Joke, courtesy of Mr F!

After three years of marriage, a wife was still questioning her husband about his lurid past. "C'mon, tell me," she asked for the thousandth time, "How many women have you slept with?" "Baby," he protested, "if I told you, you'd throw a fit." The wife promised she wouldn't get angry, and convinced her hubby to tell her.

"Okay," he said, then started to count on his fingers. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven - then there's you - nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen . . . "

Parochial reading?

It was only when I went to fetch The Turn of the Screw yesterday that I realised I had hardly visited the American literature section of the library. I like modern American writers, in particular Harlan Coben and Jeffrey Deaver, but for literature I rarely stray away from British writers. I must be more adventurous!

Another ghost story

I was in the mood for ghost stories once I had read The Mist in the Mirror, so I decided to re-read The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. James is not an easy writer and I really had to concentrate on what he was saying here. It was well worth it though, to try and pick up all the nuances and ambiguities of what he was saying. Are the ghosts really there, or is everything in the imagination of the governess? There is no easy answer, and critics have been debating this for about 80 years . This is a story which repays reading and rereading. It really draws you in.

Day 58; Book 56

Espedair Street by Iain Banks

A rather blokey read for me last night: Espedair Street by Iain Banks. This is the funny and sad tale of a geeky boy's rise to 70s rock stardom with ELP-style stage excesses, followed by his inevitable fall. The novel features lots of Glasgow/West of Scotland humour and local colour - look out for the beer-drinking dog. I did think, however, that the two girls in 1973 Paisley at the start would have said "def-in-ATE-ly" instead of "definItly" and I was crushed when the protagonist says that he had never heard of the Glasgow to Edinburgh slow train (THE way to travel across country, via Shotts!)

Day 57; Book 55

Curl up with a ghost story for Christmas!

Joanna Trollope's Second Honeymoon was good in the end, even though I had read it before. This author always highlights contemporary dilemmas (but in a readable way) and in this one the ends were all tied up in a satisfactory way.

Looking about for something to read next, I came across The Mist in the Mirror by Susan Hill. I had read this before too, but as it was sitting on my own bookshelf that was hardly a surprise! I settled down to read it with anticipation as I do like an atmospheric ghost story at this time of year. Susan Hill is a very skillful writer especially when it comes to setting the scene, and she has a very delicate touch with character and also conclusions which are not too-definitely stated. This made me think a bit of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, so I must look that out too. If you want to curl up in the warm while the weather does its worst outdoors, then The Mist in the Mirror would be a good choice to read.

Day 56; Book 54

A word I would like to ban ...

is "furbaby" for a cat or I suppose any furry little pet. Yuck!

Having said that, I don't like "blog" either. You certainly couldn't call it euphonious!

And a further aaaaargh for "normalcy" which has even started to infest the BBC News webpages (see here). What's wrong with "normality"?

Reader Rage!

It's that feeling which comes over you when you settle down to read a promising-looking book - and then you realise you have read it before. Aaarrrgh! In this case it is Joanna Trollope's Second Honeymoon. I remember it's a good read but it's very annoying to either know what's going to happen, or to remember it as you read it.

I sometimes have a problem remembering titles. Distinctive titles are fine, but there are some authors out there whose titles just don't stick in my mind at all. Dean Koontz is one - the titles hardly convey anything to me at all. I think Nora Roberts might be another. It's funny because I will sometimes choose a book based just on the title.


Day 55; Book 52