Just checked back and realised I have also finished the Mage Storm series by Lackey, the fact that I had forgotten about it pretty much sums it up.

Also my 80 book challenge starts tomorrow!

I got some lovely books for Xmas from my dad and stepmother, who bought me three big beautiful books; The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens Vol 1 and The Complete Shakespeare. They are huge, heavy, with high quality paper and gorgeous illustrations. I just need to find a way to read them without giving myself a dead leg!

Mr Neverwithoutabook bought me Nigella's Feast and Hugh Fearlessly-Eatsitall's Meat, so my obsession with glossy cookbooks (cookery porn!) was sated.

BrotherNeverwithoutabook gave me £50 in Play.com vouchers which equalled 8 new books (a Trudi Canavan series, Neverwhere by Gaiman, Sharp North and also the Warprize series. I also had £7 in Amazon vouchers left so I bought Dragonfly and the second Flambards book.

Finished 'Them'- not impressed at all.

Am currently reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser which is doing a very good job of reminding me why I hate fast food, over-processed food and big corporations.

Apologies for quiet but havent been very well. Lots of time for reading though and I have read:

All Lackey 'Mage Winds' trilogy
2/3 Lackey 'Mage Storms' trilogy
Survivors by Terry Nation
Alas Babylon by Pat Frank
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Dont Bet on the Prince by Jack Zipes
The Darcys and The Bingleys by Marsha Altman (posted review on Amazon.co.uk)

Currently Reading:

Storm Breaking
Them by Jon Ronson

Waiting for:

3 DVDs from Amazon
1 Childrens book from Amazon
Last book of obsidian trilogy from Amazon

Have still to spend:

£25 of Play.com vouchers
46 Bookmooch points

Challenge from the 1st january:
To read at least 80 books in 2009

I have been completely absorbed recently in 'The Mage Winds Trilogy' by Mercedes Lackey. I know Lackey isnt taken very seriously by serious fantasy fans but right now its just what I need. I have another Lackey trilogy lined up after this one.

My review has been put up on the Blog a Penguin Classic website finally. I got one for TheChild an one for myself. But of course as she cant read I had to do it for her! Anyway, its The Last of the Mohicans and it is here:

http://www.blogapenguinclassic.co.uk/site/pcReadReview.php5?review_id=37

Finished the Linda Berdoll book. I am in two minds about it really, on one hand I really quite enjoyed it and on the other it was quite disappointing and I am veering rapidly between the two. Some events are given from the point of view of both Darcys, which is a little odd and takes some getting used to, but then other events-where you might expect to hear both sides, left me flicking through the book to check whether I missed the other viewpoint. Berdoll also chooses to regularly shifts perspective on her other characters too, one minute we are at Pemberley with the Darcys and the next in London with Wickham, something which is successful in other novels (although not my favourite story device), but here felt awkward and disrupted the flow of the story. Added to this were the incongrously written passages where Berdoll's affected style slipped and literally shook me out of the story into reality, forcing me to make the effort to reconnect with the story.
The book also ended abruptly, I am not sure whether Berdoll intends to write a third sequel, but it seemed that although the loose ends are tied up to a certain extent there is a lot suggested by the book that is left to explore. The Darcys are explicit in their desire for another child (and just explicit in their desire for each other too!) for example, but whether they succeed is left for us to ponder at the end of the book-and this is a book where nothing is left to the imagination! Indeed, so much is repeated and reiterated that Berdoll seems often to have forgotten that the majority of her readers will actually have read Pride and Prejudice and her first book, so that she doesnt need to have reams of explanation about the previous plot. Darcy Takes a Wife is a long book-I have the trade paperback which runs to over 400 pages and it seems such a shame that there isnt more about the family, characters arent developed further and that we dont advance further in the history of this very famous literary marriage.

Having said all of that I did enjoy the book immensely and miss the world of the Darcys now I have finished the book, but this book has so much potential to be something more than it is.

2 bookmooch books, one and two of a trilogy:

Diplomacy of Wolves and Vengeance of Dragons by Holly Lisle

I also picked up a whole load of 50p books from the Help the Aged charity shop which is closing down soon (apparently they are being charged extortionate amounts of rent so they have to close), and some 30p books from PDSA.

When we were orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Demon Headmaster by Gillian Cross
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Casanova by Andrew Miller
Rapture by David Sosnowski

Also finally reached the conclusion of my debate with Photobox. All I wanted was a nice 10x8 photo of The Child enlarged but the first five came with her face cut off at the forehead. My mistake so I am more careful and reorder-another five duff photos. Complained-lady reorders for me free, reassuring me it will be fine this time. Encouraged I wait for the post, only to receive another 5 truncated daughter pictures. Refunded all my money but now have 15 useless pictures and no Xmas presents.
I have to say though I was very impressed with their customer service, something probably helped by the fact that I was unfailingly polite, I didnt rant once. They were very apologetic, responses were speedy and the money was returned 2 hours after I received the final duff set of pictures, with an apology. They even refunded me for the first set which I was prepared to write off as my own foolishness.

I have also done about half of the Xmas shopping, organised who is visiting when for Xmas and sent out lists of present ideas to baffled relatives (MrNeverwithoutabook is notoriously impossible to buy for as he covets nothing-unlike me who has a permanent wishlist!)

After yesterdays lovely birthday surprise I had another pleasant one today- my PIL brought a signed copy of Kevin Crossley-Holland's The Ugly Duckling for my daughter. He came to my FIL's school (he is a caretaker) to sign books and FIL had the book dedicated to The Child. K C-H was a staple of my childhood and teenage years, I must own 5-6 of his books and he is one of the reasons I took the Ancient History path. I have many happy memories of being absorbed in his books and I am so pleased that The Child will be able to have some too. I wish I could have met him myself, but I probably would have been completely dumbstruck and unable to speak though!

So a small

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

and I will return to normality :D.

I had a lovely surprise yesterday when my mother and her partner sent my birthday present early-£100 of Amazon vouchers! So I had £135.60........now I have 58p!

I ordered one book for my daughter, one for my brother for Xmas and three DVDs (Middlemarch, Pride and Prejudice and Wives and Daughters-all the BBC versions). Then I ordered 11 books for myself!

Alas Babylon by Pat Frank
Life and Fate by Vassily Grossman
Vintage Fear-Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales and Angela Carter's Bloody Chamber
The Whisperers:Private Life in Stalin's Russia by Orlando Figes
The Complete Persepolis by Majane Satrapi
Kristin Lavransdatter
When Darkness Falls by Mercedes Lackey
Dont bet on the Prince:Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North America and England by Jack Zipes
The Darcys and the Bingleys by Marsha Altman
Survivors by Terry Nation
How to Feed your family a healthy balanced diet, with very little money and hardly any time, even if you only have a tiny kitchen, only three saucepans-unless you count the garlic crusher. by Gill Holcombe

Three books today:

Red Sands by Paul B. Thompson and Tonya R. Carter - Arabian-style fantasy

A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa M. Alcott - Dark love and passionate obsession by the author of Little Women

and

The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith.

I also got another cook book yesterday, Farmhouse Cooking, which looks super, very practical and full of commonsense recipes.

I also finished Tiger in the well and then Tin Princess, neither of which ended the way I expected, but were both very good and very well written. Soooo I have added lots of other Pullman books to my Amazon wishlist, I guess its time to start writing reviews again to get the vouchers to buy them. I currently have £35.60 in vouchers sitting in my account, so when I get to £100 or so I'll splurge! Nothing better than having a lovely big box of pristine 'free' books sitting waiting to be opened!

Currently reading:

Them
From the beast to the blonde
Darcy and Elizabeth by Linda Berdoll

Two books:

Mollie: The Journal of Mollie Dorsey Sandford in Nebraska and Colorado Territories 1857-1866

and

Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip

Hurrah!

Two books today:

Where late the sweet birds sang- kate wilhelm - Set in a future world where everyone is sterile and clones are produced to deal with the problem.

The other Linda Berdoll P&P book. I reeeeeeaaaaallly want to read this RIGHT NOW! But I still have to finish Them, From the Beast to the Blonde and The Tiger in the Well. I love Pullman's series, its dark and clever, with a feisty and intelligent heroine. It is also not afraid to confront some of the darker things in life, the ending of The Shadow in the North was totally unexpected and somewhat shocking. I have just begun TITW and I have to admit to having second thoughts about reading it and flicking to the end to check the ending before I started (something I never do) because the storyline looks to be quite upsetting to me- the potential removal of a child from its mother. I know as a callous teenager I wouldn't have thought about it twice, but the mere prospect of losing a child, now I am a mother is too much for me now.

Eeek not very well explained but I have a wriggly child on my lap so I am typing one-handed and correcting any obvious errors as I go along.

ps. watched the first episode of Survivors last night, it was super, cant wait for the net episode

Have been kept away by my two latest reads, Mr Darcy takes a wife and The Ruby in the Smoke. Enjoyed the first very much, very compelling, but I think I would have enjoyed it more as a separate story rather than linked to P&P. The second was excellent and I look forward to the next book in the series.

On an unrelated note I had a lady in a shop gushing over The Child today, she said she had never met a child like her, that she was wise beyond her years and a complete angel. The Child really did me proud, she was polite and happily started a conversation with the lady whilst I was debating whether to get spelt or ordinary flour! As we left the shop the lady said 'I want one'. It makes up for all the really unhappy times that we have had together and all the frustrations of the last 3.5 years!

Got Winds of Fate and also Winds of Change by Mercedes Lackey, hurrah! I now have the whole trilogy and now just have one more Lackey book to get before my shelves contain the whole set of trilogies. Then I need to find them all and start reading them again (I got through four or five books before I was stymied by this series).

Finished the whole Garth Nix Sabriel series again. I feel nicely readjusted now. Have started Marina Warner's From the Beast to the Blonde which has the most wonderful shiny paper pages (I cant be the only one who loves certain types of paper pages) and is lavishly illustrated to the point that it is hard to focus on the actual words!

I finished Stardust this morning. I am in two minds about it now. I know that had I read the book before I watched the film I would have preferred the book and laughed at the ending and dramatic license that has been taken with the book. But I didnt. I saw the film first and fell in love with the story completely and now the book seems much darker and less pleasing than the film. The same happened with The Princess Bride, how I wish I had read the book first. Alas now, the film will be how I remember the story but in return will become one of my favourite films of all time, I lost a book and gained a film.

I began the Sabriel trilogy by Garth Nix just now, I think I felt the need to be consoled in some way. Even though I have all of these wonderful books waiting on my shelves I need some comfort reading and this is the only trilogy I could find with all the books together!

Two Bookmooch parcels (slightly damp thanks to postman leaving them by front door!):

Mr Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll - 'Sequel' to Pride and Prejudice, one of my favourite books and TV series of all time. I have the other 'sequel' coming in the post. Apparently it is supposed to be quite raunchy!

The Riddle-Master's Game by Patricia A. McKillip - Three books in one, so for once I have the whole trilogy in one!

And an impulse buy:

Blown Away by Patrick Cave - YA literature set in a dystopian future-how could I ignore this one? Hardback, brand new (but I obviously didnt pay full price)! Its also the second in a series (sigh), so I need to get the first one!

I have finally started Stardust and it promises so far to be everything I hoped for. I read about 20 pages last night, savouring it as it is only a short little book. I havent read any today whilst The Child has been about (and MrNeverwithoutabook is away on experiment again), so I am looking forward to immersing myself in it this evening.

The Fortress by Hugh walpole arrived today so I can now read the series!

Vegetarian Cook Book (festive food)
Jams, Jellies and Preserves book
DK Castle book for The Child
Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey by Schlissel

Havent started a new book yet, still reading Them, just trying to work out what I want to read next!

Received:

Two biographies, one on Ava Gardner and one on the feud between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

I also finished The First Wives Club. Not particularly impressed, quite confusing, very different from the film and (nothing to do with the book) there was a squashed large spider on the last two pages.

Received:

Princess Diaries 2&3

Reading:

Them by Jon Ronson

The First Wives Club by Olivia Goldsmith (very different from the film and quite confusing)

Finished:

The City of Night by John Rechy

Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey

Two very different books but both very enjoyable. I am in two minds whether to keep them, am holding onto them for the moment. Beauty Sleep was one of the better in this series, strong heroine, relatively romantic, happy and unexpected ending.
City of Night was innovative, well written, with descriptive paragraphs that really took my breath away in places. Rich in the 'jivetalk' of the homosexual underground it gives an intriguing look into the alternative nightlife of major American cities as the impatient and unsettled (and unnamed) narrator explores his own character and sexuality. Very good but very dark although there are a few moments of humour which lighten the piece.

Arrived today:

I Am by Alan Grainger

Finished today:

I Am by Alan Grainger

Plague Year by Jeff Carlson

I Am is a lovely photography book on eccentrics with pictures of them and then a piece of writing from them reproduced in full, explaining about their lives. Beautifully presented its a lovely book (although quite difficult to read some of the handwriting) and is a real glimpse into those who live outside what we consider to be normal (the Luddite, the vampire, the leopard man).

Plague Year was a very exciting read about a nanotechnology plague that takes over the world and decimates the population by damaging internal tissues until death is the natural result. It deactivates itself at high altitude so all the survivors are living above the snow line and desperately searching for a cure. It was a leetle heavy on nanotech talk which I didnt quite follow and I was quite sleepy (two glasses of wine and a heavy cheese fondue) for the final denouement so I couldnt quite figure out who was doing what to who and why. However I put the book down longing to know what happened to the characters and how they got on, so thats a big thumbs up for me.

Only have Them and City of Night to go, both are at less than 100 pages before the end.

Three books today:

Another Gwyneth Rees book about fairies and number 5 and 6 of the princess diaries series. Strictly speaking they are for The Child in a few years but I dont see why I shouldnt read them first!

Two books today:

The Ruby in the Smoke by Phillip Pullman

and

The Tiger in the Well by Phillip Pullman

so I now have all four of this series (hurrah!).

MrNeverWithoutABook came home yesterday, bringing with him a box of delicious little macaroony creamy hamburgery-shaped deliciousness. Lovely. The Child was very pleased to see him!

I also started Them by Jon Ronson so my Currently Reading pile is starting to build its way back up to craziness again!

No books with the post this morning but I did manage to finish The Haven Home for Delinquent Girls. I started it last night and finished it off today. It was OK, avoided the usual themes of women's literature and whilst not particularly well written and a little confusing in parts, had something there which led me to finish it. It tells the story of three sets of women involved with the Haven home, from pregnant teenagers in 1917 to homosexual/pregnant/foul mouthed women in the 1950's and finally a disturbed young woman in 2005. It seemed a little 'themed' and there wasnt enough about some of the women to satisfy me but at least it didnt have that 'three friends' looking for the man of their dreams that infests reading material aimed at women.

On an unrelated note I managed to fix the flush on the toilet this morning by myself. It broke a couple of days ago and I have had to remove the cistern lid every time I want to flush the toilet. After a quick examine of the mechanism I managed to slide everything back together and flushed the toilet with genuine pride in my own ingenuity!

Am debating doing a challenge next year. 50 books in 2009? 75? Or the 999 challenge which is 9 books in each of nine self-chosen categories to be read in 2009 (0r 9/9/2009 if you want to push yourself!). It appeals to my obsessive goal-setting nature but I have several months left to decide. I guess choosing categories would be the most difficult, 9 is a big number when you actually think about it.

Maybe:

Classic Literature pre 1900
Fantasy
Nonfiction
'Classic' Literature post 1900
Young Adult
Childhood books revisited
Light reading/Pap
Post-apocalyptic
Random Bookmooch Books ???

Hmm I will have to give this some more thought

I recently read a post on this blog:

http://www.darktea.co.uk/blog/

asking for info on what to buy/make/know about a new baby. I wrote a long comment (longwinded, moi? Never) about our experiences-three years-bloody hell!

I have a three year old and most of the baby stage has faded but this is what I remember!

Sign up for everything you can, all the baby clubs etc. Check out all the manufacturers sites e.g. MAM, Cow and Gate etc. They all give out freebies, vouchers, dummies, soft toys, burp clothes, nappies etc. I only ever used a dummy once with my daughter and it was the freebie one I got through the post. Some website like moneysavingexpert can give you tips but I think I just typed freebies into google! Big supermarkets and pharmacies have baby clubs which offer special deals and money off vouchers.

I couldnt find burp cloths/shoulder cloths big enough, so I cut up some old bedlinen and cheap fleece blankets to make ones that covered my whole shoulder and most of my back. My daughter didnt posset too badly but the floor and the sofa and my clothes were grateful anyway!

I wish I hadnt bought a baby bath, what a waste. She came in with me or bathed in a sink for the first few months and then she was old enough to go in the big bath.

I couldnt resist the cute clothes but I bought them always in larger sizes, which was good because she grew really fast and didnt get a lot of wear out of the ones I already had.Seemed everyone else loved the cute clothes too as I got piles of newborn stuff and she was a largish baby so she wore them for five minutes!

A good ear thermometer is something worth investing in

Once the baby is born get out of the house every day even just to stand in the garden. It helps to stabilise the baby’s circadian rhythms and also will help your mental wellbeing. It can get really miserable seeing the same walls all the time. I built up to a gentle walk around the block and then to town etc

When they scream, sometimes it is for no reason at all. Write a list of reasons why they might be crying eg. cold, hot, hungry, overstimulated, tired and work through it systematically. If you feel flustered or hassled put them down somewhere safe, walk away, calm down and come back after a minute or two. They will come to no harm but babies can pick up on stress and will get upset. Calm yourself and it makes it much easier to deal with.

Try not to compare what your child is doing with anyone elses. Really, it doesnt matter what age they walk or talk or roll over as long as it is within the norm. None of this is going on their application form to university; do you know who walked first out of your friendship group? Best to avoid over-competitive mothers.

When it seems to be the worst, you cant cope any more, take a break, ask for help. Every mother has had those moments, not everyone admits to them, but its bloody hard work although lovely as well

Mumsnet.com - the greatest parenting resource out there. A website full of mothers who have done it all before, tell it straight but are full of compassion and a desire to help. Problem feeding at 3am? Post a message. Worried about the colour of your child’s poo, post a message. Struggling with your relationship, what present to buy a difficult relation, post on mumsnet.

Finally, 3 years after my daughter was born all the bad stuff has faded away and we are even contemplating another one, its all for such a short period of time. Just keep repeating ‘This too shall pass, this too shall pass!’

Oh dear, Library Sale.

For some reason, even though the library opens at 8.30am, the sale doesnt start until 10am so these shrouded tables stay in the window to taunt people for 90 minutes. We arrived at 9.30am and went upstairs to read in the children's section, before hurrying down again at 9.59! The librarians were not pleased as someone had removed the sheets before it was exactly 10am but I chucked The Child on a sofa and roared into the fray. Spent £2.30 on 16 books (20p for adult books, children's books are 20p each or 3 for 50p-Hurrah!).

I got:

Nineteen Twenty-One by Adam Thorpe - If I dont enjoy it, it is something that my mother might. Lots of 'Praise' on the back, words like 'brilliant' and 'dark and haunted' being bandied around. IME these books rarely live up to their plaudits but I am willing to try!

A Foreign Field by Ben Macintyre - A true story of love and betrayal in the Great War. Hardback!

King Midas and the Golden Touch - A beautiful Renaissance styled version (i.e. no Dionysus/Bacchus etc). The most beautiful illustrations (Illustrated by KY Craft), really gorgeous book

Pirate PiggyWiggy by Christyan and Diane Fox
How do your Senses Work? Usborne Flip Flaps
Trucks. Usborne Beginners
Autumn
Rivers and Lakes
The Vikings
Vikings

Omnibombulator by Dick King-Smith
Charlotte's Web by E.B White
The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson

I also got two Bookmooch books today:

Teen Idol by Meg Cabot
Victoria and The Rogue by Meg Cabot

Finished Children of the Night, it was very good, very engaging and well-written.
I would write more but I am feeling quite sick right now, bleaugh, serves me right for eating all the chocolate I had put by for Trick or Treaters (who I am now hiding from in the dark :D)

Two bookmooch books today:

Blast From the Past by Ben Elton

High Society by Ben Elton

(am mooching all of his books at once!)

And three books from a charity shop:

The First Wives Club by Olivia Goldsmith - more enjoyable pap

Asylum to Anarchy by Claire Baron - Heavy duty read about mental health issues

The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier - Childrens book about refugees from the Nazis.


I finished The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories -The title story was superb, really well written, atmospheric and unnerving. The other stories were sweet and surprising, I really enjoyed them and will be hanging onto the book.

So I have just these left to read

City of Night (now at about 210 pages)
Plague Year (getting creased in my handbag-no more progress)
Children of Night (only have until the 7th Nov-another 20 or so pages)
Love, Sex and Marriage in the Middle Ages (as above- no more progress)
Pride and Prejudice (have the two 'sequels' coming soon and want to reread first-no more progress)

The Child was better today, but my god motherhood is feeling like a bit of an upward battle at the moment.

One book today, post arrived much later than usual. I guess the usual postman is off because it was someone in a fluorescent yellow vest doing his round today.

Gridlock by Ben Elton

Finished the Mitford Sisters on Sunday night and handed it over to mum on Monday. It was a super read, really fascinating. It was also well-written and easy to read, very important when dealing with biographies I think!

The Child has been terribly clingy and stroppy this week, I think because she misses her daddy, who is on experiment and out of contact (no phone, no webcam, limited email, working 18 hour days). We have been keeping our expeditions short and sweet as my nerves and patience are pretty much shredded now, probably not helped by the fact that I am premenstrual. So we have done a lot of reading, lots of cuddling and lots of children's TV (hurrah for Cbeebies!).

Two today:

Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner - Dystopian future etc etc

Popcorn by Ben Elton - Slowly working my way through his books, really enjoy his style of writing.

Had to cancel a mooch yesterday, the idiot owner hadnt updated their inventory and no longer had the book. I was told to cancel if I wanted my point back (the 'accepted' procedure is that the owner should reject the mooch so they get the black mark on their record rather than me getting another cancel). I couldnt be bothered to argue so did it and now have 17 cancels for 301 successful mooches which is higher than I would like. 5 or 6 of those are from me waiting patiently for two weeks while the moocher merrily swanned in and out of her account ignoring my mooch requests. The others are from new moochers who abandoned their accounts before sending out any books (or letting their moochers know).

Books I have to read/ are reading and have to finish:

City of Night (30 pages in for too long)
Plague Year (getting creased in my handbag)
Children of Night (only have until the 7th Nov)
Love, Sex and Marriage in the Middle Ages (as above)
(finished)The Mitford Girls (My mother is waiting for me to finish this and she is coming to visit on Monday)
Pride and Prejudice (have the two 'sequels' coming soon and want to reread first)
edit-added 26-10-08 The Yellow Wallpaper and other stories (argh got to stop browsing my shelves)

So what am I doing online?

More books today!

Dark Magic by Angus Wells - Book 2 of a fantasy trilogy. It goes without saying that I dont have the other two yet!

The Shadow in the North by Phillip Pullman - I have the Tin Princess, so just two more books to get in this series!

Lots of books today, poor postman! Three bookmooch parcels stuffed with books. The first one had 2 ladybird books in it for The Child on Vikings and Gladiators. The other two were from a regular moocher in America who always stuffs flat rate envelopes with as many books as she can fit in, including some for The Child that are freebies. Today was no exception and there were 5 freebies there for The Child. In addition there were 6 mooched books (as well as 2/3 I mooched for The Child) for me!:

The Next-Doors/The Silver Grill by Joan Tate - Light and fluffy 1960's teen romances.

Bobby's Girl by J.D Austin - About a female soldier from another planet experiencing earth.

The Sword of Winter by Marta Randall - A standalone fantasy novel with a female heroine

The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller - Part one of fantasy duology

The Awakened Mage by Karen Miller - Part Two of a fantasy duology (hurrah!)

The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley- Connected to the Blue Sword which I received a few weeks back.


In addition I was lured in by the 20p basket outside ARC again and came home with 8 new books yesterday:

365 Things to Make and Do - big hardback book full of things to do.

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot - Yes, I know, there are now 9 in the series and its light and fluffy teen reading but the book looked like new.

Horrible Histories- Woeful Second World War - Love these.

Horrible Science - Ugly Bugs

Carrie's War by Nina Bawden - Loved this as a child, interested to see if it stands up to a reread.

Horrible Histories - The Measly Middle Ages - Looks brand new

Fergus Crane by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell - An award winning book apparently, looks brand new and I loved the cover, looks like something The Child might like in a few years.

The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy - Another book that looked new

Cant believe I got all of those for £1.60. Just need to work out where to put them all now!

One book today, a glorious new looking hardback book from Bookmooch.

Love Stories from World War II compiled by Larry King- looks like a nice happy book.

I also started and finished The Farthest-Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks, one of my favourites as a child and a recent Bookmooch acquisition. I only intended to read a few pages but ended up finishing it. It isnt often that a book read as a child still has the power to hold my adult attention but this one was just as good as I remembered.

Just one bookmooch book today:

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith - I think I have all the books previous to this one which would naturally be a good point to start reading the series..... except I have no idea where the others are, as they all got separated in the move. The series will have to wait until I have had a really good sort out of all six bookcases which are currently mostly double stacked and in two cases triple stacked...sigh. Just need the time and the motivation!

One bookmooch book today:

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin - A fluffy book for tired eyes and brains.

And one charity shop find:

Piratica by Tanith Lee - First in a series (sigh) about a young female pirate. Hurrah!

Two books today from a 30p rack outside a charity shop in town.

Wyrms by Orson Scott Card - Loved Enchantment. This one looks like a great fantasy with a strong female lead, hurrah!

Femmes Fatale by Tom Kuncl - True stories of the most vicious women on death row. Will be read and then passed on to Ali!

Finished Strangers at last. I wanted to like it, I really did, but I found myself skimming the last 40 or so pages unable to engage any longer with the subject material. Parts were really interesting but Robb crammed so much information in and assumed so much previous knowledge on the part of the reader that I found myself quickly swamped. In addition the lack of evidence for homosexual behaviour in the past means that a lot of the work was highly theoretical and relied on almost listing previous authors and what they have said about the subject.

I have taken refuge in The Mitford Girls and Children of the Night (fourth library book) and will be returning Strangers to the Library asap next week. I have renewed the last few library books so I no longer have to return all three on Monday, I now have untill 7-11-08, phew!

Bumper book day today:

3 Bookmooch books:

The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler - Heard a lot about it, determined to read it.

The Fall of the Shell by Paul Williams - Book 4 of the Pelbar cycle, just 5 more books to go before I have the series!

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay - Have made several unsuccessful attempts at mooching this before, offered extra points to secure it this time. Added to my enormous MUST READ NOW pile, hopefully it will be read before Christmas!


Went out to the shops, wandered past the lovely butcher, grocer and fantastic local produce shop picking up bits to refill our replacement fridge, when I noticed a basket of 20p books outside the ARC charity shop (think its arthritis care). Oh dear. Limited myself to five, three children's books for The Child and two for older children (which I will read and check for suitability for inclusion into The Child's library).

These two were:

The Tin Princess by Phillip Pullman
The Fairy Treasure by Gwyneth Rees - With the sort of cover that makes me wince but I suspect the sort of thing The Child will go for in a couple of years.

One book today - The Time of Dark by Barbara Hambly- Book two in a fantasy trilogy. I have book one, just waiting for book three to become available for mooching!

"Once upon a time there was a witch called Barry"....

was how I was woken up this morning by The Child who gave me a lie-in until 8.41am (hurray!) and then sat next to me 'reading' me stories until I felt human enough to get up. She only currently can recognise about 15 or so words but she can remember quite a lot of her favourite stories, almost verbatim in some cases...and of course she uses her imagination to fill in the gaps. This mornings' example was a leaflet about things to do in Essex that she had found on the floor and was very enamoured with. She is much better this morning and nighttime potty training seems to have 100% worked, we started one week ago and have had only two wet mornings on Wed and Fri, even when she wasnt well she managed to hold on. Really pleased as it saves a fortune on nappies etc.

I got my post brought to me in bed this morning by The Child (who in some ways is very much like a little dog!) who then took the rubbish downstairs to the recycling bin before stripping off her pyjamas and getting clean pants. She also managed to dress herself again (pink longsleeved top and cotton skirt which matched!) all by herself which I was very pleased about. Wont be long before she can do more household tasks (She is 3.4 years old so a while before we can expect cups of tea in bed though!).

She opened my parcel for me which turned out to be a Bookmooch book:

Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey - I havent been very impressed by these 'Once upon a time' retellings and have passed the majority of them on on Bookmooch. This one is based on Sleeping Beauty and came all the way from Australia. Fingers crossed this one is better!

The Child was not well at all in the night, so once I had stripped the bed and sorted her out on the sofa with towels and cuddles I took the opportunity to read and read. I had to stay alert for her so I was able to focus on reading and not my overwhelming desire to sleep (which is still very much there!). I managed to start and finish Firebird by Mercedes Lackey, which was just the ticket to take my mind off everything. A fairytale retelling of The Firebird fairy tale, it is set in Russia and is an interesting interpretation of the original story. I know a lot of people don't rate Lackey but these one off fairy tales are well-written fantasy escapism and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Just one book arrived today:

The Mitford Girls by Mary S. Lovell - 'The Biography of an Extraordinary Family'. The Mitfords certainly are an interesting family and I will probably start it today, if only for the fact that The Child is awfully clingy and I can't face a prolonged search for anything else (and dont want to take the library books anywhere near her at the moment!)

I am still reading Plague Year (handbag), City of Night (bedside table) and Strangers (living room) so I really need to crack on to finishing them before I feel too overwhelmed

Finished I am Legend. I liked the title story, there was a papable air of tension and terror but I felt it ended badly. The other stories were fine, but I have certainly read much better examples of the genre. I'll hang onto it for now, I think it could benefit from a calmer reread!

Just one again today- I Am Legend by Richard Matheson - The classic collection of stories including the famous title story about vampires!

The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper arrived today. Post-apocalyptic (of course) where society has evolved into male and female. Looks interesting.

Currently reading City of Night, Plague Year (got another few pages in at soft play yesterday) and am now on the third chapter of Strangers: Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century by Graham Robb which is the third of my five library books.

The blackberry bush at the bottom of the garden produced half a cup of blackberries in the last week. I went and picked them just now and offered them to The Child. They are obviously a bit bitter but she is utterly determined to eat them all. I hope this determination continues to the home made minestrone soup that we are having for tea!

Two parcels, four books this morning!

First parcel yielded:

Wolfking by Bridget Wood - About a post-apocalyptic radioactive (?) Ireland, mixed up with Celtic mythology (or at least thats the impression I get).

and

Warrior Woman by Marion Zimmer Bradley - Short fantasy novel about a female warrior.

So that was a good parcel - post-apocalyptic (not the easiest word to spell repeatedly!) and strong female heroine!

Second parcel contained:

The Portable Dorothy Parker - Poems, stories, play reviews, articles, book reviews etc by Dorothy Parker.

and

Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter - Lovely hardback edition of this classic tale.

Another book posted through the door this morning. I was quite disappointed- I have got used to multiple parcel openings over breakfast. There might be a second delivery later of books that cant fit through the letterbox/are too heavy to be carted around by the postman, finger crossed!

The book that came today was:

The Walls of Air by Barbara Hambly - Book Two of the Darwath Trilogy. I have another one of the books coming, but the third is still to be mooched.

Three books today

Blow Your House Down by Pat Barker - Loved the Regeneration Trilogy and Union Street. Have been waiting for this one to appear on Bookmooch for quite a while.

The Ends of the Circle by Paul Williams - Book Two of the Pelbar Cycle which I think is 6 or 7 books. I just have this one so far! Postapocalyptic etc etc

The Pesthouse by Jim Crace - Another postapocalyptic story, hope it is good. I had to sit and wait for a reserve to expire on Bookmooch before I could get it, refreshing repeatedly!

I finished the escort book, the author failed to redeem herself in the last thirty pages. Having paid off all of her debts bar the mortgage, what did she do? Signed up for more debt in the form of a 7 seater 4x4. Still her children had plenty of hockey sticks, hope they didnt mind too much how their mother paid for them.

Fall of Tartarus has already been mooched and was sent today. I thought it would be sitting for a while, only really expected the 1/10 of a point from adding it. Hope they enjoy it, its certainly not the worst book I have ever read.

Finished the Urban Legends book, glad I read it, it was quite interesting although frustratingly inadequate at debunking, there were lots of undecideds. I would never buy the book though as all the material is drawn from a website, similar but inferior to Snopes.com.

Started the escort library book 'Call me Elizabeth'. Very quick and easy to read, lots of salacious detail about what she actually did but the author irritated me intensely. She became an escort to save her luxurious house and lifestyle and to keep her 6 children in private school after living beyond her means. The whole book seems to be a defense of her lifestyle - eg. her little daughter Victoria had to have £40 shoes, she was would rather her child's feet got squashed in too small shoes rather than buy a cheaper alternative. It is also packed full of exhortations to women to save their husbands from women like her, to tend to their needs and basically ignore any problems in their relationships. Got about 30 pages to go.

Still reading Plague Year and City of Night

Oh dear, four books again today, I am not going to be popular with the postal service here!

Two books from a 5 book series by Doris Lessing - Books One (Martha Quest) and Three (A Ripple From the Storm). Just need to mooch the other three!

The second book from Mercedes Lackey's Obsidian Trilogy - To Light a Candle - I just need to mooch number three now!

Finally Bloodtide by Melvin Burgess - Another dsytopian piece, set in London and telling the story of two rival gangs. I read and enjoyed Junk, although I didnt end up keeping it - its was a bit too simplistic and 'teen-fictiony' (my own special word there) for me.

I started Plague Year on the car journey home, so I broke my only two books at a time rule (also have City of Night and Urban Legends Uncovered on the go, but I think I can be excused as I have almost finished the Urban Legends one)

Just finished Wolf and Iron, what a super book! I honestly couldnt put it down and there is no way this one will be put up for mooching, I will definitely want to read it again. It follows the story of Jeebee, trying to cross America to get to his brother's ranch in the aftermath of the Collapse (a financial event which has reduced the world to the Iron Age). OK OK there were lots of parts where I raised the proverbial eyebrow, but the story was well written, appealed and was very exciting. Definitely not as depressing as The Road, with an ending that made me smile.

One book today:

Daughter of Earth by Agnes Smedley - Virago woman struggles and triumphs!

I am really pushing on with Wolf and Iron and the Urban Legends book so poor old City of Night has been somewhat left behind!

And two more this morning!

Winds of Fury by Mercedes Lackey - Part three of a trilogy. Part two is on its way and part one is yet to be secured! So quick and easy to read but Lackey has created a world that manages to keep me interested and hooked.

500 Recipes for Budget Meals edited by Susan O'Loughlan - Cookbook from the 1990's. Lots of interesting recipes that dont cost a fortune in ingredients. I am buoyed up by my cooking successes thus far including the amazingly quick and easy golden syrup pudding and the healthier minestrone soup! I made bread yesterday by hand, nothing better to get out all frustrations than ten minutes of kneading pliant bread dough.

I also started Wolf and Iron, its very good. I only intended on reading for 15 minutes this morning but ended up reading for almost an hour!

In other news I appear to now be a comfortable UK size 16 in clothes, which is astonishing considering I was close to a 20 less than a month and a half ago. No diet required just an international house move and the removal of artificial hormones (the Implanon implant) from my body. I am now wearing clothes I havent been able to wear for 3.5 years and am even in my size 16 jeans that I stroked longingly for years in Switzerland!

Four Bookmooch books today:

Year Zero by Jeff Long - two thousand year old plague unleashed on the world.
Plague Year by Jeff Carlson - Nanotechnology evolves into a machine plague which wipes out 5 billion people.
The Rift by Walter J. Williams - Massive earthquake causes a rift across America.

(Notice a theme!?)

And finally:

Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper - A sort of time travel, fantasy fairy tale. Looks super.

Three books this morning, all from Bookmooch!

The Farthest-Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks - A book I remember fondly from my childhood and a lovely story about a bright and courageous young woman who rescues her prince, learning a lot about herself on the way

Them:Adventures with Extremists by Jon Ronson - Brand new looking book about fanatics. Wanted to read this for a while.

The Haven Home For Delinquent Girls - Cake and unmarried mothers. Not in my usual line but it looks interesting.

Another book finished today, the Old Bailey book. It was ok, mediocre and not very detailed. Seemed like the author had just gone through the trial annals and picked out the interesting ones and a few interesting judges to relate. The history of the site was good but wasnt really put in any social or cultural context and was just frustrating. I found it almost impossible to read it through in one go, each trial gets about a paragraph and they are all linked together in the simplest possible way. There was enough there that I managed to finish it and I picked up some interesting snippets but only snippets due to the paucity of information given.

Went to the library today and borrowed my first books in about ten years. I'm hoping that this will help me deal with my acquisition tendencies when it comes to printed paper. I got five books on:

Urban Legends
Homosexuality in the 19th century
Sex and Marriage in the Middle Ages
Vampirism
And a true story about a woman who became an escort.

I have until the 20th Oct to read and return!

And just one more today:

Cafe Europa: Life after Communism by Slavenka Drakulic - Insight into Eastern Europe. Looks good

Just one today:

The Blue Sword by Robin Mckinley - YA fantasy

I managed to finish a book last night and another this morning, something that always makes me feel good. I am still reading 'The Old Bailey' (upstairs) but I started 'City of Night' by John Rechy to be my downstairs book. What I have read so far is very well written but I am looking forward to getting to the bits that caused all the outrage and uproar when it was first published!

The book I finished last night was called 'The Fall of Tartarus' by Eric Brown. It was a Sci-Fi I picked up on impulse at a library booksale at the beginning of the month for the princely sum of 20p. It is set on the planet of Tartarus; a strange place under the control of a backwards and unpleasant church, where the population mingle with genetically engineered lifeforms and ancient alien beings under a sun which is gearing up for a supernova which will destroy the planet. Brown has put together eight stories from the planet, beginning with 50 years before the supernova and ending with the catastrophe itself. None of the stories are interlinked so I found it quite difficult to follow what was going on at first, especially as the first few stories seemed to promise more detail and further revelations. I quite enjoyed the stories when I was reading them but I dont think I could tell you what happened in more than 2 or 3 and I only finished the book last night. Brown misses his chance to tell the stories from the point of view of the planets more interesting inhabitants, the Blackmen, the Messengers, monks of the Church of Ultimate Sacrifice or the Slarque, instead focusing on the human characters. I would have loved to have known more about these characters, to fill in the gaps in Brown's storytelling. Ultimately I felt that the planet was merely a cardboard background against which the simplest of themes were played out e.g. son searching for father, old man returning to childhood haunts, lost love (at least three of the stories took this theme). The alienness of the planet seemed somewhat separate, intriguing but not unique or particularly compelling. I wont be keeping this one and will list it on Bookmooch once I have finished this post.

The other book I finished was the Simon Garfield collection of post-second-world-war Mass Observation diaries. This was so fascinating and I really enjoyed it but it is not something that you can skim at all! With usually three short entries on each page, generally from different people I kept losing track of who was writing and saying what, what year it was and what else was happening at the same time. I also didnt really like any of the five diarists personally, so I had no connection to what was being written and no impetus to follow a particular story or empathise. I do recommend it though, super read (although not as good as Can any mother help me? which appealed more to me on a personal level)

Postman just came with two more parcels for me:

Wolf and Iron by Gordon. R. Dickson - Post-apocalyptic pulp. So excited to get this, love this stuff!

Firebird by Mercedes Lackey - Retelling of the Russian firebird myth. I quite enjoy Lackey's retellings of old fairy tales, the Black Swan was enjoyable slush that was easy to read and kept my attention.

3 today

Berlin and Stalingrad by Antony Beevor - from a newbie bookmoocher who kindly spent £5 sending them to me. Love it when this happens as had some bad experiences with new moochers who list lots, accept and then never send the books. Lovely big books too, cant wait to get stuck in to them.

Also The World of Myth: An Anthology by D Leeming - very kindly sent from a moocher in the USA. Its a heavy college book comparing certain world myths eg the flood. Hits the right note for me between non-fiction and fiction.

Coming to the end of the Simon Garfield book of post war diaries and it really struck me how there has never really been a golden age. People back then were just as frightened of disaffected youth, had just as many complaints about crime and bad behaviour and in addition were horribly sexist, misogynistic, homophobic and disgustingly antisemitic (one diarist writes that she wishes Hitler had done a better job at exterminating the Jews). Took my breath away in parts.

Lots of lovely book browsing today. Found out that the PDSA charity shop really prices its children's books low so got a handful for 15p-30p each, including a lovely fairy story one I was looking at in Waterstones last week. Of course ended up putting some money into the dog shaped collection box instead!

Two Bookmooch books arrived for me this morning:

Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon- Hurrah, part one of the trilogy!

The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory - Boo! Part One of another trilogy (dont have the other books yet!)

Plus I also picked up:

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand in another charity shop, so the world is looking very rosy right now!

And another one waiting on the doorstep for me:

The Dressing Station by Johnathon Kaplan - Doctor in various warzones recounts his experiences. Lovely hardback copy.

One this morning:

Blade Runner by Phillip K Dick -I was actually expecting the Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep cover and not the film tie-in cover, but its the same book essentially so I dont mind too much.

Withering look and slow hand clap goes to the Age Concern charity shop in Crouch Street who have moved the children's books from the raised area at the back of the shop (with all of the other books) to the side of the shop. This means I only had time to do a quick skim of adult books before the Child got antsy and I had to negotiate the clothes rails to get to the children's books. I had to get right down on the floor and grub around to get to them, which didnt improve my mood as I really struggled to stand back up again. Whilst I was doing this the two staff members had a lovely public bitch about previous customers, donations and how they had to move the children's books so they could keep an eye on what the children were doing (whilst eyeing the Child suspiciously). Overall they made me extremely uncomfortable and I hurried to pay and get out of the shop ASAP. They wont be getting any more of my donations or money.

I did get a nice book for the Child about Vikings (similar to one I had as a child) and another story book- Nice Work, Little Wolf by Hilda Offen, for 49p each but with all the other charity shops in Colchester there is no need to go to that one again.

Very tiring day in London at the Museum of Childhood (review to follow in due course), lots of walking around, lots of entertaining of the Child.

Got home to the pleasant surprise of three bookmooch parcels waiting for me, they were just chucked on the doorstep though so I am glad a) that it didnt rain, b) that we hadnt gone on holiday for a week and c) that there wasnt a light-fingered book thief around.

Never mind, they arrived and thats the important bit.

Join Me by Danny Wallace (The true story of a man who started a cult by accident)- Looks interesting.

Prophecy by Elizabeth Haydon - Part 2 of a fantasy series all the way from a moocher in Portugal. Part 1 is on its way from the UK (has taken longer oddly).

Destiny by Elizabeth Haydon - Part 3, as above.

Black Thorn, White Rose edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling - Marketed as 'adult' fairy tales they are supposed to be sexier and more sinister retellings than normal.

Today I remembered about the Bookstart program and trotted off to the library to claim the latest pack (sadly we missed getting the other two as we were out of the country). By sheer chance I had the Child's red book with me so getting it was hassle free. The librarian tried to talk to me but we had to give up under the sheer weight of noise the ecstatic Child was producing when she realised the big cardboard box was for her.

Inside was two free children's books, some booklets to help parents encourage their child to read, some book plates, a colouring book, some colour pencils and a pencil sharpener. Not bad for free! There was also a £1 children's booktoken so we went to W H Smiths and then Waterstones to find a good one. It took ages as the price of highstreet bookshop books is always more than I want to pay, so I had to find something that I felt was worth the cover price. I bought a book about the human body that seemed to be pitched at the right level for the Child, and even though she was tired and hungry she was happy to sit next to me until I had read it all which is always a good sign.

I was pretty unimpressed with the selection in Waterstones for children, lots of TV tie in books, lots of sentimental slush (I am not a fan of 'Guess how much I love you' and similar slop), hardly anything I could see buying for the Child, especially not at Waterstone's prices.

One Bookmooch parcel this morning, In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander Mcall Smith, as I have been collecting the series to read in one go. Unfortunately since the move the other books in the series have been scattered over the five bookcases we have space for, and as they are double and triple stacked it will be very difficult to find them. The answer of course is to read more and get rid of the books I didnt enjoy, but that may take quite some time! I have opted for a (better!) solution and my mother is bringing up another bookcase for me this weekend hopefully. Now we just need to work out where to put it.

I have been gearing up to start writing reviews again for cash, it would be nice to feel like I am contributing to the household. I made about £300 last year, just need to get the motivation up again.

Busy day.....

.....and just one book:

No Mother to Guide Her- Anita Loos - I read and enjoyed Gentlemen prefer blondes a couple of months ago and had this one on both my Bookmooch and Amazon wishlists. I spotted it in one of those grim twirly bookracks of doom that charity shops fill full of brightly coloured rubbish, literally doing a double take in the street! The Child noticed my excitement and squealed 'Mummy's Book Treat!' -when she is a good girl she gets the choice of a food treat or book treat, I guess I was a good girl today!

Bah Humbug

Advent calendars in one shop, a whole aisle of Christmas food in another. What on earth is going on? How can Xmas ever live up to three months of buildup and excitement? Who cant wait a month or two for a mince pie and who cant live without a Xmas pudding in September?

Christmas seems to be the focus of so much consumerism over the last ten or twenty years, with people spending beyond their means and getting themselves in debt to shower their spoiled offspring with hundreds of pounds worth of plastic junk, 90% of which will either never be played with or will be broken by New Year. How sad. What child needs £500 of new toys a year? Even £200 seems madly extravagant for a 3 or 4 year old who is still happy playing with a wooden spoon, a saucepan and some leaves. Last year the Child got £40 of stuff and she only played with half of that!

More books

Number of books that entered the house today:3
Number of books ordered:0
Number of books mooched:2

Three new books today:

Children of the New Forest by Captain Marryat - Loved it as a child, mooched it to read to the Child when she is older but will probably reread it first.

Temples of Delight by Barbara Trapido - Supposed to be quite funny, modern fiction. Will give it a go.

Mr Wroe's Virgins by Jane Rogers - Based on a true story of a religious nut who convinced his congregation to give him 7 virgins. Looks interesting.

We also went to the East Anglia Medieval Fayre which was lovely, lots to see and do, lovely setting and good food. Had a German sausage which made me a bit homesick for Switzerland and bought a bottle of mead. I think the last time we drank it was on our honeymoon (I dont think we drank it for the whole traditional month though) and we ended up with the Child. Bought a different brand this time, maybe it wont have the same effect!

Book Bonanza

Number of books that entered the house today: 8
Number of books ordered: 0
Number of books mooched:1

2 bookmooch parcels through the door and then a knock at the door from the postman with another four parcels for me!

Diary of Mademoiselle D'Arvers byToru Dutt - Slim little Penguin classic translated from the French. I like to seek out literature written by women as the whole 'classic' section seems to be dominated by male authors. The author was apparently the first Indian to write in French and the first Indian woman to write in English. This one was a bookmooch book and is in perfect condition; it also came all the way from a lovely moocher in Finland!

There's no such thing as a dragon by Jack Kent - This one is for the Child. Lovely story I remember from my childhood. Bookmooch from the UK

Mother of Storms by John Barnes - Part of a 3 book mooch from a UK member. Sci-Fi/ Quasi -Cyberpunk according to the blurb on the covers. I have never heard of the author and I am not overly familiar with the genre but this is definitely not the sort of thing I would have read in the past.

Hiero's Journey by Sterling Lanier - Another part of the 3 book mooch. This one had been sitting on my wishlist for a while. Set 5000 years after a great holocaust, it looks to be a sort of futuristic fantasy thriller, one I can really immerse myself in.

Faraday's Orphans by N.Lee Wood - Final part of the 3 book mooch. Another unknown author and the second book that was not on my wishlist. Set in a post-holocaust America it appears to be a sort of futuristic thriller romance.

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann - A blockbuster novel and according to the cover a cult classic. Looks trashy, ideal for the bath. Bookmooch again.

I cashed in my ipoints on Monday and ordered two new books which arrived today:

Stardust by Neil Gaiman - LOVE the film, broke my rule by not reading the book first. Has potential to become a new favourite.

From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner - Lovely, lavishly illustrated book on the most delicious shiny white paper. Explores famous fairy tales, their history, tellers and the contexts in which they were written. Just begs to be opened and read.

Amount spent on books today- £0

Nestle again

I had this article bought to my attention recently which only reaffirmed my decision to boycott Nestle (which was extremely difficult to do in Switzerland).

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/337/sep09_2/a1379

For those who cannot face reading the article (even though it surprisingly readable) the gist of this is that Nestle have been marketing a coffee creamer in Laos. The logo is of a bear cradling a baby in the breastfeeding position. The research undertaken in Laos suggests that people have been led by their interpretation of the logo to think that it is suitable nutrition for children and in some cases as a substitute for breastmilk. The report concludes that:


"The Bear Brand logo’s non-verbal message implies that the product contained is intended for infants. The powerful visual message is not mitigated by the addition of warning text or by the confusing symbol of the feeding bottle with a cross through it. The sale of coffee creamer with this logo places the health of infants and children at risk in a developing nation that already has extreme levels of malnutrition"

I have disliked Nestle for many years, thanks to their agressive marketing of formula in third world countries undermining breastfeeding and putting babies at risk. Formula is too expensive for much of the population leading to it being dangerously watered down and access to sterile bottles and clean boiled water are limited, leading to many infants dying from diarrhoea.
More info can be found on the babymilkaction site.

I also have a instinctive dislike of big faceless corporations, much prefering to deal with smaller retailers who can give me a much more personal service and who actually seem to care about their customers. These big corporations can afford to screw over everyone else, beat down producers and are partly responsible from our dislocation from how the things we use get produced. We have so much choice but no idea where any of our choices have come from or what they have been through before they get to us, from abused chickens, to perfect apples to 200 different types of pasta sauce. I think this dislocation is one of the saddest things about modern life, I really do, and I hope things start seriously swinging back the other way soon

Bookshops: 1, Me:0

Number of books that entered the house today:1 (for the Child)
Number of books ordered:0
Number of books mooched:2

Went out to explore the town again today and came across one of my biggest temptations, a proper second hand book shop. I couldnt withstand the lure of its close-packed shelves and rummage boxes on the floor and was inside before the thought of my tbr pile could enter my head. Once I was inhaling that curiously intoxicating scent of dusty and aged printed paper I just couldn't leave and ended up sitting on the floor with the Child going through one of the boxes. There were so many books that I would happily have bought before, but my new more discerning self was able to be relatively restrained (although the bored Child pulling at my sleeve after 20 minutes helped too). Lots of books were examined and replaced, mainly because of the price-none of them came under the categories of 'desperately want to read' or 'total bargain in favourite genres-worth a punt'. Sum total spent-50p on a ladybird version of The Elves and the Shoemaker' which the Child thoroughly enjoyed as a bedtime story this evening. I feel oddly proud of myself.

First Post!

Number of books that entered the house today: 0
Number of books ordered: 0
Number of books mooched:10+

Current reads- Hidden Lives by Simon Garfield (downstairs and handbag); Old Bailey by Theresa Murphy (bedside table).

I am in the wonderfully difficult position of having rather a lot of Bookmooch points and very little to spend them on. Having saved them up for the last two months (not voluntarily but due to the international move) I can have potentially 147 books in my hand. The problem is finding those books when I have been actively trimming my wishlists both on bookmooch and Amazon. As I have got older I have been letting go of my desire to define myself by the books on my shelves and what they might say about me. I have been actively searching out books to read for pleasure rather than out of some twisted sense of duty and wanting to impress others. In the process reading has become more of a pleasure again rather than some sort of endurance challenge and there have been glorious rediscoveries of long-ignored genres. Books that I loathed or even just didnt enjoy can now be skimmed out of my library and passed on, there is no longer that need to hold onto them to impress others. Here's hoping that this can continue!