Busy Kindling . . .

Is Kindling a verb created from a noun or is it just a new meaning for the word which means the wood you use to light a fire with? I seem to spend a lot of time reading at the moment and the novelty of my Kindle has not yet worn off.

Recent reads in e-book have been:

Georgette Heyer - Death in the Stocks - a body is found in the village stocks and leads Superintendent down some very murky byways of family life

Wendy Holden - Gallery Girl - this was a paperback - I enjoyed it though not as much as some of hers. I did enjoy the jibes at the pretensions of some of the more way out parts of the art world - artificial legs sprayed gold and hung on a washing line - your for £20 million. There are some absolutely priceless scenes towards the end of the book which make the whole thing worth while.

Georgette Heyer - Footsteps in the Dark - a brother and two sisters inherit a dilapidated country house only to find that it appears to have a resident ghost or two. They quickly realise that the ghost may be rather more corporeal than it would like them to think.

Richard Wiseman - 59 seconds - sort of distilled self help and psychology. It was interesting but as I can't remember anything about it now it clearly wasn't that memorable!

The Complete Idiot's Guide to dealing with Difficult People - interesting with a few tips I shall make use of such as lowering your voice when someone is getting angry. It reminds the reader that you can never control the behaviour of others - only how you react to that behaviour.

Currently reading:

Georgette Heyer - Detection Unlimited - murder of a very unlikeable solicitor in a country village - featuring Chief Inspector Hemingway.

Jenni Mills - The Buried Circle - set around Avebury featuring two parallel narratives from the point of view of India in the present day and Frannie, her grandmother in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Trisha Ashley - The Twelve Days of Christmas - this is a paperback which I'd bought before I realised there was an e-book. I'm getting through it slowly and I'm starting to think her recent books are not as good as early ones.

Beautiful People

I finished reading Wendy Holden's Beautiful People last night and was quite sad when I finished the last page. Apart from being a light hearted romantic comedy it does have some serious points to make about celebrity in all walks of life and appearances in general. The last half of it is set in Italy where all the characters end up for various reasons and is excellent. There are some very funny scenes and some brilliant dialogue. The descriptions are beautiful as well especially of the food. Introducing a new main character half way through a book doesn't always work but in this case the introduction of Marco - restaurant owner and chef - works perfectly. The photographer, Ken, who suddenly takes off for Italy on a whim with no baggage and nowhere to stay is a gem as well. Loved it.

Bored with the weather . . .

It is snowing again but in a somewhat halfhearted manner. Most of what arrived yesterday has disappeared because of the drizzly rain. I was just watching it out of the window and when it's those very tiny flakes they don't all fall straight down. There's virtually no wind so they just sort of float lazily up and down almost like thistledown. Eventually they do land but the individual flakes are a bit like sky divers drifting on thermals. Fascinating to watch.

Currently I'm reading: Carole Matthews' The Difference a Day Makes; Bill Hussey - Through a Glass Darkly; Wendy Holden - Beautiful People; Alison Penton Harper - Housewife in Love; Anthony Trollope - Doctor Thorne. All very different books. The Carole Matthews is not as good as some of her previous books most notably the two Chocolate Lovers stories. I find her a very uneven writer. Beautiful People has grown on me - it's over 600 pages and seems a bit disjointed until page 300 after which it really gets going when all the characters are in Italy for various reasons. Through a Glass Darkly is definitely a daylight read for reasons I've already mentioned. Housewife in Love is just as good as the other three in the series. Doctor Thorne is rather more serious and sober than either of its predecessors. Plenty to keep me amused over the weekend.

It really is snow today!

Yes I woke up to a white world today - about 3 inches of the stuff. It's gradually disintegrating now, and it looks as though the sun is trying to break through the clouds. So we have daffodils and snow! I have known snow at Easter when Easter was in April before and I think we should never be surprised by British weather. It does look beautiful.

I am currently reading Wendy Holden's 'Filthy Rich' - a blockbuster - 563 pages. No I haven't finished it yet, I've only got to page 320. It is good light reading but if I was the editor I'd have cut most of the first 150 pages as it wouldn't have altered the story as far as I can tell at the moment.

I'm also reading a book about one man's search for chocolate called 'Indulgence' - a must for any chocoholic out there.

Off to read the Sunday papers on line.