Bits and pieces

I was quite surprised to see that I haven't done a blog entry here since last Saturday. That's partly because it's been a busy week with family visiting etc. but also I'm back to reading several books at once and haven't actually finished anything to review. It wasn't helped by the fact that I couldn't decide what to read next. This happens to me sometimes and there's often no reason for it apart from a bad case of indecisiveness on my part, ('I used to be indecisive but now I'm not so sure...') Over the weekend I started another book for Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge, Rats and Gargoyles by Mary Gentle. I'd been quite excited to get this so was quite disappointed when, a few days later, I realised I just couldn't read the thing. Why? Well the writing is quite er... challenging and quite frankly I didn't have a clue what I was reading! It may just be that my mood is wrong so I will try again some other time.

Anyway, I abandoned that and after watching an utterly brilliant episode of the wonderful Foyle's War on Sunday, found myself in an 'end of WW2' sort of mood. So I got The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies off the tbr mountain and have been enjoying that, off and on, all week. I've also been working my way through Nocturnes by John Connolly which is, without a doubt, one of the best macabre anthologies I've read in a very long time. And I'm mad about that cover! Also reading Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman, from the library, and that too is an excellent anthology. You never quite know what to expect from Gaiman and I like that.

And then I was reading a post by Stuck in a Book about the books of Richmal Crompton and ended up sitting up late last night reading a couple of short stories from Just William.
I have read a few of the William books before (years ago) but had forgotten how funny they are... or maybe I was too young to really appreciate the dry humour back then. The first story had William going to the cinema (the stories are set in the 1920s) to see several films including a cops and robbers, two love stories and a comedy. The result of which meant he ended up playacting the robbers and knocking his father into the rhododendron bushes, then telling the girl next door he was terminally ill with 'lungs' and, lastly, trying to get his sister engaged to a man she isn't interested in and who isn't interested in her. The second story had William playing gooseberry between his brother and a girl who he's fallen in love with. Except that the girl isn't remotely interested in the brother, much preferring the company of William. He pinches his brother's new bike but it's too big for him and he loses control. The brother and the 'love of his life' are having a picnic in a nearby field... and I'll leave the resulting chaos to your imagination. Wonderful, I plan to read a lot more of these delightful stories.

And I've had one new book buy this week, which is The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke. I keep seeing it blogged about all over the place and have a feeling the stories might be similar to those of Charles De Lint and John Connolly. I hope so.

The weather here is more like February than April... the wind is whistling round the house as I write... and as I have a free weekend coming up I plan to spend at least some of it curled up by the fire with a good novel, or maybe some short stories, or...