Book offering number 2

3. Budge Wilson Before Green Gables.

I read Anne of Green Gables aged around 12, lying on the sofa where I currently sit typing. I accutely remember the emotions it inspired in me, feeling Anne's pain, empathising with her, the bittersweet feelings of reading her tale with its joys and difficulties. I remember imagining Matthew Cuthbert, her adopted Father (?) looking like my Dad, and bitterly weeping when that particular character met his maker. This book, written to celebrate the centenary of the book, is equally emotional. It charts Anne's difficult life prior to her Green Gables life, and how she comes to be the wildly imaginative, effusive and life-loving character of L.M. Montgomery's original. A look at the difficulties of the life of an orphan in Victorian Canada. The beauty of the surroundings that Anne joyfully gains respite from, cannot fail to ignite a longing in the reader to visit Nova Scotia. As a real escapism reader, a lover of words and craver of beautiful environments with a wild imagination, this book could not fail to captivate me. The heroine, as lovable as always, faces each trial with startling bravery and positivity. Well worth reading, as an adult or a child.

4. Mary Ann Scaffer and Annie Barrows. The Guernsey Literay and Potato Peel Pie Society.

A chance buy, purely because the quirky name and vintage cover captured my eye in a charity shop, this has proved, once again, to have been a worthy purchase that will become a life-long friend. Written to chart a similar era to 84 Charing Cross Road and written in the same way, through 1st person letters, it has all the charm and heart-felt emotion of Helene Hanff's offering. It charts the relationship and love affair with a female writer in the aftermath of World War 2 and the inhabitants of Guernsey, who endure Nazi occupation through their friendship, love of literature, and through a wonderful lady. We track her growing fascination with the island and the people, and begin to understand how life must have been for the islanders in the war. Beautifully written, and with a romantic twist, you must try this if you have any interest in history, enjoy reading letters, and like a bit of tempered romance!

More thanks to Amazon!

10 items to be thankful for

1. Fellowship - lovely women at church. Sharing their difficulties, trials, and being strong and facing them with God's help! Such an inspiration! Showing me that miracles do happen.

2. Hugs once again!

3. The beauty of a well-written book which helps you to empathise with characters, enter other worlds and experiences in the safety of your own home.

4. The feeling of a beautiful dress- how it makes you feel to be wearing one and how special it feels to dress up in one. Also lovely to be alongside tuxedo-bedecked CBC!

5. Weekends- thank God for them. How would I cope if life was one long school.

6. Warm clothing- thank God I can afford to stay warm, wear clothing and huddle in front of heaters when many can't.

7. A well-cooked meal, in delightful company.

8. The delight upon arriving at church to find the service would be in a nice warm hall instead of artic building!

9. Time to be able to tidy, contemplate, consider.

10. Sleep- oh wonderful comforter!

The great 2011 book update

I've read a couple of great books since Jan began although been fairly busy with dreaded school activities. Dear CBC has OFSTED coming on Wednesday- poor him! Mind you, that's why OUR school is so mad at the moment- because we know that they are going to pay US a visit soon, and our head wants us to move from GOOD to OUTSTANDING so things are crazy! BIG sigh!


1. Cora Harrison: I was Jane Austen's best friend
I bought this by chance and it was wonderful! She bases her story on some true facts, which she alters and embelishes. It has all the ingredients that I enjoy- a Regency romance, intelligent and talented main characters, and of course, having the tenet of being plausibly true, but slightly ridiculous at the same time! She writes in the form of a diary and her anxieties, ponderings about the gentlemen she likes, remind me of being a teenager.

2. Michael Morpurgo: Waiting for Anya.

I am a HUGE Morpurgo fan- again, he has the key ingredients I enjoy: historical context and setting, beguiling and brave main characters, animals (in fact it contains all of MM's favourite ingredients: animals, WW2, bravery...). It's really nice to be able to enthuse and wax-lyrical about a book I've read to my kids, because then they really want to read them too! If your child struggles with imaginative writing, particularly settings, I recommend you read his books with them- they're lovely! This one was a particularly enjoyable example. You really care about the characters, and long for them to overcome their trials!

Thanks for the images Amazon.co.uk!

The dreaded cast is off!!!

At last, my cast is off! My goodness, what a delightful relief to be able to immerse my arm in water again instead of having to do that 'don't get it wet, wrap it in a carrier-bag and hair-bands' manouvere!

My wrist hurts doing pretty much everything, as is the other one which is progressively aching but I can feel it making some progress when I remember to do the evil exercises! Although, picking up 30 English books with it wasn't a shrewd move earlier, which resulting in blood-curdling screams! I am soo grateful that I don't have to play my flute for a gig I was supposed to be doing on Friday, as it hurts which I discovered when trying to rehearse yesterday!
STILL not going to attempt the piano!

One result of the cast was that my nails were ridiculously long on my left hand, unlike any finger nails I have ever had- I don't like them being long usually, and tend to chew them off! I decided to try and bear them for a while, but couldn't stand the pressure anymore and they've reduced to their modest size now!

I was most excited on Friday when I managed to find 3 Pearl Lowe dresses in the sale on Friday after the hospital. There was one good thing about it! I read about these dresses on a great blog. which is really worth a look! I absolutely loved the Bird-print dress, which Pink haired Princess shows in a picture and managed to find that one plus a floaty purple, long-sleeved one and a pink pleated chiffony dress.

10 things to be thankful for

1. How beautiful it is to listen to live music. In this instance, saxophonist John Barker at the Wigmore hall. Inspiring
2. The lovely fellowship of friends at church.
3. Empathy. CBC is miserable typing his essay. I am miserable making sure plans have keyskills for work scrutiny. We share our pain
4. The magic of hugs
5. Funky socks.
6. Leftovers removing the necessity to cook (hard with 1 hand and even more so washing up saucepans)
7. Having a jobshare. So many of the horrid tasks being shared.
8. The hope that my cast will be off on Friday and I can do normal activities!
9. Being proved wrong in doubts.
10. Loving people and being loved back!

The author challenge

Challenge number 2, listed at a later date was to try and read 52 DIFFERENT authors, to try and make me read new authors. Now I failed to resist the wiles of Enid Blyton, Anne Digby and Noel Streatfield, but I dod read 2 books with 2 authors.
Let's do the maths 53 books Subtract 6 duplicate author books = 47 PLUS 2 co-authors, makes a very respectable 49 authors. Only 3 short of target!

1. Agatha Christie:
2. Thomas Keneally:.
3. Alexander McCall Smith:
4. Eva Ibbotson:
5. Melissa Nathan:
6. Meredith Efken
7. Meg Alexander
8. Claire Thornton
9. Joan Aiken
10. C.S. Lewis
11. Gillian Cross
13. Enid Blyton
16. Marion St John Webb
17. Dodie Smith
18 Umberto Eco
19. George Elliott
20. Alan Titchmarsh
19. Curtis Ann Matlock.
20. E.Nesbit
21. Louis Sachar
22. Henrik Ibsen
23. Oscar Wilde .
25. Jane Peart
26. MACOMBER, Debbie
27. FLEMING, Ian
28. MILLINGTON, Mil.
29. JERRY B JENKINS& TIM LA HAYE
30. Lauren Weisenberger
31. Phillippa Pearce
33.Anne Digby
34 Roald Dahl
35.Alexandra Potter.
36. Stacey O'Brien
37. Noel Streatfield
38. Wilkie Collins
39. Henry James .
40. Ken Calder
42. Johanna Spyri
43. Jostein Gaardner
44. Amanda Grange
46. Geogette Heyer
47. James Herriott
48. Janice Anderson and Edmund Swinglehurst
49. Yann Martel
50. Elizabeth Aston

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought I'd display the completed book list for posterity, copied and pasted from the blog entries, and I was struck by a few things.
a) a year is a long time, especially in books, though it feels short afterwards. I'd forgotten reading loads of these books.
b) how many great authors there are and therefore
c) how it's good to go outside your comfort zone and read different authors!
d) You know how I just said I didn't meet my target of 52 authors? Just glance down the list below. Notice any silly mistakes I made?

1. Agatha Christie: The Seven dials mystery.
2. Thomas Keneally: Ned Kelly and the City of the bees.
3. Alexander McCall Smith: The Sunday Philosophy Club
4. Eva Ibbotson: Magic Flutes.
5. Melissa Nathan: Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field
6. Meredith Efken @ home for the holidays
7. Meg Alexander Miranda’s Masquerade
8. Claire Thornton Gifford’s lady
9. Joan Aiken The Scream
10. C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain.
11. Gillian Cross The demon headmaster strikes again.
12. Gillian Cross The revenge of the demon headmaster.
13. Enid Blyton The mystery of the spiteful letters.
14. Enid Blyton The mystery of the hidden house
15. Enid Blyton The mystery of the missing necklace
16. Marion St John Webb The house with the twisting passage.
17. Dodie Smith The Starlight Barking.
18 Umberto Eco The Name of the Rose.
19. George Elliott The Lifted Veil and Brother Jacob
20. Alan Titchmarsh Love and Dr Devon.
19. Curtis Ann Matlock Recipe for easy living.
20. E.Nesbit The House of Arden.
21. Louis Sachar Small Steps.
22. Henrik Ibsen Peer Gynt
23. Oscar Wilde The Happy prince and other short stories.
24. Tom Cox Under the paw- confessions of a cat man.
25. Jane Peart The secret of Octagon house
26. MACOMBER, Debbie Twenty wishes.
27. FLEMING, Ian The man with the golden gun.
28. MILLINGTON, Mil. Things my girlfriend and I have argued about.
29. JERRY B JENKINS& TIM LA HAYE Left Behind- facing the future.
30. Lauren Weisenberger Everyone worth knowing.
31. Phillippa Pearce The Little Gentleman.
32. Enid Blyton Here’s the naughtiest girl!
33.Anne Digby The naughtiest girl keeps a secret
34 Roald Dahl More tales of the unexpected.
35.Alexandra Potter. Do you come here often?
36. Stacey O'Brien Wesley
37. Noel Streatfield Circus Shoes
38. Wilkie Collins No Name
39. Henry James The turn of the screw.
40. Ken Calder Cockney on cloud nine.
41. Anne Digby The naughtiest girl saves the day
42. Johanna Spyri Heidi
43. Jostein Gaardner Hello, is anyone there?
44. Amanda Grange Edmund Bertram's diary
45. Enid Blyton Five have plenty of fun
46. Geogette Heyer Charity girl
47. James Herriott It shouldn’t happen to a vet.
48. Janice Anderson and Edmund Swinglehurst The Victorian and Edwardian Seaside.
49. Yann Martel Life of Pi.
50. Elizabeth Aston The true Darcy Spirit.
51. Tennis shoes. Noel Streatfield

Wooooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooo, I didn't fail my task after all! I exceeded my target by 1 book! yipppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I feel like Phileas Fogg after realising I'd forgotten to count crossing over the Date-line and gaining a day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011

Unfortunately, I begin this post on a negative. Alas I did not manage to complete my 52 books or authors. Somehow, over Christmas, I did not manage to read much. It was so lovely to be with people, CBC's family, who I am very fond of, that since I tend to go off into my own world when I read, I didn't want to do that. Also, I started a book I received in my stocking, but it has curiously disappeared! Then, I was largely occupied with pre-school panic, getting assessments marked, plans and resources ready.

The first week back has been a mixed bag, though in some ways, not as bad as I anticipated. We're teaching, "The Piano" in literacy, which is one of my favourite units, looking at film techniques and it just inspires the children on so many levels. We've had several out of class assessment-linked tasks to do so contact with my class has been limited. At church, we had a week of hour-long prayer and worship meetings in the evening which has helped me to deal with the anxieties and pressures I have perceived myself to be facing. It's amazing how God helps us to overcome trials, not in the way we expect, but he is there, a comfort in loneliness, distress and confusion. I do wonder how I coped before I knew Him.


Anyway, Christmas was delightful. I enjoyed being part of a large family and being in a warm, welcoming family environment, in the country, with people who like the activities I like- walking, singing, music, games, some shopping etc. A pity I was hampered by the fractured wrist! Next year, I'd definitely like to sledge!

I have high hopes for 2011. Already got some exciting plans for 2011 including playing Chaminade's flute concertino with my orchestra, flute in Britten's Peter Grimes opera, Maria in the Sound of music, a black-tie party, my 30th birthday (eeeeeeeeeek! but I am determined to have a party!). Alas, but for the OFSTED-shaped cloud on the horizon!

Like Stephen of Part3 fame, I don't want to set a book target, although I'd still like to keep track on what I read.