A good book

So I love books. I love reading and I love our book group.

 

I have read some stinkers and I have read some corkers. I am currently writing one at the moment. Hopefully that one will be a corker.

 

At school we read because we had to but even some of those we enjoyed. For my O Level English which  was a long long time ago ( 1984) we could have read 1984 ( obviously ) or Rudyard Kipling's Kim. Our teacher opted for Kim and I can't remember what the hell it was about but I know I must have enjoyed it as I enjoy books set in India ever since.

 

I loved the language in it, I loved the chaos of the place and I particularly loved the insults ; ''your mother is the sister of a camel with bad breath'' etc etc.

 

I also did A level English which is where I may have nodded off a bit on the book front. We had to do TEN books back then, including Shakespeare and poetry.

 

Shakespeare was ok I suppose. I liked Hamlet - the Danish are a nice  sort of people and I adored Philip Larkin. I identified with his complete and utter loathing and misery and the fact that he used the word 'FUCK' a bit and we would have to read it out in front of Mr Whelan.... our very cool and funky teacher.

 

And then I left school and a few years later I was a grown up . The time had flown.

 

The books that got me back into reading were -

 

1. The Da Vinci Code - a bit Scooby Doo but I love a good conspiracy theory.

 

2. Nicci French - recommended to me by my friend Debbie and have read all of them.

 

I started book group because there is nothing worse than reading a good book and having nobody to talk about it with. It is very frustrating.

 

It is all about trying out new stuff. I have my 'genres' - I like crime thrillers and despise chick lit. If a book has a pair of high heels, swirly patterns on the front and some lipsticks I generally avoid it like the plague but if someone from book group chose it then I would read it. Honest, I would.

 

I have just finished The Ship of Brides by JoJo Moyes. It was a proper saga. There was colourful characters, laughter, a good plot, some tense bits and some tears too.

 If I am sad when a book finishes then I know it has been a success. Sometimes I genuinely miss the characters - it's like saying goodbye to a friend and that is a sign it has been well written.

 

Never mind the film - Atonement, Angela's Ashes, We Need to Talk About Kevin, One Day.......all good enough films but not a patch on the book.

 

So in honour of world book day - go on - grab yourselves one - they do them in Tescos , 2 for £7........and many a bargain on Amazon too.

dietdevil: Cankles shmankles

dietdevil: Cankles shmankles: So I need to get a grip. This blog was meant to be about my never ending diet and instead it's about all sorts of other things. Someti...

Cankles shmankles

So I need to get a grip. This blog was meant to be about my never ending diet and instead it's about all sorts of other things. Sometimes life gets in the way of lettuce and it's a while since I have eaten one of those.

 

I joined another fat club today but I don't wish to divulge any further info. All I am going to say is that while I sat there listening to the leader enthusing about fruit I noticed that I have acquired cankles. They were bulging over my shoes and flaring onto the floor. I was in good company as there was several pairs there...............but it hurt, it hurt real bad.

 

So it looks like I may have to eat a few of these

 

and definitely a few less of these -

What an absolute bummer.

 

Of course, it was book group last night and there was the usual amount of scoff and booze. There was tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches, wine, there was nachos ( me! ) there was homemade quiche, wine, there was Mel's fairy cakes, there was dips, breads, olives, wine, cake, crisps, wine and some more wine I think. I also drank a bottle of diet coke to counteract it all so was very surprised to see those cankles at the end of my legs this morning.

 

Oh I wish I had a magic wand, it really would be fab, to eat and drink, and wave that wand, and banish all the flab.

 

My hubby asked what was for dinner and I said 'stir fry'. I actually think I said 'f***ing stir fry' and he laughed. He knows I mean business. He knows his life will be hell. He knows there will be nothing in the fridge apart from yogurt and skimmed milk.

 

He won't starve. His Mum will be slipping him pasties and hogs puddings.

 

And I will keep crunching on the lettuce - yay........

dietdevil: You got a friend.........

dietdevil: You got a friend.........: So I tossed and turned a bit last night. I kept thinking about my Mum being ill and my brother being ill ( and lying in his flat undiscover...

You got a friend.........

So I tossed and turned a bit last night. I kept thinking about my Mum being ill and my brother being ill ( and lying in his flat undiscovered ) and then I thought of my Dad and how it's nearly 5 years since he died . I thought of the old man across the road called Henry - he is 95 and Gill next door used to cook meals for him and check up on him. He wasn't up to going to her funeral but came to the wake afterwards and the sight of a 95 year old man crying into his cloth hankie is not a nice one.

 He called Gill his 'angel'. And she was.

 

Is this what being a grown up is all about? If so, can I go back to being young? They say that your school days are the best days of your life which I don't agree with as I didn't really like school but I do wish I could wind the clock back to when my biggest dilemma was the coca cola or raspberry flavoured lipgloss or which pair of earrings to wear.

 

However, I was presented with this from the Interflora man this morning.

 

It is the most beautiful and fragrant bouquet. I love it. I was moved to tears. It was a wonderful and caring gesture from a friend that I have never met. We have a mutual friend on facebook and we added each other a couple of years ago after a particularly boisterous banter and since then we 'yap' most days and generally listen to each other's moans and groans. We both have a similar sense of humour ( naughty ) and have had some proper belly laughs. She is a good  and decent person.

When she asked for my address I didn't think for one moment she wanted it for this but I am so glad she did.

 

Another friend of mine, Debbie never fails to make me laugh. She sometimes says things out loud which maybe she shouldn't but it always makes me chortle.

 

The lovely Leanne - one of the funniest folk I know. I used to think she was shy and retiring but not any more. Our love of books and hatred of Jodi Picoult ( sorry Tara ) brought us together.

 

So, things aren't much better on the whole depressing family front....................but I have only cried tears of joy today. If you want to leave the room and vomit, go ahead.

 

It's intellectual book group tonight which is always a laugh. A real mixed bag of characters that genuinely all get along.

 

Oh and there will be wine and egg sandwiches too which is always cause for celebration.

 

My Dad always used to say 'I'll never see you beat, pet'.

 

Wise words Dad xxxx

dietdevil: How much is too much?

dietdevil: How much is too much?: So what's been going on in my life today?? What has Monday morning and the start of a brand new week thrown at me? Should I be bright a...

How much is too much?

So what's been going on in my life today?? What has Monday morning and the start of a brand new week thrown at me? Should I be bright and breezy and say nothing or shall I be totally honest and tell the truth?

 

My 2 blogger friends Mark and Leanne both pondered yesterday about their blog content. Mark is a new blogger and wondered if he was revealing too much and Leanne, after her husband called her blog 'twee' wondered if she wasn't revealing enough.

 

Is there a happy medium?

 

Do my readers really want to know about my heavy period, very poorly elderly mother, mentally ill brother who was found collapsed in a coma as his carers thought he had 'gone out' and he wasn't seen for days or would they prefer to hear about the glossed over version of my life which involves springer spaniels, wine, food and poems?

 

The former facts are all true by the way and it all hit me today, all within a half hour time scale. The door then knocked and it was Martha's public speaking team come to rehearse which I forgot about. I menstruated through 2 layers of clothes at this point. Sorry about that , but it's true..........

 

I am what you would call a 'funny' person, I make people laugh and sometimes it's the last thing I

want to do. I have had a chronically horrible start to this year, and I feel it may well get worse.

 

What can I really do though?

 

 I have my days with that black cloud hovering over me and its equally black dog snapping at my heels  but then I chant my little mantra ''you will be fine, you will be fine''.

 

I also pray - am not sure who to, but it helps.

 

I am blessed with wonderful friends that would give their eye teeth for me. If they  were black americans they would say ''yo, sister, I've got your back''

 

But they're not, yet they have, and I appreciate it immensely.

 

Tomorrow is another day.

 

Bring it on.