For Finn Crisp original rye crispbreads! They are very thin with a delicious nutty taste. In fact they are so thin they surely can't have many calories ... Yum!
*note to self - make sure to get the really thin ones next time, not the ordinary ones WHICH ARE NOT AS GOOD!
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
The Code of the Woosters by P G Wodehouse
I'm still reading this one so haven't entered it on my Books Completed list. This is the second Wodehouse I've read recently and I'm really enjoying this one. Apparently it is one of his best (see this Guardian review of his life and works). The first one I read felt more like a short story extended, but this one is well paced and consistently amusing. It looks like I'm a convert and I wasn't even troubled by revolutionary thoughts when Jeeves brought Bertie his early morning tea in bed (I was slightly troubled by Bertie putting his underwear on in front of Jeeves, but that's a different matter altogether ...)
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson
I don't like mountaineering books as a rule, but this autobiographical book is exceptional. It's a book about survival and you don't need to be interested in climbing to enjoy it. We know the outcome from the start, but you will still be on the edge of your seat as each new crisis occurs. The writing is spare and honest and conveys each participant's emotions. There's a documentary film too, which is unusual in that it follows the source book very closely and so is just as good as the book, and is possibly even more nerve-wracking. The only difference I would say is that the book is very clear on Joe Simpson's attitude to his climbing partner Simon Yates.
Joe's survival is amazing and can be attributed in part to his competitive nature as a climber and athlete. To crawl for miles with a horrendously-broken leg could surely only be achieved by someone with great mental abilities. He sets himself tasks, and breaks them down into patterns and gives himself time limits to achieve them. (Some of his worst moments come when he gives up on this strict control of his mind). It is a great illustration of how great challenges are achieved through mental as much as physical effort. I think it is probably much harder to train yourself mentally though.
There is a link to a description of the book here, and this is a link to Joe Simpson's website, "No Ordinary Joe".
Day 104; Book 103
Joe's survival is amazing and can be attributed in part to his competitive nature as a climber and athlete. To crawl for miles with a horrendously-broken leg could surely only be achieved by someone with great mental abilities. He sets himself tasks, and breaks them down into patterns and gives himself time limits to achieve them. (Some of his worst moments come when he gives up on this strict control of his mind). It is a great illustration of how great challenges are achieved through mental as much as physical effort. I think it is probably much harder to train yourself mentally though.
There is a link to a description of the book here, and this is a link to Joe Simpson's website, "No Ordinary Joe".
Day 104; Book 103
Monday, 19 January 2009
Random Link
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
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
Friday, 16 January 2009
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 ...
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