Mehercule!

*insert other Latin exclamations here*

New job -- head spinning -- still reading my latest Marcus Didius Falco mystery. Hopefully I will have more to report on Monday, loyal readers!

Nothing to report ...

until I finish Two for the Lions by Lindsey Davis. This time Falco's investigations take him into the world of the bestiarii (the gladiators who fight animals, in case you didn't know. I didn't!) But apparently, just like today's wrestling contests, some playacting can go on. Who knew?

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

Thanks to Gayle I am now in temporary possession of some modern classics. I'd never even seen the film of Breakfast at Tiffany's so I was keen to find out what the book was all about. It's beautifully written and constructed and has the memorable character of Holly Golightly, infuriating and touching all at once. Now I must see the film - but will the characters be as I imagined them? The book also included 3 short stories, the last of which "A Christmas Memory" I can't recommend enough. It's warm and touching and full of nostalgia for a little boy's childhood.

Day 161; Book 161

Nostalgia Fest!

Last night's book was a slim volume called Jackie: Growing Up As a Jackie Girl. It had lots of features and extracts from the teenage magazine (or as I should call it , "mag"). They decided to make the focus their most successful decade, the 70s, and so they featured Donny Osmond and David Cassidy as well as all the glam rockers of the time. The adverts were for things like Linco-Beer shampoo and Aero dry shampoo and there were clothes like hot pants and ponchos and smock dresses. Of course nobody had a mobile phone or a computer or even a calculator. Lots of people didn't even have a phone at home. Everybody was obsessed with slimming. It's funny because today we blame skinny models for eating disorders, but everybody was slimming then and the stars like Pan's People were well-covered by today's standards. Oh and nobody was gay.

Day 160; Book 160

Mr F and I visit Literary Location No. 2, The Hawes Inn in South Queensferry

This is the real-life inn from which the fictional David Balfour was kidnapped (thanks to the machinations of his uncle) in R L Stevenson's Kidnapped. The inn still stands today in the very picturesque village of South Queensferry which sits between the two Forth Bridges. As you can see from these photos the weather was threatening rain:





The inn sign refers directly to Kidnapped (although it makes me think of Treasure Island)



You can see how rough the waves were on the Forth here:



This is a moody picture taken from the High Street:



and finally a lonely pillar box contemplates ending it all ...

A Motley Selection

Fiction first: in a triumph of hope over experience, I read another Jeff Abbott book. Jeff Abbott writes well, and he writes mystery/suspense novels but I just can't warm to his characters. He also writes about espionage and organised crime rather than "ordinary" people. I'll stick to Harlan Coben but I'll need to wait for his new book to come out (next month, and it's a new Myron Bolitar book!)

Next was Garrison Keillor, a new author to me but one I'd heard mentioned in glowing terms. Again he writes well, but again I just didn't take to him. I think it's possibly because he writes as if we should know all about Lutherans. It's funny because often you read a book about a completely different environment and it's one of the benefits of reading that you come to feel as if you know about that environment. I just didn't feel that here. I did laugh out loud a couple of times but that was the exception. There seemed to be an underlying sadness to the book too (which does give it extra depth).

Men and Sheds is an amusing book about men and their fondness for sheds ... with pictures of the men in their sheds of course. There is one woman but mostly the shed is a male environment. None of these sheds are beautiful but their owners obviously love them and the opportunities they offer for peace and seclusion and frankly, obsessions!

Finally I came across in a charity shop a book I had when I was about seven. I loved this book! It's called Something to Do and the author was Septima (a pseudonym for a group of mums who wrote the book). I still liked this book and all the information and activities it suggested, but it was also amusing and thought-provoking to see that in those days (the 1960s) children were expected to be able to have penknives, make fires, boil kettles etc. What freedom!

Day 159; Book 159

Creating Papercrafts by Labeena Ishaque

I finished Dead Sky by Tami Hoag last night. It was really good with lots of suspense (although I guessed the end). The characters were strong and there were a couple of wise-cracking detectives.

My other book was Creating Papercrafts by Labeena Ishaque. There were some really good ideas in there, including greetings cards with tiny bundles of twigs attached to the front, and a fabulous travel journal with covers made from an old map. I loved the aged effect, and you could put all sorts of pockets inside to hold tickets etc.

I love travel journals! (Even though I never keep one ...). I think it is the promise of them that is so enticing. Here is a webpage devoted to journals including travel journals.

Day 156; Book 155