Monday, January 05, 2009

TURNING

I’ve just finished reading Dodie Smith’s ‘I Conquer the Castle’. It’s absolutely fabulous. I bought it a while back – see earlier post – and read a couple of chapters but had gone back to my phase of not-reading-books-but-reading-blogs-and-watching-too-much-telly. So, I picked it up last week, when I’d finished the first novel I’d read for ages, Carol Shields’ ‘Swann’. Now that was interesting for different reasons but I’ve left my notes on that in a little book at work, I hope – I can’t find it here. Anyway, back to the castle; this is a book to dive into – amazing narrator, I loved it the whole way through and wanted to live there, with them, but only in the summer and autumn months.

It’s cold here; the sun has shone like a little liar through the windows all day but I was suspicious and put on my boots and woollies even though I would be in the car, mostly. I did everything I was supposed to and treated myself to skin treatments for my poor old face which seems to be suffering from some kind of teenage flashback – SPOTS; the kind that turn up and hang around for ages then another arrives just as that one is fading – so that there is always two…and I can’t keep my fingers off them. Disgusting I know, but there it is. In my new life I’m going to be rid of them, fitter and healthier. I might even attempt to walk around my loch.

Just been over at Poppy’s place, catching up; she wasn’t in so I had a good read but no tea or sherry or cake. I need to get back to my literary life; been back with readitswapit.co.uk and getting rid of novels I’ve read or don’t want to. This morning I received a beautiful hardback, ‘Essays on Women’s Lives’ by Kennedy Fraser. I’m going to prowl through that next, before a second Carol Shields and a Margaret Forster. But first, I’ve got to get up off this sofa and TURN THE BLOODY TV OFF!

4 comments:

Poppy said...

Sorry i wasn't in, but thanks for leaving the place so nice and tidy, and thank you for all the notes!

I'd love to be able to say 'I might go for a walk around my loch.' Southborough pond (or as we like to call it ' Saaffbrah') just doesn't have the same ring somehow.

Ah well . . .

Anne Brooke said...

That Dodie Smith book is fabulous! I do so agree.

Happy new year!

:))

Axxx

Blondi Blathers said...

RG - The Staircase Letters are a collection of letters between Carol Shields and someone else.
You might find the book interesting, dunno! Haven't yet read it, myself.

slippingthroughtheworld said...

ooh thanks, i'll check it out. recently finished another one of hers called 'Larry's Party' - interesting. i blogged about it in my new blog the other week; the link is up here in the last post, the farewell post. x