My 5-Month Anniversary is Today!

Five months of Book-a-Day that is! I started on 10th October last year so now I have only 7 months to go. This is where my calculations let me down because I reckon that is 151 days but I thought I was on Day 153 and Book 153. Oh well, I'm either keeping up or I am ahead ...

Penelope Lively

I'm afraid I had never read this author before, despite her having a prolific output of books for children and adults. Judgement Day is erudite and detailed in its observations of people and places and well worth reading, although ultimately rather sad. I'm going to try her other books.

I also read the play version of Robert Tressell's Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, by Stephen Lowe. This is a classic of socialist literature which, however, I don't think I would ever have got round to reading without this blog. The best scene comes when the character Owen demonstrates capitalist economics to his fellow workers, using the cutlery and food on the table as props. The bosses may strike us today as too reminiscent of moustache-twirling villains, but that doesn't take away from the significance of this work and the radical thinking it represented at the time.

Day 153; Book 153

More Sublime and Ridiculous Reads!

I'll start with an old favourite - Return of the Bunny Suicides! If you haven't heard of this, it's basically a book of cartoon bunnies with but one aim in life: self-destruction. Why is this funny? It's a puzzle, but I think it's probably to do with the contrast between the cuteness of the rabbits and the darkness of their intentions. The situations are ridiculous too, with horrible ends involving toasters or maypoles. The book ends with a picture of a Venus Fly-Trap, and then you notice the fluffy little tail sticking out ...

Also light-hearted was Reading My Arse! I had to buy this for the title alone. It's by the actor Ricky Tomlinson and was another of the Quick Reads series. (Incidentally, if you want to attract non-readers, is placing these books in a traditional bookshop the best idea? What about supermarkets, or pubs?). This story was much better than The Cave, but did have an element of wish-fulfillment about it. This is all very well for the author, but may not appeal to the reader quite so much ...

I also read another of the Marcus Didius Falco detective books, with Falco this time investigating a serial killer in Ancient Rome. Did they have serial killers in those days? It makes an interesting story anyway. It's darker than usual but there's still room for Falco's quips.

Finally I read Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende. Fortunately Catriona had leant this to me, because on the basis of my usual trick of going purely by the title and cover I would have missed out on this book. It turned out to be beautifully written and a fascinating romance and adventure story. Highly recommended.

Day 152; Book 151

Wholemeal Shortbread

This recipe produced accusing cries of "Why have you never made this before?" so I reckon it is worth sharing.

8 oz wholemeal flour
6 oz butter
5 oz demerara sugar
pinch of salt

Rub the butter into the salted flour (I softened the butter for 30 seconds in the microwave first - check how powerful your microwave is first though!). Then add the sugar and knead with the hands until the mixture is soft. You are then supposed to roll it out to 1/2 inch thick, but I just pressed it into a baking tray, and I think it would be crisper if you made it less than 1/2 inch thick. Back at 375 degrees F/190 degrees C for 20 minutes, then cut into slices and cool on a rack.

The Guardian Book of English Language edited by David Marsh and Amelia Hodson

Is it sad to like reading guides to grammar and spelling? Probably!

This one is a 100-page extract from Guardian Style, as used by the paper's journalists. Wisely, the editors admit to the "Grauniad" image of misprints and misspellings straight away, and then get on with the job of giving guidelines to their journalists. Fifers will be happy to know that the correct spelling of Kirkcaldy is included (thanks to Gordon Brown, we presume). This isn't as easy to read as The Elements of Style, but it does have some funny moments. For example there's this entry (which I should probably heed) for Exclamation marks: Do not use! Or when spelling this singer's name: Meat Loaf sings, meatloaf doesn't. They also reckon that the prejudice against split infinitives goes back to 19th century Latin teachers who felt that as the Latin infinitive was all one word, the English one shouldn't be split by another word inbetween. They give another couple of examples then say, "As the Guardian is written in English, rather than Latin, do not worry about any of this even slightly".

Day 149; Book 147

On the Perils of Buying Second-Hand Books

My book about ice skating has arrived! It looks promising, with section one covering how to keep your balance and also how to fall (presumably if you fail at keeping your balance). However somebody (and I'm guessing somebody male and adolescent) had "improved" the line illustrations with anatomical details! Ooh er! Now where is that eraser?

Language I love

After yesterday's disappointment with The Cave, I consoled myself with a copy of Heat. It doesn't count for my stats but it is so cleverly written. I don't think its writers invented these words but they have certainly popularised moobs, muffin top, weird crush and the dreaded camel toe! Other inferior magazines have tried to copy Heat but they don't realise abuse on its own is just cruel, not amusing. By contrast, here Heat comments on a dress made out of ties (!) : "We’re all for a bit of recycling, but surely rooting through the wardrobes of some newly unemployed bankers and turning the findings into a red carpet frock is a bit much?" Harsh but fair and cleverly incorporating a topical reference!

AND Heat World has footage of THAT Robert Webb Flashdance performance!