Books and decorating

I have been making a start on the decorating as well as doing other boring mundane chores which practically drive me demented but need to be done if we're not to live in a mess. I have practically finished the dining room/kitchen thanks to a very useful gadget - a Dulux Paint Pod. It is basically an electrified roller system. Much quicker than using a roller normally as you don't have to stop and re-load the roller - you just press a button.

I'm the world's messiest decorator so anything that promises no mess is a bonus for me. It really is no mess as well. It also cleans itself - fill a chamber with warm water and switch on. Empty the chamber at the opposite end of the machine when done and everything is clean and just needs drying - including the roller itself. I'm far from being a gadget freak but I just love this. I wonder when they'll bring one out that works with gloss paint? In the meantime I'm tempted to emulsion everything!

Books:

The Devil's Sonata by Elizabeth Aston - very good - supernatural influences in a co-ed boarding school which occupies a former monastery. A violin which seriously affects the girl who plays it and an American researcher studying a grimoire in the library.

Anna, where are you? Catherine Wheel, The Case of William Smith all three by Patricia Wentworth and all are among her best work for sheer complexity of plot and character analysis. I only have about six more to read by this author.

The Merchant's House and Armada Boy by Kate Ellis - archaeology and modern crime - fascinating. All the police characters get on as well which makes a change from many police procedurals.

The Hanging Wood by Martin Edwards - another episode in the Lake District series of mysteries. A very enjoyable crime story with a truly horrific ending. I love the concept of a residential library - now that is my idea of heaven! I thought the characters were well drawn and I like the way the relationship between Daniel Kind and Hannah Scarlett is being developed slowly and sensitively.

The Secrets of Pain by Phil Rickman - thanks to a mix up over publication dates I have the ebook version of this which is not actually published until September. I think by the time Amazon realised their mistake my copy had already been downloaded and they haven't asked for it back! It is the latest in the Merrily Watkins series and very good it is too. Not so much about the exorcism side of Merrily's job but enthralling just the same.

The SAS feature in the form of Syd Spicer - the vicar who was in The Remains of an Altar - currently temporary chaplain to the SAS, his old regiment. He is trying to deal with something unpleasant which would be better left to Merrily but for reasons of secrecy he has to keep it to himself. Hereford police - in the form of Frannie Bliss and Annie Howe have their own problems with the murder of a farmer and the murder of two girls. The book kept me reading late into the night when I got to the last third of it as I had to know how it all worked out. At least with ebooks it is more difficult to flick to the end and make sure all your favourite characters escape unscathed!

Books read and reading

Rattle his Bones by Carola Dunn - one of her Daisy Dalrymple series. Daisy is researching a series of articles about the Natural History Museum and is inadvertently one of the first people of the scene when one of the curators is murdered. The professional rivalries are extremely well done in my opinion. This series is growing on me.

Flights of Angels by Victoria Connelly - chick lit with angels - which could have been twee and sickly and is actually really well done. First published in German and made into a film in Germany and only recently available in English thanks to the e-book revolution which enables authors themselves to produce their own ebooks.

Death of a Sweep by M C Beaton - latest in the Hamish Macbeth series. Milly Davenport comes home from a shopping trip to find her husband dead and stuffed up the chimney and the sweep missing. Hamish eventually gets to the bottom of the mystery.

Ivory Dagger and The Brading Collection - both by Patricia Wentworth. Cosy mysteries in the classic detective story mould with Miss Silver imperturbably knitting, watching and listening.

How to Leave Twitter by Grace Dent. I thought it might enlighten me about why people join Twitter in the first place. Seems the reason is because everyone else has joined. I can see that people can like watching it - in a sort of car crash fascination way but apart from that it really isn't something I actually want to take part in. I might change my mind - but not yet.

Currently reading

Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell by M C Beaton. Agatha is married to James Lacey but things aren't as blissful as she had hoped.

The Devil's Sonata by Elizabeth Edmondson (AKA Elizabeth Aston and Elizabeth Pewsey) This is a story set in a Yorkshire girls' school located in a former abbey. Zuleika has come over from the USA to study a Grimoire discovered hidden in a pillar in the cloisters but she is unhappy about the atmosphere.

Mountjoy fans will be pleased to know that the rest of Elizabeth Pewsey's Mountjoy series will all be available in e-book format by the end of this month.

Books, books and more books

• Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon - I am re-reading the Guido Brunetti books in series order as e-books. Unfortunately the first and the third are not yet available as e-books so having bought the first in paper back I'm trying to decide whether to do the same with the third book or wait for the ebook version. However I did enjoy this one - the second in the series. Some people don't like them because there isn't always a cut and dried solution to the murder and there isn't always a criminal brought to justice. This doesn't bother me as I enjoy reading the story anyway. Maybe the journey is preferable to the destination?




• The World the Flesh and the Bishop (Divine Comedy)by Elizabeth Pewsey - see previous posts - Just as good as ever - I always love the incident where Titus and Quinta rescue Lydia from the orgy! Unholy Harmonies is now available as an ebook

Currently reading

• The Forsyte Saga - John Galsworthy - up to book six which is the last of the novels which are purely about the Forsytes.



• Unholy Harmonies by Elizabeth Aston - see above and previous post



• Trollope by Victoria Glendinning - biography of the Victorian author. It shows how his experiences were translated into fiction as well as describing his life.

Royal Wedding and books

I wasn't going to watch the wedding but I wanted to see what 'the dress' was like so I ended up watching some of the guests arrive and then the service itself. I thought Catherine looked absolutely gorgeous - simple and elegant. The bridesmaids were well behaved as well and Philippa looked good too. I can't understand the people who say the dress was too plain - no one wants to look like a meringue with sparkles on their big day. It was nice too that the Royal School of Needlework did a lot of the work.

Books read

• Landed Gently by Alan Hunter - the fourth in the Gently series. Gently is invited to stay with the Chief Constable of Northshire over Christmas and enjoy some pike fishing. A man is found dead at the foot of a staircase at nearby Merely Hall on Christmas morning - did he fall or was he pushed?


• The Surprise Party by Sue Welfare - women's fiction with a bite. Liz and Suzie organise a surprise party for their parents' ruby wedding anniversary but there are surprises in store for everyone before the evening has finished.


• Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon - the first in the Guido Brunetti series. This is a re-read but even better the second time writing. Her writing is subtle and understated and I saw things that I missed the first time round.

Currently reading

• Them by Jon Ronson - conspiracy theorists he has known. So far they come over as misguided and all too human. New World Order and twelve foot lizards mix with more ordinary terrorists


• Death on the Downs by Simon Brett - second in the Fethering series


• The World the Flesh and the Bishop by Elizabeth Aston - this is a retitled ebook version of a book originally published as Divine Comedy.

Elizabeth Aston and Elizabeth Pewsey are the same person. As Elizabeth Pewsey she wrote the 6 Mountjoy novels - Children of Chance, Divine Comedy, Unholy Harmonies, Volcanic Airs, Unaccustomed Spirits and Brotherly Love. As Elizabeth Aston she has written 6 Pride and Prejudice sequels - Mr Darcy's Daughters (also titled The Way of the World), The Exploits and Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy, The True Darcy Spirit, The Second Mrs Darcy, The Darcy Connection, Mr Darcy's Dream. She also wrote a modern Jane Austen themed novel - Writing Jane Austen. I'd read all these before I realised it was Elizabeth Pewsey under another name.

She has also written as Elizabeth Edmondson - The Frozen Lake, Voyage of Innocence, The Villa in Italy, The Art of Love, Stones and Shadows - which is published this year and Devil's Sonata also due for publication this year. I have only read The Villa in Italy of her Elizabeth Edmondson novels and found it extremely good.

Jane Austen - Ancient and Modern

I've enjoyed all 6 of Elizabeth Aston's Pride and Prejudice sequels and I looked forward to her latest book with interest. Writing Jane Austen is set in the present day and features an American academic living in London. Georgina Jackson is commissioned against her better judgement to complete a Jane Austen fragment. What follows is an amusing story about Gina's writers' block and her resistance to even reading Jane Austen's novels.

Gina visits Bath and goes on a Jane Austen tour and she does finally read the novels - and it totally bowled over by them. But can she complete her commission in within the three months' time limit? The characters are fascinating - her landlord Henry and his sister Maud - a Janeite; her fearsome agent, Livia; and Henry's housekeeper Anna. Most (all?) characters have names taken form the novels as well which makes for interesting reading if you know your Jane Austen.

This is a good light hearted read and I definitely didn't see the twist ending coming at all!

Books

Current books on the go: Elizabeth Aston - The Darcy Connection - another Jane Austen spin off; Julia Williams - Strictly Love - chick lit with a ballroom dancing background; M R Hall - The Coroner - very good psychological crime about cover ups on a grand scale.

I've just finished L C Tyler's The Herring Seller's Apprentice which was very Golden Age of detective fiction even though it's set in the present. Two narrators - novelist Ethelred Tressider and his agent Elsie Thirkettle. Elsie reminded me of Agatha Raisin with her robust physique and terrier-like qualities. The plot is excellent and I would defy anyone to work out what actually happened. Ethelred's ex-wife is found murdered and the police suspect Ethelred for a while as well as Rupert the man she left Ethelred for. Elsie at first thinks her client is innocent but starts to wonder about his apparently unbreakable alibi. I shall definitely look out for more by this author.

Work and books

I suppose it could have been worse. Our manager's still off today and won't be in our office until Friday so it was peaceful. One more person has decided to take the money on the table and go so she leaves at the end of February. When she's gone there will be less than 20 people in the office altogether. We're starting to feel a bit like rats on a sinking ship. Certainly on my floor we're all feeling very demotivated. There's been nothing much happening while I've been off but maybe things will get moving now we've got the festivities over.

Books: I finished another Jane Austen 'sequel' The True Darcy Spirit by Elizabeth Aston last night and found it enjoyable and well written. This one was about the grand daughter of the formidable Lady Catherine of Pride and Prejudice fame. She was cast out by her family after eloping with a handsome sailor and then not marrying him and finds herself having to make her living in London without 'coming upon the town' as becoming a prostitute was called in the 19th century.

I am still progressing with Barchester Towers with all its misunderstandings and misapprehensions. Long winded though he may be at times Trollope still knew how to tell a good story and I love the way even his villains have that redeeming grain of something about them. I am up to the 300 page mark with nearly 200 more to go.

Books read

I've been reading at a great rate knowing I'm back at work next week. Most notably:

Carol Goodman - The Sonnet Lover - Rose Asher has built up a prestigious academic career in New York and has almost forgotten her first love - Bruno - who she fell for twenty years ago in Italy. When circumstances conspire to send her back to La Civetta near Florence she wonders whether old wounds will be re-opened. She is on the trail of some missing manuscripts which may reveal the identity of Shakespeare's Dark Lady of the sonnets, but her search will bring her into physical danger before the mystery is solved. It's well written with an interesting literary mystery at its heart - it kept me reading.

Ben Goldacre - Bad Science - shows what's behind all the medical scare stories we read in the press and how research is manipulated to give the horrific headlines. It is worth reading for its chapter on the placebo effect alone. Easy to read even if you are not scientifically minded and gives you the knowledge to find the facts in a scare story.

Elizabeth Aston - The Second Mrs Darcy - A Jane Austen inspired story which features Octavia Darcy - widowed after a very short marriage to a Darcy cousin. She returns to England from India and decides she will not look for a husband - scandalising her half sisters. An unexpected legacy make sit possible for her to set up her own establishment. This is reminiscent of some of Georgette Heyer's novels with headstrong heroines and interesting heroes. I enjoyed it.

I have also put a review of Noreen Marshall's - Dictionary of Children's Clothes on Amazon. For anyone who wants to read my reviews on Amazon they are now posted under the pen name of Damaskcat.