia, where do you find them?! Stephen - it is quite possible to type with your fingers crossed, full marks for effort since it may have taken a while... Caty - thanks! Good news - despite feeling a little bit like I've been steamrollered this morning (all that gardening, balancing on bits of rockery, ouch) and having a bright pink back and a rosy chest (didn't have THAT yesterday, must have developed overnight), I slept peacefully all night...

And today is so beautiful that I've been round the market, bought some delicious-looking tomato and basil bread and a salmon quiche for tea, *accidentally* (sssssh) acquired two books for 20p each from a jumble-sale stall, and am VERY much looking forward to nipping down to the ice cream parlour for a cup of their finest banana and coffee ice cream, avec Flake... I reckon it'll be pretty quiet today given the glorious weather/World Cup so it might just be all that and a book on the side! *glows quietly at the loveliness of it all*

#185: I am glad to hear that there are no major ramifications from yesterday.

Have a wonderful day, Ellie!

Glad the sun effects were not too serious. That sounds like a lovely beginning to the day, hope it continues well.

Sounds like a beautiful day! I hope you enjoy it. :)

Next dilemma! Excitingly, a beautiful copy of Richard Ellman's biography of Oscar Wilde has just come in. We haven't actually paid for it yet but it's a lovely clean hardback, excellent dustjacket, all very nice. I've only ever seen this book once before, a scraggy old copy, and you can only buy it second-hand. Now, my question is, given that I have been after this book for years, and that it's so hard to acquire in such good condition, how do I persuade my mother that despite the hundreds of unread books on my shelves, she should let me buy this one from the shop? (And yes, I mean buy, not steal, for once!)...

I had sun poisoning myself one time. My kids were little.. so I don't recall how I was out in the sun by myself, lol. I was very ill.. and had terrible chills.. so I was out in the sun, very hot.. wrapped in a blanket. All of my kids were on the other side of the window looking at mommy act crazy. My wonderful, blessed, hero of a neighbor saved me from myself, and took care of me.

He was the age to be my dad, and was always rescuing me from one thing or another. Bless him...Anyway, glad you didn't have that to deal with, and it sounds as if you had a lovely morning. I hope the rest of the day is as good.

I LOVED My Big Fat Greek Wedding too!

My fave part was when the mother said "The man is the head of the house...but the woman is the neck that can turn the head any way she wants!"

The 'Windex guy' was from a town close to us so I was especially fond of him...

#189 It's a dilemma! Exchange it for one of the books you've already read?

#185 Two books for only 20p? Nah, they don't count on the book-o-meter! mmmmmm ice cream.... glad you didn't get sick from the sun, it's extremely unpleasant when that happens...

#181 Re Federer - you say that, but last time I checked, he was actually down by two sets! (trundles off to go and re-check the score)

...aha, he's reclaimed a set - looks like in the 4th set he was then broken again though...

(live scoreboard if anyone is interested...)

Oh dammit, I'd forgotten! Note to self: tomorrow have the BBC Wimbledon website open AT ALL TIMES to keep track of what's going on. I can never choose between Federer and Nadal though - one suave, sweet gentleman with impeccable manners and... another suave, sweet gentleman with impeccable manners. I do like Nadal's strong arms though! ;-)

Not keen on the women's tennis except for Amelie Mauresmo - I got a bit of a crush on her a couple of years ago and now I can't help but root for her! But honestly, if you're just listening to the women's tennis it sounds more like some huge orgy (with an appreciative audience clapping the good bits!) than a tennis match!

Oh I think Nadal, don't you? He seems like such a nice person and Federer's been around too long (and incidently, rescued the match in 5 sets, final set 6-0. Of course). ;o)

I don't usually watch much women's tennis either, but clearly I'm going to have to start listening to it on the radio!! I've always liked the men's and mixed doubles the best though - so speedy...

Re: #189 - Hey, your money's as good as anybody else's, right? Buy it!

>196 Fourpawz2: Commonsensical advice. Wait for Mummy to leave, ring up the sale, put the book in your bag, and Bob's your uncle.

189: You could bring a box of books in to the shop to appease her.

*gulp* Did I just say that? I think the humidity is getting to me.

Hey Ellie this is longggg overdue but I really liked your review for The Bad Mother's Handbook by Kate Long I'm adding it to the wishlist. Hope your enjoying the sunshine and had a lovely weekend :)

I loved My Big Fat Greek Wedding. My experience wasn't exactly the same (we were married in Cyprus), but I still consider myself a survivor :)

Fliss - I think so too... Just by a whisker!

Richard - Clearly you are not as suspicious as my mother... She'd notice its mysterious absence and catch me red-handed! That's the technique I use for other books in the shop, but this one's a bit too big and memorable for that. Damn.

Stephen - that would be much easier if I wasn't halfway through a 1200-page book! I told her once I'd finished this it'd feel like I was flying through the books, taking three days or so rather than months!

Jess - thank you my dear, it's been a quiet sunny weekend thank you! I'm off to check my sunburn in a minute and see whether I've toned down from 'lobster' to 'rose' yet... *giggles*

Charlotte - that's what I said! I pointed out that when I worked at Sainsbury's it would have been rather counter-intuitive to ban me from buying food there because I worked there. So once I've got my purse out and placed that book on the counter, I'm just another customer, right? I even said Mum could value and price it herself so she knew it was a fair sale. I think I might win this one... ;-)

Ellie : Wasn't it a heart stopper watching Federer play today? I had my heart in my mouth and couldn't get any work done at all after he was down 2 sets. But I just knew he had it in him to pull himself together .... breathed a sigh of relief in the 5th set and only then was I able to concentrate and get work done. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't able to watch the games at work.

>202 cameling:, Ooh, I'm jealous. I had to leave for work right after the first set, and I was not a happy camper. I would have been really annoyed had Fed lost, because I'd rather like to see him play sometime during the tournament - I'm definitely a Federer fan, though Nadal comes up with some pretty amazing shots too, so I certainly don't dislike watching him play by any means. This whole working full-time between two jobs thing is seriously messing with my ability to watch tennis (not to mention read).

At the risk of incurring the wrath of, well, probably everyone, wouldn't it have been interesting to have had Federer go out in the 1st round? I'm not saying *good*, just *interesting*. It surely would've shaken up that side of the bracket.

@194 & 195: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jun/19/wimbledon-womens-tennis-emma-brockes

(Retreats to try actually to read something now. Eh, who 'm I kidding, to watch tennis. Or football.) :-)

I hope you persuade her about needing that bio of Oscar Wilde - I remember the book and am surprised that it's out of print. I'm trying to remember whether I've read it and whether it was mine or the library's, and wondering if I have it squirrelled away somewhere.

Hi Ellie- How are you stranger? Hope all is well with you! We are doing a Group Read of The Once and Future King and it begins July 1st. It's a wonderful take on the King Arthur legend. Miss you!

Ellie, that's what I said! I pointed out that when I worked at Sainsbury's it would have been rather counter-intuitive to ban me from buying food there because I worked there. So once I've got my purse out and placed that book on the counter, I'm just another customer, right?

I'M ON YOUR SIDE HERE! But, I think there is a critical difference. When you own a store and you buy your own product, you aren't profiting from it. Imagine if you were the sole owner of Book End. You order the book for the shop, and put it on the shelves. That costs you money. Now, later that day you take the book for yourself, and take money from your pocket and put it in the cash register. Later that night, you open your cash register, take out your own money, and put it right back in your pocket. You didn't gain any money there, the money just went in a circle. The book is now out of the shop but you have the same amount of money as you did before you bought it.

The only way to truly profit is to bring in money from the outside. ...so, the only way to gain profit from the book and still keep it for yourself is to replace it with other books...but, of course, that's not a fun thought! :(

Just sayin'. As I said, I'm on your side here!! :)

*hopes you get the book/more fingers crossed*

Ohhhhh Stephen, dangerous territory there! (*pointedly taps encyclopedia and glares menacingly*) I will, of course, be bringing back more of my own books soon, but I have another 500 pages of carefully plotted revenge to read before I can go back to Reading In Volume...

Actually we're not paying ourselves yet (though we're about recouped, which was the plan for the first year) so if my own money goes IN to buy a book, that's still a Good Thing. The good news is, John collected the cash for his books today, and by winningly making my arguments again, watching Mum price the book, and flashing my cash, I secured the Ellmann book for a very reasonable £5. Game, set and match!

Oh, and I never managed to actually see the Federer match yesterday - I got my updates on here (thanks Fliss!) and then read the final analysis on the BBC Wimbledon website. It would definitely have been INTERESTING if he had gone out - but then, Nadal had to forfeit last year with that injury and everyone just kind of forgot about him by the end. By all accounts Federer's been way off his game in recent months, maybe this year it'll be a Nadal-Roddick final?

Now I'm just waiting to see if the bloody RSPCA will bloody well turn up. I rang at least a week ago about a swan with a fishing line caught in its beak, trailing a few feet of line. Lo and behold, today in comes a woman and tells me there's a swan tangled in a line outside. They never came last week at all, and now the poor thing's well and truly tangled. The line's dangling from its beak, wrapped ROUND ITS NECK, and tight across its back, and every time it tries to preen it's pitching headfirst into the water in a jumble. So I rang again straight away, then headed out to keep an eye on its whereabouts, but I don't even know if they'll turn up. It's been ages and nothing yet. I'd have thought a swan would be fairly high up the priority list, all things considered. Poor thing... :-(

ETA: MARK! Good to see you over here! I'm trying to catch up with everyone, I promise - I'll get there eventually - miss you too!

the bloody RSPCA will bloody well turn up ...they make house calls? Wow. Cool. I don't think our version does that, though I confess I've never had reason to find out.

Thank you for reminding me to switch on the Wimbledon "Slam Tracker" as I work (can't have the radio on, I couldn't possibly concentrate...)! Nadal looks like he'll go straight through to the next round, but James Blake is looking shakey...

#204 Re Federer going out in the first round making it more interesting - it depends a bit on who else is in the rest of the draw, he is, after all, a lot more exciting to watch than all those baseliners... But the great thing about Wimbledon is that there are always one or two big name upsets. Must be something about playing on grass...

> Ricardo, yes - as well as taking in strays or unwanted pets and things like that, they also have inspectors who can be called out to injured animals or suspected cases of animal cruelty. Unfortunately, you have to ring through to some muppet at a national 'incident centre' rather than just getting in touch with your friendly local inspector... The swan's on the river right by the shop, and we couldn't have been any more helpful - I gave them phone numbers, directions, told them they could come to the shop and we'd walk them round ourselves... nothing. Not only that, but it's like they're actually accusing you of making it up. They get really funny with you and keep saying things like, 'But you HAVE seen this yourself, Eleanor?' 'No, I just thought I'd ring for a laugh and give you extensive details of a problem that doesn't exist. Chew on that.' Grrrrrrrr!

Ooh, I think we posted at the same time somehow...

Poor swan. Hopefully the RSPCA people will turn up now you've phoned more than once? Bah to national incident centres!

Yay re the Oscar Wilde book!

How about your bird guy? Could he help rescue the swan? And congratulations on scoring a favored book! There's got to be some benefit to being a bookshop owner. :-)

Bird Guy has all the equipment to catch a swan, but not to treat it, unfortunately. Not to mention the fact that Bird Guy is in Cheshire doing a country show today... :-(

Perhaps we should install a wildfowl rescue kit at the shop for future emergencies!

Ohhhhh Stephen, dangerous territory there! (*pointedly taps encyclopedia and glares menacingly*)

But but but, I did say I was on your side!

I'm glad you got the book Ellie! :)
(And not just because it means I won't get hit, of course ... *discreetly puts Ellie's encyclopedia away*)

Hope everything turns out ok for the swan! :(

>211 elliepotten: Jeepers Jenny, doesn't that just frost your telephone?! Call center droids are so often the least and the last of the employment pool. Having worked in call centers for a cosiderable span of my life, I know how grateful and relieved users were to reach someone who wasn't an idiot. When they reached me, I mean.

Do NOT make that joke.

Scoring the Oscar book for a mere ten dollars! Yum!

Shame on RSPCA people. Shame! Shame! Shame! How'd they like to have somebody tie a cord around their necks and then try to bumble through their day? Not much, I'll bet.

And congrats on the book. Every so often one needs to buy that special book that gets your motor running even if it does work against you budget/profit wise. Need to shuffle off to look at own Giant Wishlist now in order to follow my own advice....

Oh my god. How can one old lady break a shop and wind me to 'murderous' in five minutes?! First she dangled the beautiful journals upside down and moaned at how expensive they were. Then she pulled a Bodleian Library tote bag down, pulling the ducky hook thingy down and clattering that across the floor. Despite the large price sign she then waved the bag at me, asked the price, moaned that, guess what, it was too expensive, and tried to hang the bag back up on a tiny nail while her embarrassed daughter looked on. She stopped, looked around a revolted look on her face, and said unpleasantly, 'Ooooh, it's not very busy in here, is it? You're too tucked away, that's your problem.' At which point my temper started to fray rather rapidly and I pointed out than on such a hot, beautiful day, not many people want to be indoors. Then, just to crown the whole visit, she disappeared out through the hanging door beads and yanked so hard on them she pulled the whole lot down, ripping it clear off the hooks and leaving two bits of plastic swinging pathetically. At which point she looked in and screeched, 'Ooooh, that hit me right on the head! That's ever so dangerous, that is!' Cue red mist descending. I took it out of her hands, pointed up and told her very firmly that she'd pulled it right off its holder and broken it (she was the kind of woman who would have kicked up a fuss about THE DANGER, like it was our fault), and walked away as her red-faced daughter hurried her off down the road. We managed to fix it back up but the ends had come off and somewhere along the way have scattered a load of the little things that keep the strands apart, so the last few are just moving around. We've had it two weeks. Needless to say, as I carted it into the office, I may have uttered some naughty words and made some rather vicious comments about this old harridan.... jeez, did she ooze manevolence.

There's always one to ruin a nice day! And on top of that, that poor swan is still slowly strangling - no sign of the RSPCA whatsoever. Again. I think I might have a nice drink when I get home... :_(

P.S. Stephen, sweetie, all is forgiven. Come back and join in; it's one of those 'LT group hug, thank god for you guys, o happy rays of sunshine!' moments...

>218 elliepotten: Old people. *ptui*

Wait...I am old people! Ummm errr uhhh women! *ptui*

Wait...Ellie's a woman...ummm errr uhhh so, who's winning this soccer match y'all seem to care so much about?

P.S. Stephen, sweetie, all is forgiven. Come back and join in; it's one of those 'LT group hug, thank god for you guys, o happy rays of sunshine!' moments...

Oh, alright...

*accidently rips beads off door while walking back into thread*

Oh, errr, oops! :(
...those things are so dangerous, y'know!!

#218: Well I guess you should be grateful that this old lady customer is clear across the Atlantic!

Oh, you lot would be dream old folks - come one, come all, you could get a community bus between you with space for your zimmer frames! *ducks for cover in case she gets a taste of her own encyclopedia* No, though, seriously, I think this old lady was actually some kind of malevolent minion of the devil... I could have sworn I saw horns sprouting as she walked away...

My sister just found a dead squirrel in the living room. This is worrying. HOW DID IT GET THERE?! R.I.P. Bart, our friendly local nut thief... :-(

*hurls prized vintage 1911 EB at impudent Eillie*

Zimmer frames!! The NERVE of the child!!

Malevolent minion of the Devil, you say? A cat, then, was she? You poor dear. *deserves that dead squirrel just for the zimmer frame crack*

Hope I get t be one of your dream old folks too...

strangled swan, dead squirrel, nasty old biddy .... poor, Ellie, you're having an absolutely beastly day.

Put up a sign by your front door stating that only cool, fun and polite old people allowed

What an old biddy! Pah to her I say!! Hope no evil-grannies enter your shop today...

I love the term "old biddy". But what are zimmer frames?...

We call them walkers here in the Fount of All Goodness and Rightness.

Excellent. Thank you, sir.

BTW, I love the walker number in the Broadway production of "The Producers"

They make those walkers look pretty stylish now. :)

I'm stopping by to say that while I don't often post on your thread, I try to visit frequently.

I'm glad you are feeling better.

Aaaaaak! Ellie! I'm here at my desk with my PB&J sandwich, my pickle, chocolate chip cookie and milk, ready to read the latest episode in your life and there isn't a single letter for me to entertain myself with! I am addicted. Feed my addiction and write something!

- oh, by the way, if you are sick, please regard above message.... and get better soon. And write.

Trying to catch up on threads - marking it read up to here and marching smarting forward from here. Just hope I don't have to read about pickles and peanut butter too often.

caro.. that biddy looks like me .. only thinner

Catching up on your thread, Ellie. Trapped swans! Old ladies demolishing your shop! Dead squirrel in living room????

Glad you got the Wilde book.

Did the RSPCA folks ever show up?

Hello all! We located the RSPCA man as we left the shop that night, standing chatting to a policeman by the bridge. "Yeah, we've been trying to catch it for a week, love", Mr Suave Inspector said. To which my inner response was, "Well, maybe if you took off your shiny loafers and got a pair of wellies on you might have more luck?" What was he going to do, stand on the bank and will it to come over?

I have been VERY BUSY (ahem) reading on towards the end of The Count of Monte Cristo - with a couple of days off and two hundred pages or so left, I think I might almost be done! And, er, getting hooked on 'Big Brother' - not sure how that happened but hey, it's the last series and they're a pretty nice, normal bunch this time! AND the final push towards clearing my living room, which is now devoid of a sofa and has a single armchair sitting forlornly in the middle of it. The new furniture comes on Wednesday, I have a new rug waiting to go down over the cigarette burns an ex-tenant of the flat kindly left all over the (no-smoking) carpet, and I'm searching for a lovely new bookcase as we speak! One or two beautiful, albeit expensive, ideas in the running, but I need to measure up before I get carried away.

My sister worked with me yesterday - but sadly, by 'worked' what I mean is 'sat in the back watching TV and eating peas' so I didn't get the easy day I'd hoped for... Today's been all go too, James here with the owls, books coming in, a revolting delivery man who dumps all our stuff on the floor, accuses me of not working and bashes everything on his way out... Fortunately, I had a very nice chat with the lady in the clothes shop next door, which always brightens the day, and my mum's wonderful old friend dropped by too which is always a pleasure... More later anyway, time to close!

I have THE BIGGEST BOX of books arriving from Amazon tomorrow. I'm so excited, I can't wait! I ordered a whopping £100 of books, plus a few extra from Amazon Marketplace and ABE - 'The Lessons' by Naomi Alderman (touchstones playing up), A Gentle Madness by Nicholas Basbanes and How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen. I got expedited delivery so I could sneak everything in tomorrow while Mum and Hannah are at work... I'll be hovering by the door waiting for Mr Delivery Man, wheeeeeee! *giggles merrily and goes back to her cup of tea*

Oh, A Gentle Madness is a dandy! Enjoy, Ellie!

And the other 25 or so... I went a lickle bit mad. Just a lickle bit. Usually my 'I fancy placing an order today' method is just to add EVERYTHING I fancy to my basket, then keep deleting stuff until I reach a price that doesn't make me want to cry. Which is usually about £50, max, on a blowout. Well, all this furniture buying must have stretched my limits a little, as it were, because I spent well over double that in the end. Hence the 'sneaking it in' part - The Decimation Threat is still hanging over this flat like a dark cloud!

Hi Ellie! Make sure you let let us know what's in the "BIGGEST BOX of books". Inquiring minds and all that...
"The Decimation Threat is still hanging over this flat like a dark cloud!"
Sounds ominous!

Usually my 'I fancy placing an order today' method is just to add EVERYTHING I fancy to my basket, then keep deleting stuff until I reach a price that doesn't make me want to cry.

That's EXACTLY how I shop online!! :D

Yay for big boxes of books!

Have you perfected your innocent expression and deadpan delivery of, 'What this book? No, it's not new - it's been on the shelf for ages!'?

Usually my 'I fancy placing an order today' method is just to add EVERYTHING I fancy to my basket, then keep deleting stuff until I reach a price that doesn't make me want to cry.

Me three!

Hahaha.. me four!

*goes back to lurking ...although perhaps I should take a shower and maybe I'll feel cooler.... i don't know what possessed me to think of clearing out part of the attic when it's so hot tonight*

Me five! So glad to have such lovely bookish comrades here! And glad to hear that the RSPCA man finally showed up. I was beginning to have awful dreams about that poor dear swan, wishing I could help somehow. But, seeing as I'm thousands of miles away, there really isn't much to do.

Congrats on your big box o'books! Have fun waiting for Mr. Delivery Man!

Oh damn, double damn and lots of other rude words! I hate courier companies, I really bloody do. My Royal Mail-despatched items (5 of) arrived safe and sound right on time, but apparently I've been visited by the amazing Invisible Delivery Man... Starting to get a little worried, I went online to track my much-anticipated box, only to find that they'd 'tried to deliver at 10:49am' and that there would be a card letting me know what to do next. So I rushed down to the house to see if by some fluke I'd missed it (there was a sign on the door to ring at my flat so not much chance of that even if I didn't pounce on the van) - and was there buggery a card! Heaven knows where he's tried to deliver it - sadly, even if he was on the right drive one set of neighbours is away, one lot are at work, and apparently going all the way to the bottom of the drive was just Too Much Effort. So I had to ring said courier company, very crossly (the second time in a couple of weeks I've paid expedited delivery only for something not to show up), and make them add a big note to their driver to CALL WHEN HE'S NEARBY and that THERE WILL DEFINITELY BE SOMEONE IN TOMORROW! Let's hope my mother is NOT in. If he gets lazy again I'll be complaining, because I can hardly go all the way to Derby to pick it up (their 2-day rule, wonderful) when I'm at work the rest of the time. *lets fall a small tear of disappointment and hopes fervently her mum won't get too interested in said parcel if - fingers crossed - it shows up safely*

Well. Apparently two Marketplace books turned up at work today: How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen and The Bookshop at 10 Curzon Street - the letters between Nancy Mitford and Heywood Hill - so that's one thing. And here, safe and sound via Her Majesty's Postal Service:
Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien (it's about a barn owl, how could I resist?)
Beastly by Alex Flinn
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
Teenagers: A Natural History by David Bainbridge
Blindness by Jose Saramago

*swallows a big handful of chocolate buttons and goes back to her book with a sigh of resignation*

Disappointing! I'd be kicking some Mr. Delivery Man butt! >:(

Oh no! Courier companies can certainly be a complete pain in the posterior. Hope you get a competent delivery driver next time round and they actually manage to find the right house.

At least you've got *some* of the books safely. And some chocolate buttons to soften the trauma.

That's awful Ellie! Waiting for parcels ... I'm sure that sometimes they don't even try to deliver! Then they say you didn't answer. GRRR and bad words!!

I hope you enjoy your chocolate and the books you got.

*hic* Yes, yes.... I kicked some courier call centre butt anyway, which was gratifying. I learned from the best (my mother is VERY good at this) - unfailingly polite yet with that note in my voice which says 'I am very disappointed in you, O Minion. Make it twice AT YOUR PERIL!!!' The young man was quick to list (and repeat) all the helpful things he was adding to my notes, which is usually a good sign. So now, let's just hope karma doesn't kick me in the ass for my Amazon sneakiness and whisper to my mother of the 18 BOOKS in that missing box.... Soooooooo, it'll be two days off, two early starts for me - and another day of vigilance, waiting to spirit away my box AND install my new chairs! (*feels a bit excited in spite of herself*)

Oh, and Wesley looks WONDERFUL. Flicking through some of the photos, it was like the spirit of Gilbert, the mischievous little devil, right there on the page. I think I'm going to love it!

Stopping by to say hello and I'm feeling devastated that I have not been able to keep up with your thread. I so enjoy reading your posts to all of us, and am able to tell from the huge number of followers that you are well loved by many of us here at LibaryThing, not only moi.

Your frustrations around the delivery of the box are heart felt. I know how hard it is to wait for special packages, too.

I really loved reading your birthday favourites list ... it is lovely. Happy belated birthday wishes. So glad that you were born and I have had the pleasure of getting to know you here and on Facebook, too.

I hope to a more faithful reader and poster. Just know that you are always in my heart of hearts.

Hi Ruth
It is always good to see a post from you!

Ellie...You comments and adventures make me smile

Mmm...my old mama woulda said that the chickens came home to roost *when* your deceived mother finds the box, and faithless to every tenet of privacy and politeness, opens it to discover the hundred-pound-worth of illicitly purchased books, and has a coronary on the spot.

Grim old buster, my mama.

Sorry to hear about the book delivery issues - I am now seriously tempted to go and buy some chocolate buttons...

*gaaah* I tried, I really really did, but I guess I bow to the inevitable and resume my role as the Thread Police:

Madam, you have exceeded the recommended dial-up-friendly limit of 250 posts on this thread, and to avoid the Thread Police making anonymous calls to bookshops in Bakewell to tip off certain mothers named Lynn to the existence of parcels containing naughty-naughties, you must begin another thread before bed tonight.

Ruth! Lovely of you to drop by with such sweet sentiments - and don't worry, I'm atrocious at keeping up with the threads at the moment too... Given the volume to go at this year, I don't think we're the only ones!

Richard - less sweet sentiments there... My lovely mother (which she is, despite the bookish threats which sting so soundly!) won't open the box, and definitely will NOT have a coronary on the spot, which is good. On the other hand, she may well show considerable curiosity once I am in possession of said box, at which point I will be fervently hoping to live out the day in one piece. In the interests of this thread and that book you wanted me to write (*guilt trip, guilt trip, all the things I've never done, still so young, etc. etc.*) you have my permission to send vibes of luck and happiness to this poor addict in her hour of crisis. Yeah... Okay, carry on...

Now. To fall asleep, to tidy, to watch a movie, or to prop my eyelids open with matchsticks and try to carry on with my book. Hmmmm.

Thanks Ricardo - posting at the same time there - I was okay this morning but all these posts have tipped it over 250, yes. It's only 3.45pm here, so I'll start another one in a sec (*looks furtively around to see if Stasia is listening*). If I move quickly enough I might get it properly set up before she finds me! :-)

Okay, I can't be bothered to go hunting down the HTML thingy so I'll just post the link:

NEW THREAD HERE!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/93876

#255 I had a similar reaction!

#259 Oops! ...trundling over now...