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I couldn't resist the title of this blog, Cute Things Falling Asleep! It does exactly what it says on the tin ...

Marcus Didius Falco

My favourite ancient Roman detective was in action again in Last Act at Palmyra, in which Marcus and Helena join up with a troupe of travelling performers to investigate a murder. I wish these novels had been available when I was at school - they are much more fun than Ecci Romani! Of course I am totally shallow and read these only for the story, but it's surprising how educational they are as well (and education without effort is always the best kind ...)

Sadly, I've almost finished reading the Alison Lurie novels. Real People is about an artists' retreat, and one particular author who goes there to write away from the ordinary stresses of running her home. On this visit she learns a lot about herself and other people, not all of it pleasant, and she also learns a lot about her work.

Love and Friendship is the first of Lurie's novels, and sets the benchmark for her scenes of academics and their families behaving badly at home and at work. She is very good in her portrayal of children. In this case the Venn children are charmingly eccentric, and Freddy Hunter is alternately shown as angelic and fiendish (but he has good cause).

Day 103; Book 102

More on Windows of the Soul by Jo Alexander

***STOP PRESS*** Now available on Lulu with the opportunity to preview the text (just click on the preview button at the bottom)

Fellow bloggers!

Have you signed up to Google Analytics? I found it a bit complicated to do - you sign up and then they send you a block of Html which you enter in your blog ... once that's done though you can look it up and see how many people have visited your blog each day. It's very addictive! You have to remember to exclude your IP address, otherwise it counts your own visits to your blog which makes you think you are more popular than you really are! I had a good day yesterday - I had 25 visitors! What you are aiming for of course is repeat visitors, not visitors who look once and then flee in disgust, or worse, boredom ...

More Academics Behaving Badly

Last night's book was Imaginary Friends by Alison Lurie. Actually it was also this morning's and this lunchtime's book, because I fell asleep last night while reading it. Don't be misled, though - this book is hilarious, featuring Lurie's usual cast of academics but this time focussing mainly on their professional lives as two sociologists set out to investigate a nutty religious group. The author's usual style is wry and witty, but in this book there are several laugh-out-loud moments. The action is bizarre but also believable; you could imagine real people getting in to these situations. A cautionary tale!

Day 100; Book 99

Trumpet by Jackie Kay

This book features a famous jazz musician with a secret. Fortunately for me I had followed my usual practice of not reading the blurb on the back, because I have found that very often these reveal quite plainly something which happens near the start of the book. Blurb authors should tantalise, not give away the plot! In this case I hadn't looked so I was able to appreciate the author's skill in unfolding the story. The book is very evocative of 1950s Glasgow (although I thought I spotted a mistake - I will check with my mother who was there at the time to see if I am right!) The author is a poet as well and this comes across in her often lyrical writing. This is a good story and the author copes well with telling it from many different viewpoints, gradually revealing what happened.

Then I read a Terence Rattigan play, French without Tears. I'd already read The Winslow Boy but this other play, while amusing, seems very dated now. It's cleverly done but the story is slight. The Winslow Boy will last, I think, because it raises questions about bigger themes such as truth and loyalty, but French without Tears is really just a piece of fluff, fun but insubstantial.

Day 99; Book 98

David Crystal

David Crystal is an authority on the English language. He writes clearly and with common sense on every aspect of English. You can find his blog here - scroll down to "On Insults, or Not" for his comments on a topical news story. Here is another link to his great reference work, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. This is a surprisingly readable guide to English right from its origins through to the different varieties of English in the world today. It's an ideal resource for any student of the English language.