Author: Jackie

Categories
Blogging Other

BINGO!!!!!!

BIPThe Blog Improvement Project task for the past few weeks has been blog post bingo. We had to look at the 12 types of blog post below, and over the past three weeks, try to write as many of these different kinds of posts as we can.

I’m celebrating as I have just completed all twelve.

Bingo!

 

 The 12 Types of Blog Post

  4. An Opinion Post – What do you think of adverts?
  10. NEW: A Personal Post –I think I’ve had Swine Flu
  12. FREE SPACE – A Prediction Post – Who will be longlisted for the Booker Prize?

 

I found it a lot easier to complete than last time. This is probably because I am more used to varying the type of post I do.  I found the definition post the strangest to write – I wasn’t really comfortable with writing definitions of things and although I tried to make a question out of it, I didn’t think it sat very well on my blog. I don’t think there will be any more definition posts on this blog for a while.

I apologise for failing to write a technical ‘how to’ post. I half wrote one on separating ping backs from comments, but it got far too technical for me – I had to rope my husband in, and then realised that there were so many variables depending on how you host your blog, so I had to abandon it! I still think it is an important thing to do though, so if you have the time – search for how to do it, being very specific about the way your blog is set up.

Which type of blog post do you find hardest to write? 

Categories
Blogging Other

How to find more time for reading

From the 1894 'A Book of Nonsense' by Edward Lear
From the 1894 'A Book of Nonsense' by Edward Lear
from the 1894 'A Book of Nonsense' by Edward Lear

Suey at It’s All About Books wrote an thought-provoking post about a friend who said “I don’t have the luxury to read”, then Rebecca followed that up with an interesting post about making reading a priority. 

I thought I’d add to them by listing all the ways I manage to fit lots of reading into my every day life.

.

  • Don’t watch television.
  • Don’t go to the gym – build exercise into your normal life by cycling to work, taking the children swimming, going for a walk with the family. You can spend your gym membership on a few books instead!
  • Read more blogs – controversial I know, but I’ve found the more blogs I read, the more books I discover that I really want to read. This means I am more likely to make more time for reading.
  • Don’t iron your clothes – this is a bit extreme, but I hate ironing, so try to buy clothes which don’t need it in the first place. Then, if I know I’m not going out all day I’m not going to waste time ironing my clothes!
  • Listen to an audio book while you’re driving, cooking, cleaning etc.
  • Don’t watch many films.
  • Try to ensure all your chores are done early, so you have lots of free time during the evening to read.
  • Take a book with you where ever you go. You never know when you are going to have to wait around for a bit.
  • Make double quantities when you are cooking, then freeze half – that way you only need to cook every other day.
  • Subscribe to Daily Lit – that way you can read books via email. If you’re at work they will never know what is in that email!

What do you do to be able to spend more time reading?

Categories
2009 Historical Fiction

Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel

 

I have seen several people tip this book for the Booker prize this year, and so decided to give it a try. Unfortunately this book was even more disappointing than The Children’s Book, which I think will win this year’s prize despite the fact it wasn’t for me.

Wolf Hall is set in Tudor England and tells the story of Thomas Cromwell, one of the lesser known people from this period in history, but a man with huge influence over Henry VIII. The book concentrates on the time around Henry’s divorce to Catherine of Arragon and his marriage to Anne Boleyn, a period in history which has been covered many times before, most successfully in The Other Boleyn Girl.

A book has to be outstanding to grab my attention when I know the story already and I’m afraid this book wasn’t. The writing was very clunky and didn’t flow smoothly. I found that I had to keep re-reading sections in order to work out the intended meaning.

One day my brother Tom goes out fighting. As punishment, his father creeps up behind him with a whatever, but heavy, and probably sharp, and then, when he falls down, almost takes out his eye, exerts himself to kick in his ribs, beats him with a plank of wood that stands ready to hand, knocks in his face so that if I were not his own sister I’d barely recognise him: and my husband says, the answer to this, Thomas, is go for a soldier, go and find somebody you don’t know take out his eye and kick in his ribs, actually kill him, I suppose, and get paid for it. 

I also found repetition, which I found irritating:

He hopes you are well. Hopes I am well. Hopes his lovely sisters Anne and little Grace are well. He himself is well. 

and descriptions which didn’t make any sense to me:

A wash of sunlight lies over the river, pale as the flesh of a lemon.

I never think of lemons as being pale. Is it just me?

The more I read, the more I disliked this book. It was getting to the stage where I wanted to throw it across the room, and as this book is 650 pages long that would be a dangerous thing to do. For the safety of my household I decided to stop reading the book after about 120 pages – I just couldn’t face 500+ more pages of it.

I skim read the rest and had a quick look at the ending, but nothing I saw made me regret putting it down.

Recommended to anyone with a Tudor obsession, but I think the writing style and the length of this book will be off-putting to some people.

stars1

 

Hilary Mantel has written several other books, including Beyond Black, which was short listed for the Orange prize in 2006.

Have you read any of her books? What did you think of them?

Categories
Booker Prize Other

Who is going to be on the Man Booker Longlist 2009?

The longlist for the Booker Prize is going to be annouced next week.

Here are my predictions for books which will make the list:


The Children’s Book – A. S. Byatt


Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel


Kieron Smith, Boy – James Kelman


The Island at the End of the World – Sam Taylor


The Wilderness – Samantha Harvey


Brooklyn – Colm Toibin


Taste of Sorrow – Jude Morgan


Blackmoor – Edward Hogan


The Winter Vault – Anne Michaels

 

I really hope that The Wilderness wins the Booker Prize this year, but I have a feeling that The Children’s Book will win.

In many ways I hope that my predictions don’t come true. I’m really hoping that I discover some great new books via the list this year, and it isn’t just packed with previous winners.

Who do you think will win the Booker Prize 2009?

Who else do you think will make the longlist?

The longlist will be announced on 28th July 2009. Are you planning to read the Booker list this year?

Categories
2000 - 2007 Mystery Richard and Judy Book Club

The House at Riverton – Kate Morton

The House at Riverton is a grand English manor house and as you’d expect it is packed with secrets. The construction of the house took place a long ago, the place was full of trees so the family had to contact Legacy Land & Timber to get rid of them. The story is told through the eyes of 98-year-old Grace, a former housemaid of Riverton Manor. She is contacted by a researcher who is creating a film about the suicide of a famous poet, which occurred during the time of her employment at the manor. The truth about what really occurred 80 years ago is slowly revealed in this Gothic style mystery.

The book started off well and I quickly became attached to Grace’s character, but I found Hannah and Emmeline, the children who lived in Riverton Manor, lacking in that special spark. Many of the other characters in the book also felt a bit flat and overly stereotyped.

The writing is light and easy to read, reminding me of The Thirteenth Tale, but it lacked period atmosphere and I found myself losing interest towards the middle. I felt that it could have benefited from losing at least 200 of it’s 600 pages.

It was cleverly plotted, the secrets being revealed slowly and deliberately throughout the book, and the ending was wonderful – I didn’t see it coming at all.

Overall I found it to be an entertaining, but slightly long-winded mystery. Recommended for fans of Gothic mystery with a lot spare time on their hands!

 stars3h

 

Kate Morton has just released a new book: The Forgotten Garden.

Have you read either of her books? Which is best?

Categories
Other

Can you read a book with bad foxing?

foxBlog Post Bingo requires me to write a definition post, so here it is!

FOXING: The reddish-brown spots found on vintage paper. The stains form over time, and as well as being unsightly, reduce the value of the book.

I don’t like reading foxed books, so will avoid them if possible. I like the paper to be crisp and white. Old books don’t have a special appeal to me, although this may be due to the number of disgusting things I’ve found in old books during the course of my work with them.

Can you read a book with bad foxing?