August Chat

[mellow2]

New thread for August.

hope springs eternal, sfx

thanks for these - have jogged my memory.
haven't read any robertson davies for ages

blimey, is saramago still alive?! must be knocking on a bit. yes, find the one page=one sentence a bit heavy-going.

might re-vist david lodge - think he's got a new novel out at mo?

haven't read diaries of a provincial lady. so will give that a whirl.
night, night

it's interesting when you re-read books you first read when you were much younger, isn't it? especially as an angst-ridden teenager

two thoughts

• think i was much more erudite then as can't seem to concentrate on sartre these days..that's what reading heat picture captions does to you...

• some books, with age and, of course motherhood, are almost unbearable to read..

• wuthering heights...the younger steppie thought of heathcliff..."what a brooding, deep, tormented soul..."
  the older steppie thinks "silly arse"
  still like it, tho

and so to bed

steppie, lol @ wuthering heights, I tried to read it again recently & that's exactly what I thought!

hmm funny books, second Bill Bryson, other than that I think most of my collection is crime/mystery type stuff. Though I don't mind a bit of Katie Fforde now and again

Only ever saw the first series of 24, don't think I can be bothered to go back to it now! Watched the last episode of Heroes last night, am sorry to say dh & I did give a cheer with what happened to the brother & sister, wish it could've stayed like that! Other than that, did actually enjoy it!

steppie - funny about heathcliff, isn't it? And that catherine. Honestly. Would never catch on now.

I like crime novels of the old fashioned types - Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, Michael Inns. THe ones you can't find in Waterstones ... Who wants realism? As if there's not enough realism in life already.

Can't think of funny books at the moment. Must go to a meeting.

Morning all. DS is still coming up to me and apologising for yesterdays "adventure" so perhaps it has hit home how serious it was (we live in hope).

My reading is sadly lacking these days. I tend to take months to get through a book and often find myself reading the same line/paragrapgh over and over whilst nodding of. The last books I read were "Marshmallows for breakfast" by Dorothy Koomson, "Shire Hall" by Rachel Johnson and "My sister's keeper" by Jodi Picoult.

Actually I must dig out a couple to take away next week, in the vain hope the children may give us a moments peace to do some reading.

glad ds seems contrite CoV.

I read anything and everything and buy books on special offer all the time. Mostly they work out okay but am currently nearly done with The Pirate's Daugther, bloody depressing it is too!

I find Ben Elton can always make me laugh out loud. I have Past Mortem and Chart Throb if you want to borrow Steppie? Both good tho Chart Throb the funnier IMO.

Got a few Douglas Kennedys and a fair bit of Sebastian Faulks and John Irving but none of it particularly funny unless you count The Fourth Hand which I did find amusing.

I like Ben Okri too.

Can't be arsed with The Classics tbh, did too much at school. Wish I hadn't lost my Chaucer tho as I'd love to read the same text I read at 15 now.

good morning all

cov hard to kmow what to say really, fine balance between starting to create a sense of responsibility and scaring the poor souls half to death

slng I like Dorothy L Sayers too, my dh's uncle has a book signed by her because his mother met her on a boat once going to the far east.
and did you know Saramago's only daughter was my Biology teacher for 2 yrs? can't stop talking about that one 6 degrees and all that.

steppie have you read Colin Bateman? Irish 'Divorcing jack' which is not about divorce at all by some guy crossing the path of some gangsters loosely associated with IRA
funnier than it sounds, think they made a movie
or PG Wodehouse?

I usually read crime novels in between other books like a little letting go ritual

we are definitely having a quiet day we both extremely tired

Cov,
That must have been frightening .

I decluttered all yesterday after my new vacuum seal bags arrived yesterday. It was highly satisfying but very addictive as I've gone and bought 15 more bags. [organisation freak alert]

meant to say slng have you read Edmund Crispin?

mellow must say I like the way my living room looks now, hardly any kids clutter makes me want to keep it that way as much as possible

You can't beat a bit of Agatha Christie for easy reading!

Paddle, I'm reading a Douglas Kennedy atm and finding it a bit hard going. Not sure if I'm going to bother with any others after this one!

Ds has already gone for his nap, without lunch! No nap yesterday and awake at 5.30 this morning has caught up with him I think.

sfx I've only read the moving toyshop. Should try more. Currently reading heavy-going chinese novel, due to lack of light reading material ...

ros - didn't get on with Agatha Christie when I was young, but might try again.

I have apparently mislaid a form. Oh no!

oh god, i long to declutter..
but the kids are in the way

thanks for book suggestions - yes like a bit of pg wodehoiuse, no, sfx, haven't read colin bateman..another one for the list..
impressed at saramago's daughter being your biology teacher...

paddle, thanks for offer but, for some reason, i find ben elton really irritating!
and your taking-out-a-loan-scheme-to-finance-travel sounds like a goer to me....but i am in esacpe mode at the moment?

the gap between my aspirations of motherhood and what sort of parent i actually am is particularly wide today...

old story of too much to do and unable to get on with it while, at the same time, resenting having work/stuff to do during school hols as should be having fun with little fellas.....

sigh...

think we need some oxygen...

will take them out to library i think as swot keen ds1 wants to get more books for the school hols reading scheme - pretty good, we've done since they started school.
ds1 loves books but it encourages ds2 to read more as you get stickers and a certificate is sent to school when you've read 6 books.
have a good afternoon, everyone
toodlepip

slng I have Buried for pleasure and Love lies Bleeding if you are interested, usually get stuff from Pan classic crime from Oxfam shops

steppie she has a very unusual name Violante so easy to identify also at the time her dad had been in trouble because of 'The Gospel..' book so I was in awe of her, quite decent teacher she was too

far more exciting than my biology teacher...
a twitchy, nervous old dear with a sense of humour by-pass,,,make that a personality by-pass..
each and every week she gave me 4 out of 25 for my biology test...i'm convinced she didn't even read it, just saw my name

okay so 'fess up, who also mistakenly wrote orgasm instead of organism in their biology homework?
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oh just me then?

oooh and the wonderful time when we had biology 1st period after lunch in summer. subject: body development.
lunchtime activity: pesky boys shoving grass cuttings down girls shirts
paddle's finest moment: looking down shirt for remnants of cuttings in the middle of Mr Adnams very biological explanation of chest hair developing.
Mr Adnams just couldn't resist the opportunity to ask if I was checking for growth. To the glee of the class and my mortification

Ros, which DK are you on? I've got the "new" Faulks which is a big departure from his previous books apparently.

My Dsis is going to Amalfi for a wedding in Jan so me adn DM are feverishly looking for apartments in Rome for a few days so we can all go. Even Dbro is saying he will come!

£300 for flights for me and dd tho

Anyone got any recommendations of good central locations in Rome. Am trawling thru craigslist and finding some lovely places but no idea where they are!

paddle I remember those 'reproduction' lessons the teacher I had then was fabulous but I remember a boy saying he had gone through the menopause, poor kid

about reading I only started reading British classics well into my late teens/ early 20's so not tainted by nasty school experiences.
am well versed on Portuguese classics and largely love them especially the poetry only just getting into classic English poetry

steppie - like pg wodehouse but only the blandings one. Cannot get on with jeeves and woorster. One of the very few books I fail to get to the end. No declutering the kids.

sfx - english poetry mostly no good for me. Too many words...

paddle, I didn't write it but I did say orgasm instead of organism in a biology presentation, cue lots of laughter!

The DK I'm reading is A Special Relationship, finding the main character v annoying

erm, don't think i've read that one but can't be sure. i have zero memory these days altho, annoyingly, i can remember if i've already read someting after i start reading it!

i like Kate Atkinson as far as whodunnits go.

Hi all!

steppie - come to think of it, it was this girl's 3rd birthday and your DD must be close to 4 so 'doh' of me, then.

CoV - to hear about your DS's 'adventure'! Mind you my DS started to do similar stuff in shops, these things could happen to everyone, I suppose.

QC - remind me when you book latitude tickets and we'll come along, too.

Paddle - lol at orgasm! Sort of mistakes I always make.

Wrt books, I just finished a book on Money Laudering which was my boss kindly rent to me. To my surprise, I find it really interesting. Workaholic, moi?

sushi did he rent you the book?
running ok thanks for asking not doing as much as I would like to but not bad

ros hope ds napped properly, dd is still in PJ's and just slobbing about exactly what I feel like doing too

am baking bread today and making a crumble

hi guys! Thought I would pop in and say hello . Just finished a hypnobirthing class with a client and trying to wind down! Hope your all well!

Hi quokka,
How are you doing? Sounds like your business is going well.

Paddle,
Was that with Air Italia? If not, you should try them. We got a good deal with them for our Sept trip.

hi quokka how is the business? so you are not doing just massage?

yes still doing the baby massage but have become a birth doula and postartum doula as well! I'm loving it but am trying to get used to being a working mum - how do you guys juggle it!