tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80115578771050219552024-03-18T09:47:34.385+00:00Desperate ReaderDesperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comBlogger2131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-15064687344960864052024-03-09T20:23:00.001+00:002024-03-09T20:23:32.192+00:00Game Without Rules - Michael Gilbert<p>That's another week that's gotten away from me - we've been both short-staffed and very busy at work - it's been all I can do to stay awake long enough to eat and shower when I get home. Hopes of finishing a jumper I'm working on by next week have gone by the wayside.</p><p>I have managed to reclaim 'Game Without Rules' from my husband for long enough to write about it though. Michael Gilbert is one of my favourite discoveries from the British Library Crime Classics series, the three novels they've republished are all excellent (Death has Deep Roots, Smallbone Deceased and Death has Deep Notes). Gilbert wrote a lot, Mr. Behrans and Mr. Calder are recurring characters in a series of short stories - this collection spans the 1960s and for the most part I love them, but they're harder to recommend than the novels.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhguLWvINbq2PxprNPtMmdCGIC9Ur3cdBPGTx4aaYeFAZIkjZFkfNObbv5FL93FdHFbAI3q4sZsE6KOMeM3RwzCAMVR1Hl4BxuiMlA5THe8Ju_O8T-eDgg-5xMk6L81q89yu6RIOU3GEsJr28OZVNlsMpYMXx-ms3dTwCJH1Naoox3qUNTgqs1WN9fhPJOF/s466/81aI2UNC8rL._SY466_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="304" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhguLWvINbq2PxprNPtMmdCGIC9Ur3cdBPGTx4aaYeFAZIkjZFkfNObbv5FL93FdHFbAI3q4sZsE6KOMeM3RwzCAMVR1Hl4BxuiMlA5THe8Ju_O8T-eDgg-5xMk6L81q89yu6RIOU3GEsJr28OZVNlsMpYMXx-ms3dTwCJH1Naoox3qUNTgqs1WN9fhPJOF/s320/81aI2UNC8rL._SY466_.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Mr Clader and Mr Behrans are Second World War veterans of the utmost outward respectability. They're also spies and assassins for British intelligence. Gilbert's style here verges on the clipped noir of a Raymond Chandler but with more humour and distinctly British. Written at the height of the Cold War for a generation whose morality had been shaped by a hot war there are things here that seem startlingly callous. It's a very effective way of creating an atmosphere and beats Ian Flemming's Bond novels hands down for me.</p><p>In the case of this particular edition, there are a couple of annoying typos which are a distraction. They don't bother me too much, but I know for some people it's enough to ruin a book. There are also some old-fashioned attitudes toward race which read oddly now. I wouldn't call it racism as such, it certainly doesn't seem to me that that was ever Gilbert's intention or way of thinking (though I'm not well qualified to judge) but it's definitely a colonial way of thinking, and 60 years or more after these stories were first written some of them have aged better than others. I don't find Gilbert offensive, but it seems worth saying that readers with more finely tuned sensitivities might.</p><p>There may be the death of some pets which I found extremely upsetting - as I was meant too, and again I feel like a fair warning is due. Otherwise if you like a bit of cold war espionage you're hitting gold with this book and you should buy it immediately. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-83093579067498747212024-03-03T21:05:00.001+00:002024-03-03T21:05:14.581+00:00Someone From The Past - Margot Bennett<p>I've been in a bit of a slump recently, sleeping badly and very tired, which has mad doing anything seem like exceptionally hard work. It's been all I can do to drag myself through a workday more often than not, and there doesn't seem to have been time for anything else. I think this might partly be due to the pills I'm taking to counter the symptoms of large fibroids - I'm 9 weeks in and the upside is I think they might be settling down and that just maybe I'll find a new normal. The downside is that it's taken this long and if this is the new normal it's not great.</p><p>Meanwhile the books have been piling up and I haven't known where to start or what my concentration would hold up to - but luckily I picked up 'Someone From the Past' this weekend, and I have been enthralled. I read and liked both of Margot Bennett's previous titles from the British Library crime classics series (The Man Who Didn't Fly was twisty and interesting, The Widow Of Bath - atmospheric British Noir) but for me this book leaves both of those standing.</p><p>'Someone From the Past' was published in 1958, our narrator, Nancy is 26, she's in love with Donald, but he's also been in love with her best friend Sarah, who makes an ill-timed re-appearence for Nancy just as it looks like Donald is about to propose. Someone has been threatening Sarah and she wants Nancy to find out before she marries serious money. The next day Sarah is dead, Donald is in it up to his neck, and Nancy is lurching from crisis to crisis as she tries to protect her man, evade the police, and find out who actually killed her friend. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwyCvQRlKOyGKcR8TTDSsa4rw30n_UEqBJ8tcmk_RgnmPz8WzyhhfRT30DNkISv9_IrdQrGcO81eN8kGVkxJlH2EhnO1h-EE1xRZjqPDzcbKsDzEZn0wGfupxXtz8OiJESTIifvxZhbMjnNouPTbX8QgzEwofWOp1OXH3RUChJrj3bnVcDP8UJgF42kci/s272/download%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="186" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwyCvQRlKOyGKcR8TTDSsa4rw30n_UEqBJ8tcmk_RgnmPz8WzyhhfRT30DNkISv9_IrdQrGcO81eN8kGVkxJlH2EhnO1h-EE1xRZjqPDzcbKsDzEZn0wGfupxXtz8OiJESTIifvxZhbMjnNouPTbX8QgzEwofWOp1OXH3RUChJrj3bnVcDP8UJgF42kci/s1600/download%20(1).jpeg" width="186" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I loved this book for the way it shows 2 young women from outside of conventional society making their way up the social ladder on the fringes of bohemian post-war London. They meet working for a magazine publisher, they work their way up, go to parties, have affairs, and slowly reinvent themselves. Both women know it must be one of the men from Sarah's past who threatened her. Nancy knows it's someone she considered a friend, and maybe more, who must have killed her. </p><p>The mystery is good, the clues are there for the reader to spot (I spotted the clues, but not quite the killer) and the characters, revealed in flashbacks, are nuanced and sympathetic, but it's the atmosphere and the friendship between Nancy and Sarah that make this so special. It's a view of the 1950s that I don't often see - and miles away from a Miss Marple vision. Nancy is a fast talker full of wisecracks and sarcasm - both women clearly live (or lived) by their own moral code which Bennett makes clear is just fine. For all the destruction Sarah's beauty leaves in its wake we never doubt her intrinsic loyalty or kindness, or the hard work that she's put into her magazine career. </p><p>Bennett has Sarah make observations that feel important, but are too much of a spoiler to discuss here - but honestly, this has gone straight to the top of the list of my favourite books in this series and I absolutely encourage you to read it. </p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-89129334749586149272024-02-27T20:39:00.003+00:002024-02-27T20:39:56.433+00:00Shetland Fine Lace Knitting - Carol Christiansen<p>I have a new book and I'm very excited about it. Shetland Fine Lace Knitting is the result of a project at the Shetland Museum to asses their lace collection. The result is a scholarly overview of the art of fine lace knitting in Shetland that invites further research and a really practical book of patterns and motifs.</p><p>The original pieces are broken down into their individual elements, we get charted instructions and written ones, and excellent photographs of both the original very fine lace, and samples that have been knitted up in a less challenging modern 2ply lace weight. It's not possible to machine spin yarn as fine as the handspun used for these older shawls, and the skills to do it have gone. There are some simpler patterns in here that I'd like to use - it's good to see what I'm likely to be able to create using laceweight I can actually knit with. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybFIMYmJKA9GpoosbYgLTr38sIOBoM9BkdLX0k15_REML-foqiHTWFgQLqBt3R3Wu7QvFcb-gC8qdcwtfPvx_6XcQUB8_0bnYhhjROqzbi840BS-kTJXOr7_ilpaypjtrVxJT4nwPOx9umz-I21SLfrBm-4ixtNdX2sS44u1rQ4oBtRr_-XAwtQEOIcy1/s466/91xXRBV0lML._SY466_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="378" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybFIMYmJKA9GpoosbYgLTr38sIOBoM9BkdLX0k15_REML-foqiHTWFgQLqBt3R3Wu7QvFcb-gC8qdcwtfPvx_6XcQUB8_0bnYhhjROqzbi840BS-kTJXOr7_ilpaypjtrVxJT4nwPOx9umz-I21SLfrBm-4ixtNdX2sS44u1rQ4oBtRr_-XAwtQEOIcy1/s320/91xXRBV0lML._SY466_.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I have a cone of Jamieson and Smith's 1ply supreme lace weight which was developed alongside the museum's fine lace project - I bought it long before I had any understanding of the skills or effort needed, and the last time I tried I couldn't even knit with the stitches I managed to cast on. I might as well have been trying to knit with hair - and yet the handspun yarn was finer. I don't know if I'll ever have the patience, never mind the skill to try and make something with my yarn, but it serves as a useful reminder of the range and depth of skill this knitting requires - and that's worth having.</p><p>Meanwhile, this book is a masterpiece and a must for knitters or people with an interest in the history of fine knitted textiles. It's informative, clearly laid out, useful, and inspiring. A fine addition to my growing library on Shetland knitting and something to treasure in its own right. Don't hang around if it sounds like a book for you - all too often these books don't get large or repeated print runs and they get very expensive secondhand. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-15905123054767617672024-02-25T23:01:00.001+00:002024-02-25T23:01:33.243+00:00Hex and the City - Kate Johnson<p>I have a jumper I need to finish (I put it down for a minute and now it's days later and I'm going to Scotland in a couple of weeks where I'll want to wear it so I need to get a move on with that), books I need to read, and a neighbor who has set off the fire alarm at 10pm for the last 2 nights in a row, and if I find it which of the 4 flats is responsible there will be some extremely passive aggressive comments to be made. I don't know who's responsible because whoever they are is staying inside, presumably confident that it's only dinner burning and not the building. </p><p>I also have a couple of books to catch up with here including Hex and the City which I read a while ago. There's not a lot to say about it other than that Kate Johnson is good at what she does - and a lot better than books in a similar vein that I've tried reading. Poppy is a witch with magical hair who seems to trail chaos in her wake, she accidentally sells stage magician Axl Storm a cursed necklace which leads to adventures, great sex, peril, and a happy ending. There's also friendship, found family, and guest appearances from a previous book (Hex Appeal). It's definitely at the cosier end of the current romantasy market and it's fun.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis-aWUg-9Ot1mHZcAluBNn8QV_RFkBmRZVIDAN8HgMfSzgcqxyIbCvAQIsxXJv7m1eVxHUk-Viuf2VMCdAAxMCsR0kEej7elyNjLVYfZib7nzWylUFHRTPlTfWogoCY2_xx-XsjQ7frB-7GeWxiIJ7lSrgU-iRSdMEhgj6mFjK1TfwXfHKVXXpiqIn7l52/s445/51AtvSnFQ2L._SY445_SX342_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="288" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis-aWUg-9Ot1mHZcAluBNn8QV_RFkBmRZVIDAN8HgMfSzgcqxyIbCvAQIsxXJv7m1eVxHUk-Viuf2VMCdAAxMCsR0kEej7elyNjLVYfZib7nzWylUFHRTPlTfWogoCY2_xx-XsjQ7frB-7GeWxiIJ7lSrgU-iRSdMEhgj6mFjK1TfwXfHKVXXpiqIn7l52/s320/51AtvSnFQ2L._SY445_SX342_.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I don't know if it's because Kate Johnson is British and I just don't have the patience for the particularly American* take on this sub-genre of witchy girl messes up then saves the day, or if she's a considerably better writer than the other authors I've looked at (it's part of being a bookseller to pick up things that are popular and try and get a sense of what people are looking for - not always a fun part). I think she's a better writer. She gives her characters realistic insecurities, her heroes aren't as two-dimensional as a lot of them tend to be, and she writes with kindness and humour. </p><p>We talk quite a bit at work about how difficult it can be to find romance writers who work for you - we're not all looking for the same things. I want a happy ending, characters I can believe in, and that are light on red flags, much more than I want smut. I don't want to be put through an emotional wringer, I'm not interested in brooding intensity, but if something makes me laugh (with, not at) I'll enjoy it. If that's your kind of romance too Kate Johnson is worth a look.</p><p>*Americans may not see the appeal of the British version either, some things just don't translate, and the US version of Halloween is one of those things for me. </p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-14649890903741509992024-02-17T15:28:00.001+00:002024-02-17T15:28:58.861+00:00The Undying Monster - Jessie Douglas Kerruish<p>This, the latest in the British Library's weird collection and, I think, their second foray into a full-length novel, has been a wild ride. Jessie Douglas Kerruish threw everything at at - do you want speculation about Vampires, Werewolves, necromancy, Norse legend, grave robbing, a hand of glory and unexpected applications of William Morris and Wagner - because if you do you're in luck. </p><p>It is by any measure A Lot, it's also a lot of fun if you don't take the excesses too seriously, underneath those excesses there are some interesting ideas at play, and this overall is what I love about this series. The Undying Monster is a tale of the fifth dimension - it's only a very small spoiler to say that Kerruish thinks of that as the human mind and its unconscious power here. The fourth dimension is a more mundane spirit realm easily detected by dogs, cats, and supersensitives such as our heroine, Luna Bartendale. </p><p>The Hammands are an aristocratic family of great antiquity, reduced by the War to a brother and sister. There is a curse or Bane upon the Hammonds that has lasted a millennium and more, the head of the family, if they find themselves under pines and firs on a clear frosty night see a monster - those that survive the encounter go mad, and commit suicide. The locals think that Hammonds who have died prematurely remain behind as Vamoires, for entirely unclear reasons no one has thought to get rid of any pine or fir trees in this part of Sussex. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0wUaOYGJXl3Oco-IqZRj42qMqbZoS4m41VpF0ZG5FhYSCkHVHZD8fhSnxVp13q5qUE1EqrBVWo4Xm2QsfiCeWVvaicm36K3aNqunKqd7p9dj_QfAkkbGR2mg19vgnYPvYkQw95kROBLcMf5JswcMIoKtQt1Ug01ClVjnGMh0ZWSZT14qay9EpUzk4-U1/s218/811J9bE6NyL._AC_UY218_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="149" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0wUaOYGJXl3Oco-IqZRj42qMqbZoS4m41VpF0ZG5FhYSCkHVHZD8fhSnxVp13q5qUE1EqrBVWo4Xm2QsfiCeWVvaicm36K3aNqunKqd7p9dj_QfAkkbGR2mg19vgnYPvYkQw95kROBLcMf5JswcMIoKtQt1Ug01ClVjnGMh0ZWSZT14qay9EpUzk4-U1/s1600/811J9bE6NyL._AC_UY218_.jpg" width="149" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>When Oliver Hammand survives an encounter with the monster his sister Swanhild calls in the help of Luna, the white witch - can she save Oliver from his seemingly inevitable fate? Despite throwing almost everything at the plot there's an internal logic that makes sense (mostly) and as a splendid yarn with some frights along the way it all works very nicely. </p><p>Given the continued, if passing, references to Oliver's service in France, and that the book was written in 1922 it's hard not to find metaphors for shell shock and the deep collective trauma the war left behind. Even the spiritualist and folklore elements tie into this and the renewed interest in them during and after the First World War. It's this that I find really interesting about 'The Undying Monster' - the question at its heart is how do you reconcile a great horror in such a way that you can go on living with it?</p><p>Hammand ancestors could not, the Hammand who got through the trenches just might be able to with the right help. </p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-73712673912373724012024-02-10T20:15:00.001+00:002024-02-10T20:15:43.346+00:00Bride - Ali Hazelwood<p>This has to be the most atypical, off-brand, for Hayley book I've read in years. I don't go for paranormal romance, I didn't care about Twilight, and the vaguely kinky stuff seemed silly to me. I love Ali Hazlewood, who clearly likes all of these things, for writing it. Romance is a demanding genre, readers don't always look kindly on authors doing something a little bit different but what's the point if you can't have some fun?</p><p>In fairly typical Hazelwood fashion, Misery Lark, Vampire, is also a really amazing tech woman working in IT, although she only does that for about 5 minutes before Vampire and werewolf politics take over and she finds herself married to a tall, broad, brooding man who isn't great at communication but is obviously extremely decent, capable, and great with young children. And a werewolf (for more or less only one discernable reason - the kink that I still can't really take seriously). Like any self-respecting alpha wolf, he's also really into consent. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IAo8hN__tIYQF1s6DI6zRtP6tfznr6-iOpIsGv1Hc2nQUhcv-KFmzpxPgw-8mUGcvctEpYd93tPg9hsztNVVMFgOyt4BtyQuUL5dF-47LHl-JzFcsNGLzovaxlil8_36xBW2-yMeL5WZiWRew2NzcAdxI2VODe3JS9pBUSwXH7lRVKPbhwEDpIOlWgOB/s500/418GCywAhzL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IAo8hN__tIYQF1s6DI6zRtP6tfznr6-iOpIsGv1Hc2nQUhcv-KFmzpxPgw-8mUGcvctEpYd93tPg9hsztNVVMFgOyt4BtyQuUL5dF-47LHl-JzFcsNGLzovaxlil8_36xBW2-yMeL5WZiWRew2NzcAdxI2VODe3JS9pBUSwXH7lRVKPbhwEDpIOlWgOB/s320/418GCywAhzL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>As a bookseller as well as a reader the last bit is important to me. I very much dislike selling young girls books that glamourize frankly abusive behaviour (thank god young girls no longer buy Jilly Cooper). I'm much less worried about the smut element when there are no major power imbalances and everyone is enthusiastically consenting. </p><p>When I say worried, I'm not book police, I'm not advocating for any sort of censorship, and as long as you know what you're letting yourself in for I'm happy to sell it to you - I do worry that not everybody knows what they're letting themselves in for, and have had enough parents return their children's books to feel this is justified. </p><p>Meanwhile if you loved Twilight and were team Jacob you'll probably adore this book. I really like seeing Hazelwood do more with plot, and I liked the expanded cast of characters here. My colleague talks about books like this being a bad good time and how sometimes that's exactly what you need. She's right, and Hazelwood is likely to remain one of the handful of authors I'll return to for exactly that. </p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-73883414254271133752024-02-06T21:09:00.001+00:002024-02-06T21:09:35.345+00:00Check and Mate - Ali Hazelwood<p>I read this last year, but I've been slow catching up with a couple of things. At the time I didn't have much to say about it other than that while I'm entirely happy with the lack of graphic sex in what's meant to be more of a young adult read, I far prefer the older couples that Hazelwood writes to these more or less teenagers. </p><p>Now I've almost finished her foray into paranormal romance there's more to discuss. I like Ali Hazelwood's romances - she's funny and clearly having fun, she's a decent writer and I don't find anything especially problematic in her books around consent, age differences, and power balances - all of which she discusses at length. Every so often I want a bit of romantic fiction in my life and when I do there's a fairly small list of authors who write women I enjoy reading enough to be invested in their happy ending. Hazelwood does that for me.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrP-uKQBHklpWqwd-nJ44L-iGLbXqGqBlPCTJa9WEyjLLbuKAwaTR62VsOsrDuHWCYZKnC5UIPZl1s315y7tZQp74in0p_6e5MWvnAYzRJwWsYzLNyg-NO_ZQKYMWa-aX8bw3E3QlVJ6sPdQW0ZhVI0F0Ln7mCL5SmgPDjWrON_myneF1_680vEIh8CkGd/s218/81MPuG2r2RL._AC_UY218_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrP-uKQBHklpWqwd-nJ44L-iGLbXqGqBlPCTJa9WEyjLLbuKAwaTR62VsOsrDuHWCYZKnC5UIPZl1s315y7tZQp74in0p_6e5MWvnAYzRJwWsYzLNyg-NO_ZQKYMWa-aX8bw3E3QlVJ6sPdQW0ZhVI0F0Ln7mCL5SmgPDjWrON_myneF1_680vEIh8CkGd/s1600/81MPuG2r2RL._AC_UY218_.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I also have a bit of a soft spot for a woman who started off writing fan fiction before having a break-out TikTok success with her first novel at just the point I went back into bookselling. I've been able to follow her writing career from the beginning and that's another kind of fun. Check and Mate feels a lot like it started life as some sort of chess-based Star Wars fanfic. Mallory Greenleaf is the outsider who comes from nowhere to beat the acknowledged master - who sounds like a dead ringer for Adam Driver. </p><p>Her protagonists are authentically annoying young adults to the more mature reader, but the skewering of misogyny has both anger and a sense of purpose behind it. We sell this as an adult romance - but it's meant as YA and is entirely appropriate as such. The thorny part of the issue is that her other books are not and there's no clear way to differentiate between them - that's possibly more of an issue with Bride than some of the earlier romances.</p><p>I'm also assuming that her academic day job remains Hazelwood's primary career so she can take risks and have the fun she wants with her fiction which is a luxury for a best-seller who might normally have to keep doing more of the same - again, it makes her interesting to me because at this point who knows what she'll decide to throw into the mix next time. </p><p><br /></p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-86338146836635582622024-02-04T12:41:00.001+00:002024-02-04T12:41:11.338+00:00Norwegian Baking Through the Seasons - Nevada Berg<p>It's been a good couple of week for exhibitions and books. I went to Oxford yesterday with a friend to see the Colour Revolution, Victorian Art, Fashion & Design at the Ashmolean. It's on for another week or so, and I strongly recommend it. I've had some very nice review copies of books come through and bought myself a couple of cookbooks along with the exhibition catalogue from yesterday.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnJXNG-pXPrYjhIYlmWsjYzjku3cWP0rPNzM8h7-VoIIbKPebpnqX-VyFXke3WLzJ2gTDb1fwD7wMI-yN7tQwpH3BwtEuK3Kwt8xNIQdJIcWypkJMgTsZ8YgVhRD6h3ts4-NJPewrypLlLz2kEyufFlXXHVoY9_FUHZVzC85belMJHyN-Q8Bxb-XHWgrO/s445/51+X8Y1X-vL._SY445_SX342_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="327" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnJXNG-pXPrYjhIYlmWsjYzjku3cWP0rPNzM8h7-VoIIbKPebpnqX-VyFXke3WLzJ2gTDb1fwD7wMI-yN7tQwpH3BwtEuK3Kwt8xNIQdJIcWypkJMgTsZ8YgVhRD6h3ts4-NJPewrypLlLz2kEyufFlXXHVoY9_FUHZVzC85belMJHyN-Q8Bxb-XHWgrO/s320/51+X8Y1X-vL._SY445_SX342_.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The first of the cook books was Nevada Berg's Norwegian Baking. While I was away I saw a couple of posts on Instagram about Solboller - Norwegian sun buns, these are apparently eaten on the around the 21st of January as a celebration of the slowly lengthening days - that's also my mothers birthday and I'm taken with the idea that there's a Scandinavian bun for both of us (St Lucia buns for me). I'm not clear if it's a date specific thing with Solboller or if it's a third weekend in January thing. I also see that eating an orange was another way of celebrating - definitely easier and a treat whilst blood oranges are around. </p><p>The Solboller are cardamom/cinnamon buns with an egg custard and sound good. I kept coming back to Nevada Berg's North Wild Kitchen Instagram and blog and in easy steps to her Norwegian baking book. There's a recipe for a sugared juniper bun, and a couple of other things which called to me even more insistently and so here I am with yet another baking book.</p><p>It's a lovely book, and though I'm not a huge fan of the very enthusiastic tone that American authors/food bloggers favour, and loathe the caramelised brown cheese that features in a cake icing here there's a collection of fabulous looking breads and cakes that look to be a good mix of contemporary and traditional. A sponge cake filled with gin infused blackberries and blueberries looks like a perfect birthday or celebration cake amongst some stiff competition, and whilst it's by no means all sweet recipes there's plenty here if you want to further embrace the coffee and cake culture of Northern Europe along with your bread repertoire. The photography is also lovely; lots of Norwegian scenes that are as mouthwatering in their way as the recipes. I suppose it;s time to go and grind some cardamom. </p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-80518916262984321912024-02-01T20:22:00.002+00:002024-02-01T20:22:51.728+00:00Edinburgh and the Joy of Phoebe Anna Traquair<p>It's hard to believe a whole week has passed since a very satisfying, if flying, visit to Edinburgh. It's a city I have a slightly love hate relationship with. It's very beautiful but the center, specifically Princes Street and the Royal Mile are over touristy and dilapidated these days. The best thing about Edinburgh for me used to be Waverly station being very much in the middle of everything which made it great for day trips, but the middle I want to be in has shifted and I'm not sure where it's gone now.</p><p>Fortunately this time around we wanted to go and see the new Scottish galleries at the National Galleries of Scotland (that's a mouthful to say). There are a lot of things I love in that collection and I've missed it whilst the refurb/move has been going on. How best to tell the story of Scottish art is a tricky proposition. Do you separate it out, or keep it in the context of international movements? They do both in Edinburgh so it's worth making sure you have plenty of time to explore at leisure.</p><p>I liked the new galleries, particularly the windows looking down Princes Street gardens with the city views in between them echoing what you could see from the windows. I loved the lighting which was so much better than in Glasgow's Hunterian - in Edinburgh, you can actually see the paintings. The use of the space is excellent as well and it's a pleasant environment to find yourself in. I thought there could have been more context and more information along with the pictures - but when we went to visit some other old favourites we found the context at least. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fgQkDRCIJG_akkJ1T1m8aC1fW_t-kaCHc3_bCWfW7Ebrc7Q5yC8MU6iQ6tNBVImqgvPmytq5F-4VLrlwj-Ui7TsLmlewn7Jp_mJWY__PgKsSaMCy6RizdR173yZqP3zLr60NqcI7vf9VF43t9m7qqlpKSRelon-zk1-8Flvw-zBLeBpIpCvYL_D31in6/s444/615ZWAXsHUL._SX342_SY445_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="342" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fgQkDRCIJG_akkJ1T1m8aC1fW_t-kaCHc3_bCWfW7Ebrc7Q5yC8MU6iQ6tNBVImqgvPmytq5F-4VLrlwj-Ui7TsLmlewn7Jp_mJWY__PgKsSaMCy6RizdR173yZqP3zLr60NqcI7vf9VF43t9m7qqlpKSRelon-zk1-8Flvw-zBLeBpIpCvYL_D31in6/s320/615ZWAXsHUL._SX342_SY445_.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Not all the Scottish art is in the Scottish galleries. There's a good sprinkling of it in the other exhibition halls and it's good to see where it sits in the overall canon of Western art. We also went along to the Open Eye Gallery and the Scottish Gallery to see more contemporary things - lots of Elizabeth Blackadder, and a couple of James Morrisons to add to the lottery win wish list, along with artists I can aspire to collect. I recommend both for their welcoming attitude towards browsers and beautiful interiors.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTIlJPM_qPUnPcybAeAS3z4b4JZ3pSO-I_gbMPaxB6DoYzrqpM752dulM9pQaZzN3ybK6fYO3HfEA0PSKvl4CZ4e_4KuMorEfdsvkRRSfoSne_61A-Srv0vbEY6AJywn1BPaN3mEBksRtWQnV_R_NgU_ch52Q-YoNiN75vl2NaN45I5jWOqIr-EKXb8PcM/s521/81-9yp4TdsL._SY466_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="521" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTIlJPM_qPUnPcybAeAS3z4b4JZ3pSO-I_gbMPaxB6DoYzrqpM752dulM9pQaZzN3ybK6fYO3HfEA0PSKvl4CZ4e_4KuMorEfdsvkRRSfoSne_61A-Srv0vbEY6AJywn1BPaN3mEBksRtWQnV_R_NgU_ch52Q-YoNiN75vl2NaN45I5jWOqIr-EKXb8PcM/s320/81-9yp4TdsL._SY466_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The thing I was most excited to see again in the National was Phoebe Anna Traquair's life-size embroidered panels of the Progress of a Soul. Traquair hasn't had the attention she deserves, these panels are amazing as both art and craft, they're also only a fraction of her range - look her up. It was fabulous to see them in a space they look really comfortable in and there's a lavishly illustrated book about her and her work by Elizabeth Cumming which I've just picked up from work today. I'm also pushing Duncan Macmillan's 'Scotland and the Origins of Modern Art' right up my TBR pile - so altogether an inspiring day. </p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-10663803054448937832024-01-26T20:53:00.001+00:002024-01-26T20:53:24.358+00:00Knitting<p>Finishing all the partly read books isn't my only aim for the new year, I really want to use up some of the excessive amounts of yarn I've collected - first up has been a couple of cones of Jameisons DK that I'd already made jumpers from (Donna Smith's Peerie Leaves pattern which I made twice last year and really like). It's hard to judge exactly how much yardage I'd got left on either cone but I got a version of Mary Jane Muckleston's Lower Leogh in a grey colour I had a little bit more of. I'm using a rag-tag of leftovers and odd balls of DK to make a purple version which will hopefully be a little bit longer in the body and sleeve and narrower in the neck than my first attempt. If the yarn holds out...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-HnUiVvBkSdfOxRKAJwjd2roC9IJ0zwduvIZyHAprqRkEniOaJmQkrk4z3SNCJW6CcKFLgXB_vaqr1JBiM3_e_DmKqtC7yzhhzG3wckIbDHdeO5PoZTAfuIIRhpBYWU4tiv7Q33pOyVmovse0aZUSqX5KpjB2icpFdJIBLs_CcYeRPHFMSRzGdqca7kT9/s4624/IMG20240126105007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3468" data-original-width="4624" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-HnUiVvBkSdfOxRKAJwjd2roC9IJ0zwduvIZyHAprqRkEniOaJmQkrk4z3SNCJW6CcKFLgXB_vaqr1JBiM3_e_DmKqtC7yzhhzG3wckIbDHdeO5PoZTAfuIIRhpBYWU4tiv7Q33pOyVmovse0aZUSqX5KpjB2icpFdJIBLs_CcYeRPHFMSRzGdqca7kT9/s320/IMG20240126105007.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmbywEv7RjY80znnMYyNZNTb4SgdzVRHvBN4otQrzi76lcDqJXL7MDdCfr7KMWtV1clktK9MuXhY0EhFTbWFYrsi3aFsZq_QJWQXjYxQzskFKehKzjaxKGYJWn63gU14YKn8qneXQKcbR_c8SmVgQ_MwCbVI0h2rYljwPUJ7pcd4wbCJbXay23rO-I1AG/s4624/IMG20240126095019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="3468" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmbywEv7RjY80znnMYyNZNTb4SgdzVRHvBN4otQrzi76lcDqJXL7MDdCfr7KMWtV1clktK9MuXhY0EhFTbWFYrsi3aFsZq_QJWQXjYxQzskFKehKzjaxKGYJWn63gU14YKn8qneXQKcbR_c8SmVgQ_MwCbVI0h2rYljwPUJ7pcd4wbCJbXay23rO-I1AG/s320/IMG20240126095019.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Lower Leogh is an outsize, short, and boxy jumper written for spindrift or jumper weight. I'm also outsize so just switching to the stitch count for the smallest size for the body and guessing for the sleeves worked reasonably well. I'll make a few adjustments for this second go, but there's not much to change - mine doesn't have the positive ease of the original, but that doesn't really suit me anyway - a long body with short legs isn't the perfect vehicle for a boxy top. </p><p>At the moment the colours for the Fairisle strip are causing me some concern - for jumper number 1 they worked well enough. Not what I would have chosen exactly, but when we drove through wintery Northumberland last week I could see them reflected in the landscape and I liked it. For jumper number two I'm well outside my comfort zone with a truly startling combination for me of magenta, gold/yellow, and purple. I'm not sure I'll ever love it, but I won't see it much when I'm wearing the jumper and it is achieving my aim of using things up.</p><p>The reason my stash is so out of hand is a desire to avoid exactly this situation and have enough of any colour I like for any eventuality. I don't have a lot of DK though and what I do have is mostly leftovers from Christmas stocking colour schemes. I spend a lot of time worrying about colours for Fairisle and there is at least a sense of freedom in just having to use what I've got. </p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-62136880711445549602024-01-25T20:52:00.001+00:002024-01-25T20:52:36.913+00:00Helle and Death - Oskar Jensen<p>I'm in the Scottish Borders at the moment (lovely) where I had planned on doing a fair bit of dog walking whilst I had a dog at my disposal - that worked to both our satisfaction for all the time I had access to him, and also a lot of reading and knitting. I have done a little knitting and next to no reading. Never mind. </p><p>I'm still on a mission to finish up a whole lot of half-started books from the last year, and at least I've done one of them with Oskar Jensen's fiction debut 'Helle and Death' which I hope will be the start of a series. I asked for a review copy of this through work more or less on a whim and sort of forgot about it. When it turned up I wasn't overly excited, but started it over lunch anyway and was instantly hooked. </p><p>Oskar Jensen is an academic currently based at Newcastle but with what sounds like fingers in lots of pies including writing an infuriatingly good murder mystery whilst working on the scholarly stuff. The immediate appeal of Helle and Death (Helle is Dr Torben Helle, a Danish art historian) is that it takes time to be a little bit funny/tongue in cheek, and for the consistent references to Golden age crime - if you know the books they give a couple of clues. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZIQfxRgkTthzmuF86vZrCSdYTvNXe9153iISdkrRmLPC2iohSjSII8DtX3E-gVWs-B1uDXdQ0tmcJi3o6PCeI5cJr1KlCwdFm2USC7wPoJ_WdtzcYYwCVTMW_WZskUBM-dQf3OgCrEB_afzU_C1hdF6u5iM25iGrGrT7k4hQaPRnWn5sZE5B9ZdqrKdJ/s1000/81hDZPIfzwL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZIQfxRgkTthzmuF86vZrCSdYTvNXe9153iISdkrRmLPC2iohSjSII8DtX3E-gVWs-B1uDXdQ0tmcJi3o6PCeI5cJr1KlCwdFm2USC7wPoJ_WdtzcYYwCVTMW_WZskUBM-dQf3OgCrEB_afzU_C1hdF6u5iM25iGrGrT7k4hQaPRnWn5sZE5B9ZdqrKdJ/s320/81hDZPIfzwL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The set up is a country house party in deepest Northumberland organised by Antony Dodd, the guests are a group who became friends in halls of residence during their first year at Oxford. It's a good ten years since graduation and they've all moved on, but Anthony made a fortune in tech before disappearing and there's an element of curiosity bringing them all back together. </p><p>During dinner on the first night Anthony reveals he's terminally ill, the next morning he's found dead. At first it looks like a suicide, then it looks like it might not be. Unfortunately there's an epic blizzard, nobody is going anywhere, and one of these old friends might be a murderer. So far so good and even if it was just the country house set up with some mildly funny jokes and a lot of references for the Golden age fans it would be more than enough, but the relationships between the characters raises this book to something more.</p><p>Jensen does a splendid job of capturing the dynamics between a group of people who shared 3 extraordinary years of privilege before going their separate ways - the people who still like each other, and those who really don't. The tensions between them as they compare careers, the jealousies that haven't quite gone from undergraduate days, along with the new ones, and a whole lot of other old feelings for one another. The 30 something age bracket is smart too - that point where youth is definitely behind you and you really start to wonder where your life is going. It's enough to make me care about the characters which is relatively unusual and why I'm hoping for more. </p><p><br /></p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-29252850613066844852024-01-18T21:12:00.001+00:002024-01-18T21:12:14.944+00:00Impossible Creatures - Katherine Rundell <p>I've been desperately trying to finish a jumper whilst the weather is so cold, partly to wear partly because it's nice and warm having it on my lap whilst I knit. It's currently soaking prior to going on the board and I'm looking at the pile of read books that have built up.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Sgvg1br913tUeBQJ0UJCdRkdJW7myNRuioFx2GAr9c1Thx59UCw7T5azRR4oqrALLsRkel1clLjOkDDcpjlh2eofcQ41cd4nvAsd4zN37l8fzFbYfwRDXb6vYk279oJ2U0JRDVSCkKtQeHTi5loIOqU5DgvQ-EB61HocUCa9XaecJksTKoBs5vFmqyyp/s1000/915iEWjUWHL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_FMwebp_.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="621" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Sgvg1br913tUeBQJ0UJCdRkdJW7myNRuioFx2GAr9c1Thx59UCw7T5azRR4oqrALLsRkel1clLjOkDDcpjlh2eofcQ41cd4nvAsd4zN37l8fzFbYfwRDXb6vYk279oJ2U0JRDVSCkKtQeHTi5loIOqU5DgvQ-EB61HocUCa9XaecJksTKoBs5vFmqyyp/s320/915iEWjUWHL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_FMwebp_.webp" width="199" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Impossible Creatures is one of a lot of books that I started late in December and took a while to finish - mostly because I kept getting distracted by other books and life. It is the Waterstones book of the year and has picked up a few other titles along with overall glowing reviews. I'm here to add another one to the pile. I really liked this book - not quite as much as my colleague who described it as being akin to rediscovering the excitement of reading for the the first time - but a lot. It is very definitely a children's book (9-12) but the sort that anyone of any age could enjoy if they like a magical adventure, and a really lovely book to read together with children.</p><p>For anyone old enough to remember when Harry Potter first became a thing, I got the same kind of buzz from Impossible Creatures. They're nothing alike beyond both having a collection of mythical creatures and being quest based, which is a lot of books, but there's an alchemy at work in both that pulled me in. I still like the first 3 Harry Potter books a lot, but they're very much of the 1990s, sensibilities have moved on since then. This is an excellent place to start if you want a fantasy adventure for younger readers without the baggage.</p><p>Comparisons to Philip Pullman are fair, though I think Rundell preaches less - I'm in the fence about Pullman. I admire his writing much more than I enjoy it. Overall though, she's a writer who's been around for a while, she has fiction for children, and non fiction on John Donne and endangered wildlife for adults. She's her own woman who doesn't need to be compared to anyone, but read on her own account. </p><p>Impossible Creatures tells of a boy who is pulled into an adventure in an archipelago of islands hidden from the rest of humanity - they are the last home of magical creatures. He meets a girl who can fly as she flees a murderer. Together they make friends, evade enemies, and battle to make things better. Christopher and Mal are perfectly imperfect - easy to like, and easy to believe in. </p><p>I've seen a few children's books hailed as instant classics, some of which I've not much liked, this one feels like the genuine article to me. I hope it's the one that makes Katherine Rundell the household name she deserves to be. </p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-14854811665545796862024-01-12T20:27:00.002+00:002024-01-12T20:27:19.906+00:00My Top 10 Books of 2023<p>Before the year gets any more advanced or I have any new connectivity problems here are my top ten books from the last year. I didn't read as much as I have in previous years, and for various reasons the quality was overall a bit patchy as well - I wanted light and easy books, but they don't often make much of a mark on my memory so I haven't had any whittling down for this list. </p><p>Holly Black's The Stolen Heir is first up because it's from January last year - there's no ranking here. I like Holly Black, she's one of the few Young Adult writers I've found who transcends the classification to write books that I think anyone can enjoy if they enjoy strong, emotionally complex, female characters (and male ones too), folklore, quest-based plots, and a slow burn enemies to lovers romance. I don't doubt there's any number of other writers doing it just as well, but as a middle aged woman there's a limit to how much time I want to spend finding out. Holly Black is good, this book was fun, and I'd recommend her to anyone wanting to start with YA or looking for anything on the above list.</p><p>Dark Rye and Honey Cake by Regula Ysewijn is an instant classic. Festival food from the lowlands - it's a treasure trove of beautiful images, impeccable historical research, and delicious things. There are not enough superlatives to describe this book, there are a lot of reasons to buy it. Honestly a masterpiece and a benchmark for what food writing can be. If there was a ranking this would be my book of the year - it's genuinely special and I need more people to buy it so we can enthusiastically bake things and talk about them together.</p><p>Sally Huband's Sea Bean is a book I fell hard in love with. Dr Huband moved to Shetland with her husband and young child about a decade ago at about the time she developed chronic health issues. This is a deeply personal book - partly at the insistence of her publisher, which isn't always easy to read. It's a brave thing to lay out some of these details for anyone to read. It's also beautifully written, and felt very true to me in its portrayal of island life - it was certainly a version of it I recognise and relate to. There's a lot of pressure on women to be quiet about a lot of our experiences - I'm slowly learning not to be - this book was a reminder that there are things worth sharing, and that when we do we're all stronger for it. </p><p>Legends and Lattes - Travis Baldree. I'm very new to the concept of cosy fantasy, though I suppose you might describe early Terry Pratchett as such. Some people do it better than others, Travis Baldree does it particularly well, this book is a perfect comfort read. It's funny, gentle, and undemanding with real heart to it. I liked the characters, I cared about Viv's coffee shop, I craved a cinnamon bun. It's been big on Tik-Tok and lives up to the hype. It won't be for everyone but for me it was the right book at the right time and an absolute gem.</p><p>Maud Cairns' Strange Journey was an expected delight - I have a lot of respect for the British Library Women Writers series and this one came with excellent recommendations. It's a genre defying book - not quite sci-fi/fantasy, but what else can you call a body swap book? It was very good on female relationships and the class divide with the 2 heroines slowly coming to trust each other. Funny and wise.</p><p>Stone Blind - Natalie Haynes. Haynes has been on my radar for a while, 2023 was the year when I really started reading her. Stone Blind is angry, spikey, funny, and compelling as the Medusa myth is slightly reimagined. Greek retellings are still big and show no sign of diminishing - I have not found anyone doing it better than Haynes for my money. </p><p>Jade Linwood's Charming is another one that sort of fits into cosy fantasy, but with added extra feminist retellings of Fairy tales in the mix. I don't think I expected much of this one, but I ended up getting a book I really enjoyed. I liked that the characters were flawed, the way they built their friendships, and what Linwood does with Prince Charming. In a year that I needed books that made me smile it delivered.</p><p>Roast Figs and Sugar Snow - an updated with added recipes Diana Henry classic. I've liked this book for a very long time, it's now even better with an exceptional new sausage recipe. It also has the most decadent brownies I've ever had the pleasure of eating in it. An absolutely wonderful cold-weather cookbook. </p><p>Slavic Kitchen Alchemy by Zuza Zak is recipes, folk stories, legends, remedies, and kitchen philosophy. It's very good company and certainly deserves more attention than it's had in my bookshop. I really like it and will be spending a lot of time with it over the coming year. I'm especially looking forward to some of the foraging it's encouraging for the autumn. It's more than the sum of its parts which is saying a lot.</p><p>Wild Shetland by Brydon Thomason was an unexpected treat from the Shetland Times. It's a proper coffee table extravaganza of Thomason's Shetland wildlife photography. The images are beautiful, it's also a lovely book to read. A record of the island's wildlife as it is now, and a little on how it's changing. Important as well as beautiful. </p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-40182757450505546172024-01-07T20:30:00.001+00:002024-01-07T20:30:06.204+00:00What a Week<p>New Year got off to a fun start with 5 of our team of 10 testing positive for Covid and feeling ill with it. Covid's no joke so I'm lucky I wasn't one of the 5 - it helps that I'm vaccinated, though it hasn't stopped mum getting it again. Happily this bout is so far milder than the one that landed her in A&E after she vomited blood on the back of a severely upset stomach. She lost almost 2 stone and hasn't yet regained any of that. </p><p>Current guidelines say stay away from people for 5 days, after which even if you're still testing positive you should be sufficiently low risk (but crucially not no risk) in terms of passing it on to other people. In jobs like mine that's considerable pressure to be 'sensible' and come back in. With quite a low uptake for the vaccine even amongst the eligible, and high rates of infection around, this feels like trouble for the future. </p><p>On the upside I've had my first weekend off since Christmas when I had such a bad cold (successive tests assure me not Covid) that it was all a bit of a blur. This has been the most festive I've felt this season - the weather has been seasonally cold, the Christmas lights are still up around town and looked pretty against a clear sky, there was lots of Poirot to watch, I finished a book and made progress on some of the others that I've half read, and the jumper I started last week is coming on well too - just maybe I'll finish it in time to go on holiday (unlikely but I can try). </p><p>I cooked nice food, slept a lot, and although it's been short it's actually felt like a holiday. Appropriately yesterday was the day that the island of Foula celebrates Auld Yule - for this purpose they stick to the Julian calendar. Maybe I should adopt that too - it would be one way of dealing with the rush of retail at Christmas.</p><p>The recipe I cooked was Marian Armitages's version of Bacalao from 'Food Made In Shetland'. I've been reading round this a bit. The key ingredient is salt cod or stock fish, baccala in Italian. There's a simple Florentine version in Russel Norman's Brutto which sounds great, but I went for Marian's Portuguese inspired version, I believe it's made a lot in Spain too. Salt cod is an acquired taste - the smell isn't precisely unpleasant but it's very strong. I like it best in this rich, tomato-based stew full of peppers, onion, garlic, olives, and potato. It's a great winter dish - colourful and comforting. I've been told Morrisons does a good salt cod, and I think I'll be making it a lot more.</p><p>A books of the year list will be up soon. </p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-403112926296942052024-01-01T18:44:00.001+00:002024-01-01T18:44:31.345+00:00Happy New Year<p>We're still both suffering somewhat with the cold - for Doug it's day 3 or 4 of being down with it, but his work is closed so he's able to rest up and it's not hit him too hard. I'm more like day 9 or 10 and it just won't let me go. A good sleep today has probably helped - or at last it's helped me get over the hours of fireworks last night that reached a crescendo around midnight and were like nothing I'd ever heard. </p><p>There will be no New Year, New Me nonsense (we have to do a display at work for this, and I can't honestly think of a worse time of year for it, concentrate on getting cosy instead) but I think I might have a new tradition. I like to make a loaf of bread on New Year's day - I don't always do it, but it's a good way to kick things off. This year I made a soda bread inspired by Sheila Gear's mention of a yule bread in her book 'Foula, Island West of the Sun'. I couldn't find any mainland memories of this, or recorded recipes in old books of Scottish recipes. </p><p>In the end, I contacted the Foula heritage group to see what they could tell me - a soda bread, flavoured with caraway, sometimes with raisins added especially in more recent times, and baked on a griddle. F. M. McNeill has recipes for something similar in The Scots Kitchen (1929). I looked at a lot of recipes, but in the end I adapted the soda bread I usually make - mostly because it makes a manageable quantity. It's taken a couple of attempts to come up with something I really like but I've got there.</p><p>The next thing is to practice my bannock making skills - cooking on a griddle is a skill I haven't yet mastered. I think the trick is in not overheating the griddle - it needs to be warm enough to cook on, but to bake all the way through it has to be cool enough not to burn within a couple of minutes. My bannocks tend to end up overly crisp on the outside and a bit chewy in the middle. </p><p>Cooking in the oven is more successful and for this quantity, I make 2 small loaves, Soda bread freezes well, but doesn't keep much beyond a day otherwise. I like the simplicity of this recipe, it makes a great breakfast still warm from the oven and spread with good butter. The carraway flavour is great, as is the touch of sweetness from sugar and raisins. The carraway also gives a golden kind of colour which makes sense of why people suggested saffron as a flavouring. Saffron isn't impossible, but it's expensive and I'd argue a more challenging flavour. One of the things I like about this version is its simplicity. It's festive but in a very unpretentious kind of way. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfOwajhKFt5_0WsrL0tzk9pOYmI5MRlcIXg0A_6NsoPb9JyIuM-_qb3_db0j917uA0h_TRlJae05kt4pUD3JS2uykVsQZC_9GHVU_9rM0MYjAaWY8go6qa6ZZNwAf44T7oaw0XNrGH5exV4c0dyS5pEXSBHLkzWJvzrT9sf96lfWEPLTz7Lwlq5QWMtor/s4624/IMG20240101184055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="3468" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfOwajhKFt5_0WsrL0tzk9pOYmI5MRlcIXg0A_6NsoPb9JyIuM-_qb3_db0j917uA0h_TRlJae05kt4pUD3JS2uykVsQZC_9GHVU_9rM0MYjAaWY8go6qa6ZZNwAf44T7oaw0XNrGH5exV4c0dyS5pEXSBHLkzWJvzrT9sf96lfWEPLTz7Lwlq5QWMtor/s320/IMG20240101184055.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>400g of plain flour, a level teaspoon of fine salt, a level teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, 2 dessert spoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of carraway seeds, and around 400g of buttermilk or live yogurt and a good handful of currents. Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add most of the yogurt (not easy to find buttermilk around here) and mix quickly until you have a soft dough - when I add all the yogurt at once it's always too much. Shape into a round and score the top. If cooking in an oven preheat to about 200 degrees fan, bake for about 5-10 minutes, and then turn down the temperature. Bake until golden in colour and has a hollow sound when tapped. If you want to cook on a griddle roll until about a centimeter thick cut into rounds or triangles, and bake for around 5 minutes on each side.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-50211656570602191022023-12-30T21:48:00.004+00:002023-12-30T21:48:49.697+00:00Peri-menopause and Fibroids<p>I've dithered around writing about this but as the year comes to an end it's been such a big feature, especially of the last few months, that I think I probably ought to if for no other reason that one day I'll hopefully be able to look back and think about how glad I am it's over.</p><p>There are a lot more books available on menopause and women's health than - well, ever, I suppose. It gets talked about more on television, and advertised more on social media - at least if you're a woman of a certain age, and most of my female contemporaries will make comments about their hot flushes and brain fog. There's a lot of talk about HRT - who it's working for, who's still struggling to get the right balance with it. But really I don't think much has changed. </p><p>My mother, along with a lot of her contemporaries/sisters/the mothers of my teenage friends had a hysterectomy in her early 40s. It seemed to be the go-to option in the 1990s around here (they would all have been seeing the same handful of GPs, and referred to the same hospital) so there's a lack of family experience to call on. Even if that wasn't the case I'd have been away at university. Then home concentrating on jobs, a relationship that seemed serious at the time, and a busy social life when mum hit that age - I wouldn't have been paying any attention. When my grandmother hit that age my mother was living at the other end of the country raising a young family. Generations aren't gatekeeping this stuff, but we're not necessarily listening to each other either.</p><p>Regardless of vaguely progressive policies from employers (we have an App, how great are we!) the reality is still that a lot of women fear for their jobs - juggling teenage children, a suddenly unpredictable body and mind, a potential range of serious health issues that are embarrassing enough that nobody wants to talk about them, and added anxiety about sick leave, making mistakes, and being forced out of the workplace - it's not fun. My work is fairly good - mostly because there are a few middle-aged women around who are sympathetic and supportive. My previous job would have been impossible. </p><p>I don't think the majority of my peri-menopause symptoms have been too bad - the weirdest ones are indigestion, splitting nails, an increased risk of static electric shocks, a need to write a lot more lists to remember what I'm doing, and so far manageable hot and cold flushes. Which is good because my GP hasn't been amazing about it so far. After several appointments with the practice gynecologist who insisted I was too young at 48, and then said any tests would be inconclusive at my age I did end up on an expedited endometriosis pathway. Expedited it still took more than a year to get a hospital appointment. It was not a good year due to extremely heavy periods that closer and longer.</p><p>Eventually there was an appointment with an examination and 4 attempts to take a biopsy sample. They failed and I had to go for another appointment for a hysteroscopy which is a perfectly foul procedure involving cameras, a lot of water, and entirely ineffective pain relief (they suggest you take paracetamol beforehand). It's painful, invasive, and undignified - nobody is much inclined to listen - medical opinion has been that a coil would fix everything but nobody (and my god have they tried) has managed to fit me with one. Despite making it very clear that I would not consent to another attempt the consultant was still offering to try until he had to admit that the position of the lemon-sized fibroid they found would make it impossible. </p><p>He did get a useable biopsy sample, it instigated 7 weeks of heavy bleeding that landed me in A&E, I didn't get a blood transfusion but it was a very close thing. My iron and hemoglobin levels have not yet properly recovered. During all this I got a handful of contradictory letters. An appointment to have the fibroid sliced out - they will only do this under a local anesthetic here, then a letter to say it couldn't be done in one go so it was;t an appropriate treatment (relief). I can't have a hysterectomy because of previous scar tissue and other issues that haven't really been explained, there's a thing where they put miniature nails into the fibroid and hit it with an ultrasound but this often doesn't work depending on how firmly or otherwise the fibroid is attached - they have no idea how it'll go until they actually do the procedure. </p><p>A chemically induced full menopause was an option but apparently, that's brutal until the right mix of HRT can be worked out. In the end, I was prescribed a newish drug that should mimic menopause but also has, I guess, an HRT element to it. I have started taking it today - side effects include initial heavy bleeding which I'm honestly terrified of. To me, that means floods of blood and clots every 10 - 15 minutes that make doing anything almost impossible for the 2 or 3 hours a day it often lasts and leaves me desperately tired and emotional as well as anemic. The interim pills I was prescribed have not been agreeing with me though, I have a follow up appointment in March to see how the first 3 months have been and a work week which should provide reasonable toilet access (this is the major consideration at the moment, and very hard to explain to anyone who hasn't experienced this sort of bleeding). It has to be now.</p><p>All of it makes me angry about the lack of research, lack of options, and lack of understanding for women in my position. The only place where there's much discussion of the new medication is Mumsnet - it's inconclusive but on balance encouraging - it might work, or at least if it doesn't do everything it promises it might do enough. we're half the worlds population, and a significant proportion of us will not sail through menopause. We deserve better treatment and we deserve it now. </p><p><br /></p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-42526800993068631922023-12-21T19:08:00.002+00:002023-12-22T12:27:21.862+00:00Happy Solstice and Basler Brunsli<p>I love deep midwinter and proper dark - I wouldn't mind it being a bit colder but at least it; 's saving me some money on heating, and the solstice seems like a natural time to celebrate - more so this year as my day off has fallen on it. I've been sorting out the last bit of Christmas preparation and that feels right too - this year's business is essentially wound up for me now (personally, not at work sadly).</p><p>I might read the first chapter of The Dark Is Rising tonight and follow it through in real time again, or I might not - I'm not putting any pressure on myself to do anything more than deal with the day job until New Year. </p><p>The biggest job of the day has been bagging up all the Christmas biscuits I've been making over the last week or so ready to be given out to people over the next couple of days - lots of them for work. I was having a quick bedtime look through Anja Dunk's Advent book last night (for the rum and oatmeal truffles that a friend really liked and which I made today but not very well I think, I don't love them) when I saw the recipe for Basler Brunsli/ spiced chocolate hearts, an originally Swiss biscuit that has apparently been adopted with enthusiasm in Germany.</p><p>I can see why. I made them because they're gluten-free, something my repertoire lacks. I'm going to be adopting them with enthusiasm too. They're quick, simple as long as you have a food processor, delicious, and they keep well.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijiNtFRPm59fkBUG_yuXSCTkapxngCNPb2vYKyHR2zH6LC518lFS2fEoXaHcgTVewEXtNMve5CeyZuLsaHDptBxMgOpeLBN1NOEZBtBgFAILx81KJNZiR9v5qGZOy7a97xs54N9mAdqEjbYgWZlBwcASr8AfApcmPlhjFw-jf_BeCLQvOg5Jl3prgWXvwP/s4624/IMG20231221104143.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="3468" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijiNtFRPm59fkBUG_yuXSCTkapxngCNPb2vYKyHR2zH6LC518lFS2fEoXaHcgTVewEXtNMve5CeyZuLsaHDptBxMgOpeLBN1NOEZBtBgFAILx81KJNZiR9v5qGZOy7a97xs54N9mAdqEjbYgWZlBwcASr8AfApcmPlhjFw-jf_BeCLQvOg5Jl3prgWXvwP/s320/IMG20231221104143.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnW_cIv7MEPCgKr-E19UGZV3yAVw-3AQJJPtsPQd8BC40WYQ3ZkaWTq-H8QceRha2d6nGgWel40dGAM5Ct4-D1fx3pjocIuJxsMgdUkOcNUHyc_2p9lLXQg2z0WsRfSo8hBFGafC8FH02QiTeYEXLTeNY8YCTsuP19jOlaQKN5qt6H96-yhNvKb-_rI2rb/s4624/IMG20231221103802.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="3468" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnW_cIv7MEPCgKr-E19UGZV3yAVw-3AQJJPtsPQd8BC40WYQ3ZkaWTq-H8QceRha2d6nGgWel40dGAM5Ct4-D1fx3pjocIuJxsMgdUkOcNUHyc_2p9lLXQg2z0WsRfSo8hBFGafC8FH02QiTeYEXLTeNY8YCTsuP19jOlaQKN5qt6H96-yhNvKb-_rI2rb/s320/IMG20231221103802.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>You need 200g of dark chocolate, 250g of ground almonds, 75g of light brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 tbsp of Kirsch or brandy, 2 egg whites, a pinch of fine sea salt, about 2 tbsp of demerara sugar, and some icing sugar for rolling them out with.</p><p>Blitz the chocolate in the processor until it resembles coarse sand, and everything else apart from the demerara and icing sugars, and mix until the dough comes together. This is a sticky dough but it doesn't need much handling so it could be worse. Divide your dough into 2, generously sprinkle some of the demerara on your work surface and roll the dough to about 1 cm thick. Cut with a smallish heart cutter - Anja's recipe says it makes 50, I got 30 so I think I was using a larger cutter but I'm okay with that, and place on a baking tray about 1cm apart. They don't spread much which is also nice. Carry on with the second half of the dough and then the leftovers. </p><p>Bake for about 15 minutes at 130C fan oven (which is what I have) 150 conventional. They're ready when they feel dry-ish to touch but are still soft. They firm up as they cool. This is a chewy, crunchy, biscuit with a deep chocolate flavour nicely complimented by the cinnamon and fudgy demerara notes. They're not overly pretty and I like them as a potential mince pie alternative if mince pies aren't your thing but you still want to do a bit of baking. Mostly though they're great with my coffee and looking forward I see this as the fate of any plain easter chocolate that comes my way. </p><p><br /></p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-3771879469651953502023-12-16T19:20:00.001+00:002023-12-16T19:20:34.245+00:00Suddenly At His Residence - Christina Brand<p>This is my second nomination for <a href="https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/">Cross Examining Crime's</a> reprint of the year. I wasn't totally convinced by the first Christina Brand I read, but I really liked 'Suddenly at His Residence', maybe because I was ready for her style and characters, and maybe because this was a slightly earlier book with slightly different mannerisms. </p><p>Sir Richard March's grandchildren have taken their various leaves from blitzed London to gather at Swanswater, the family home for the anniversary of their grandmother's birthday. When she was alive Sir Richard was happily carrying on a suburban sort of an affair with Belle, whom he's now married too. She is tasked with maintaining Swanswater as a shrine to Serefita who had been a glamourous, though maybe not overly talented, ballet dancer.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLXVUDXIgXfJptvrcrX1gZtK92yvxdJ8MX5cMCWhBTVlL79ifTKUYdIGwEfTFScxVzlv-v-WCbrdS4dHlCC_Z7PmvB4Gdr7epd9Hq88m8cIafOAnVD2pG7DFMIynAyZ5eQDJ2bPXLk_qMGoS4Sn1fbxhwB7VPZcz7UIl9lim_p91oUHw2eKZUz06yALmRn/s1000/81vZHyZ4AvL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="685" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLXVUDXIgXfJptvrcrX1gZtK92yvxdJ8MX5cMCWhBTVlL79ifTKUYdIGwEfTFScxVzlv-v-WCbrdS4dHlCC_Z7PmvB4Gdr7epd9Hq88m8cIafOAnVD2pG7DFMIynAyZ5eQDJ2bPXLk_qMGoS4Sn1fbxhwB7VPZcz7UIl9lim_p91oUHw2eKZUz06yALmRn/s320/81vZHyZ4AvL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="219" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The grandchildren mostly lost their parents in the First World War so Sir Richard and Belle also stand as parent figures, and for Peta, daughter of the eldest son there's the chance of a sizable inheritance which is making her hopes of a romance with the young family solicitor complicated. There's also Philip, married to Ellen, who's having an affair with his cousin Claire, and Edward, Belle's grandson who has worked himself into the belief that he's got serious Freudian issues to resolve.</p><p>Not then a particularly happy family party that gathers. Their various squabbles and the revelation of the Philip/Claire/Ellen situation to an outraged Sir Richard has him deciding to change his will as a matter of urgency. Unfortunately by the morning, he's dead and the new will is missing. The family are forced to concede that one of them is guilty and there's a nerve-wracking time finding out who, and what their motivation was.</p><p>I liked this so much because almost everybody is unbearable with the possible exceptions, in my opinion, of Ellen, Stephen, and maybe Belle - the outsiders in the March family. They bicker, suspect each other, plot, come together to protect each other, and generally behave as a family does. Except that one of them is a murderer. Their manners and actions are as callous as you might expect from the same generation today (although a relationship with your cousin would be unacceptable) and the ending is appropriate as well as dramatic - if heavy on the symbolism. </p><p>In short it's a book that really resonated - and heavens, would it make a fabulous change to another Agatha Christie adaptation. I will watch the new one, I'll enjoy it, but we don't really need it, whereas here we have a plot and a set of characters that really do lend themselves to the darker interpretations of Christie we keep getting. 'Suddenly at His Residence' has a genuine emotional punch beneath it's flippancy and I loved it. </p><p><br /></p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-86642161672677998442023-12-09T19:04:00.001+00:002023-12-09T19:04:31.307+00:00In A Lonely Place - Dorothy B. Hughes<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">It turns out that it's almost exactly 13 years since I first read 'In A Lonely Place', it's stayed with me ever since, and after this summer's reprint, I've been recommending it to anyone who stands still long enough at work. Kate's reprint of the year awards has been the perfect excuse to revisit. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">Dorothy B. Hughes is a fabulous writer of Noir who deserves the same kind of recognition as Raymond Chandler, but hasn't yet got it. Her books are available, but not in a collectible smart set, or even reliably in paperback. As 'In A Lonely Place' is easily available right now, and also quite short it's a very good place to start though. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_lo49KK3b9vEUV-xFKwq-uVthbxXsOOl3HjnEabNZAX8v_owa8G2bJ7cDVGuIXWltokcaqbNOMmQMUUVvzWoRMiz-twNtyfRuAHYV18x9-d0tS9EoDX0-NyMNd4_proeewDDL94wPsMS3HAqkn1_41QEtoPVm2VpgNb4_5qh_DDYddSENf8lqvEvaDJc1/s466/81b1PZ8mdxL._SY466_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="304" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_lo49KK3b9vEUV-xFKwq-uVthbxXsOOl3HjnEabNZAX8v_owa8G2bJ7cDVGuIXWltokcaqbNOMmQMUUVvzWoRMiz-twNtyfRuAHYV18x9-d0tS9EoDX0-NyMNd4_proeewDDL94wPsMS3HAqkn1_41QEtoPVm2VpgNb4_5qh_DDYddSENf8lqvEvaDJc1/s320/81b1PZ8mdxL._SY466_.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 16.5px; text-align: justify;">It’s not</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 16.5px; text-align: justify;"> without faults; the end is sort of rushed and not entirely convincing but basically it’s a thrilling, chilling, very hard-boiled, and nicely twisting story. It opens in the middle of a sea fog with a man watching a woman thinking about how he might approach her, how she wouldn’t be scared – at first. This is Los Angeles in 1947 and a serial killer is on the loose, every month a girl is raped, strangled, and dumped and he’s clever enough to leave no traces. This is the situation when two old war comrades meet, Dix Steele and Brub Nikolais. They flew together in the air corps – for one man the war was the high point of his life and he’s come out without a job or purpose. The other has put it behind him, is married, and an up-and-coming detective. I can’t say anything else without giving far too much away and hope I haven’t done so already.</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 16.5px; text-align: left;">From the very first page, it seemed clear who the guilty party was going to be, it also seemed equally likely that this was a red herring – which Hughes is a mistress of. She's very capable of wrong-footing me which is something I love in this context. Atmosphere and the ability to create a palpable sense of tension are her other strong points - reading that opening scene as a woman you immediately know how the girl in the book feels walking down a dark street becoming aware of a man's step behind her in the fog. If I ever doubted how his pleasure in her fear is described the internet has since proven over and again that she was spot on. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 16.5px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 16.5px; text-align: left;">It was a slightly different world when I first read this book, I'm not sure I fully appreciated how Hughes captures the misogyny of her anti-hero but it really struck me this time. As a reader I was constantly aware of his mood, his anger, the threat he poses - it's a masterclass.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 16.5px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 16.5px; text-align: left;">This is a dark, tense, entertaining read which provides an excellent antidote to seasonal gaiety. You will not regret giving Hughes a chance, it's a perfect bit of Noir. There's also a film version with Humphrey Bogart which is worth searching out after reading the book. It's different but still good. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 16.5px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 16.5px; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-80702920606158829862023-12-06T20:29:00.000+00:002023-12-06T20:29:03.527+00:00Shetland Wool Adventures Volume 5<p>There will still be time to get a copy of this before Christmas, and I highly recommend it. Mine arrived today - more treats from Shetland which are making me feel as spoilt as I am homesick. </p><p>There's a slight change of format to this Wool Adventures Journal - there's only 4 patterns this time, all of them appealing, but as I mentioned a week or 2 back, the Noness beret is the one that I'm really keen to get started on. There are lots of recipes from 2 excellent cooks - Misa Hay (whose journal it is) and Elizabeth Atia, and some really great articles, plus great book reviews of course. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGi93Wy0A1rJkm-T6cPboN9P4BML1uEXeo-fG0PYiDvP5YFVpJn2NNnvprMTuG6BIQyp6bTSpwK6aKJY9kr7rsQXdYIl-YuG1BmYTuPdwyPqfYeiSF667kVKl7bNrEeQpNxhU8vV5wfob9u7rZ001h38VfUB9fOwg6wRiBZThaYCyMlqXR9Ns9nFigYNa7/s1708/SWAJ5.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1708" data-original-width="1212" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGi93Wy0A1rJkm-T6cPboN9P4BML1uEXeo-fG0PYiDvP5YFVpJn2NNnvprMTuG6BIQyp6bTSpwK6aKJY9kr7rsQXdYIl-YuG1BmYTuPdwyPqfYeiSF667kVKl7bNrEeQpNxhU8vV5wfob9u7rZ001h38VfUB9fOwg6wRiBZThaYCyMlqXR9Ns9nFigYNa7/s320/SWAJ5.webp" width="227" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>One of the featured walks is around my patch of Shetland, and anybody who's stayed at Burrastow House will have the added kick of some familiar views. There's also a piece on Angela Harding who visited Fair Isle and Shetland this summer - she lives in Rutland which is the next county over from Leicestershire and my 50th birthday present is going to be one of the prints inspired by her stay on the westside. </p><p>It's sitting face to the wall at the moment, the framers didn't wrap it and it seemed silly to use lots of my own paper, but I'm very carefully not looking at it until next Wednesday when it's officially mine. The interview with Harding feels well timed - sometimes a thing really does feel like it could have been written specifically with me/you in mind. </p><p>Altogether you get a lot for your money here and support a brilliant local business at the same time. Do check them out <a href="https://shetlandwooladventures.com/shetland-islands-tours-wool-adventures-journal">HERE</a></p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-49328350372968130002023-12-01T20:27:00.002+00:002023-12-01T20:27:58.585+00:00Wild Shetland - Brydon Thomason<p>I thought I'd be taking the weekend off from blogging, but there was something amazing waiting for me when I got home and in turn I can't wait to share it with you. It's also made me feel like December really will change up the litany of bad news that November contained. Fingers crossed anyway.</p><p>The book is a review copy of Wild Shetland from published by the Shetland Times. It's currently reprinting so I'm feeling even luckier to have been sent a copy. Brydon Thomason is a photographer and wildlife guide in Shetland - follow his Facebook page for samples of his work - this collection is fabulous. </p><p>It's a splendid coffee table book for anyone with an interest in nature photography or Shetland, it's also a seasonal guide to both the biggest, best, and most iconic wildlife you might see in the islands along with some of the smaller things you might ordinarily overlook. It also has plenty of elegantly presented information about both subjects and place. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi069AjwoshwdK0lJU3F3UdGk2C12jp22QIg1gChpvEWtSgoDj46CDYuabIZ3yJN7uIhMjawxhfJOYseE0sJsx-SM7JycxDNKOTGJPlRKuZNCzLx_W_OPS92LDkcOD9BKwAYidf0qcEZ7Py2lA4HtHekAGtRZZtu3mApvqZTVhGxGqYfd-yFHWwoRarPSnm/s470/WildShetlandFC_470x.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="470" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi069AjwoshwdK0lJU3F3UdGk2C12jp22QIg1gChpvEWtSgoDj46CDYuabIZ3yJN7uIhMjawxhfJOYseE0sJsx-SM7JycxDNKOTGJPlRKuZNCzLx_W_OPS92LDkcOD9BKwAYidf0qcEZ7Py2lA4HtHekAGtRZZtu3mApvqZTVhGxGqYfd-yFHWwoRarPSnm/s320/WildShetlandFC_470x.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I will always think of Shetland as home, and much as I miss the summers with their long hours of daylight and the few luminous hours of twilight in between, in many ways it's the winters I miss most, both for the rare calm days of grace, the dark, and for storms you can't ignore. Winter might well be my favourite section of this book.</p><p>Anyway - if it sounds like something you might like - and I cannot enthuse enough about some of the images in here - keep an eye on <a href="https://shop.shetlandtimes.co.uk/collections/nature/products/wild-shetland-through-the-seasons?variant=40771718217798">The Shetland Times</a> website for when it's back in stock. You can order through Waterstones too when it's back in stock but they don't do the lovely wrapping that The Shetland Times does when they send things out. </p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-12798439809683374722023-11-30T21:43:00.000+00:002023-11-30T21:43:04.524+00:00Foula, Island West of the Sun and Shetland Wool Adventures<p>It's been quite a month and one that I won't be sorry to see the back of. I'm still distinctly anemic, my dad broke his hand, mum's second cataract operation didn't work very well... the list goes on. But here's to looking forward. I've got my Christmas tree, an advent calendar ready to go, and a treatment plan with the gynecology department at my local hospital, and there's always a slim chance that at least one of my parents will accept they might need to slow down for a little bit and be sensible. </p><p>There's a new Shetland Wool Adventures Journal in the offing in time for Christmas too - I write for this and love it, it's a great journal with patterns, recipes, and all sorts of insights into life and creativity in Shetland. Any volume would make an excellent present for the knitter, cook, or Shetland fan in your life. My Christmas knitting is about done and I'm very much looking forward to planning my next projects - which will mostly be for me. A new jumper is likely, but I've also really got the beret/tam knitting bug and I see something tempting in the preview <a href="https://shetlandwooladventures.com/product/shetland-wool-adventure-journal-volume-5/">HERE</a>. Misa's Cookbook is also brilliant - consider buying that too.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://shetlandwooladventures.com/product/shetland-wool-adventure-journal-volume-5/"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="189" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZzsDbdYT2a4ITTo60xnuTrgmt4rjnSfYe_G1LWla7Z1fykHuwMuR2QA_f5Q55GQCt5rt5crMbiLOUtXUrPJo0rUXSqHVgTrsonWNOQW0NsAQOUtAJWajFbieRUTazcezUCBhEx-HEh6dI8fgZBTXqAcJtISQs9HvD09WOPEv1dZ0VNDvaVAmLHDjIm-dl/s1600/download.jpeg" width="189" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A different sort of Shetland adventure is the Northus reprint of Sheila Gear's Foula, Island West of the Sun - I genuinely think this is a lost classic of nature writing as well as a deeply personal biography of an extraordinary woman. It's come back to mind because in it Sheila writes about preparing a traditional yule bread. I've struggled for a while to find any sort of recipe for this, but I've been speaking to the Foula Heritage group and they've given me a bit more information so I'm going to have a go at making it. It would have been baked on a griddle pan over an open fire which might be a challenge to replicate, but I have some reading to do and things to try - the crucial thing is that I have the flavourings and a few books with references to play with. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Buy <a href="https://www.michaelwalmer.com/titles/northus-shetland-classics">Foula Island West of the Sun</a> here and support a really lovely independent publisher.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilpzT09VqwHcpnfQrAYC4FPjAZpha3Xr0CqhRFVK_g9f6PSNVYE62v0ZFkG4170wDdjGQqIhO4xiM2sJvkhAEay-FE_jtVrYbxYjPjc7ELKur3uq0P4Bq3nWEyT7NjFBSCmuw1gzGE8vaq1AuXzLtxqflpQdKt73XXKUaRXWYvKXT7jB4JBDHKsZ6DtPfz/s320/619N8G3bEQL._AC_UL320_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="211" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilpzT09VqwHcpnfQrAYC4FPjAZpha3Xr0CqhRFVK_g9f6PSNVYE62v0ZFkG4170wDdjGQqIhO4xiM2sJvkhAEay-FE_jtVrYbxYjPjc7ELKur3uq0P4Bq3nWEyT7NjFBSCmuw1gzGE8vaq1AuXzLtxqflpQdKt73XXKUaRXWYvKXT7jB4JBDHKsZ6DtPfz/s1600/619N8G3bEQL._AC_UL320_.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://shetlandwooladventures.com/product/shetland-wool-adventure-journal-volume-5/"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><a href="https://shetlandwooladventures.com/product/shetland-wool-adventure-journal-volume-5/"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-73408262592807804672023-11-28T21:04:00.005+00:002023-11-28T21:04:55.729+00:00Book Tokensprobably because I work in a bookshop nobody ever gives me book tokens, which is a shame because I love them. They're something we sell a lot of at this time of year, but they're also something I find myself recommending a lot to harrassed present givers who almost all have the same light bulb moment, so I'll add them to my gift suggestions here.<div><br /><div>National Book Tokens can be used in any participating shop, but only for books. As far as I'm aware in the UK The Works doesn't take them, but any independent book shop will and it's a great way to support them. The only reason I wouldn't buy them is if they were for youngish children who might really want toys or stationery - which most bookshops also sell because disappointing small children isn't fun for us. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you have a good independent local bookshop, or know that your intended recipient has, that does its own gift vouchers it's a great way to support them and whilst I work for a national chain I strongly believe we all do better when there's more choice and good local competition - or perhaps more accurately, the independent shops around us can do things we can't which means a richer literary scene for everyone if we support them. The local bookshop scene across the English and Scottish borders is fabulous, and a testament to what supportive communities will get. </div><div><br /></div><div>The advantage of buying a voucher for a big chain are that most people will be reasonably close to a branch in Mainland UK and you get a wide range of games, jigsaws and other bits to choose from if you're not entirely sure books are what will be wanted. </div><div><br /></div><div>I like getting tokens because it's something to open, and then there's the anticipation of what I'll buy, followed by my final choice - it's nice to have something that can only be spent on a self-indulgence with no thoughts of saving or using it for a sensible cause (my front door apparently doesn't meet current fire regulations and will need work done to bring it up to code in the new year). </div><div><br /></div><div>I like giving gift tokens because I can direct the spending of whoever is getting it - normally the children of friends who have given me instructions - whilst still providing the excitement of getting a choice. Or because I know I'm passing on the same pleasure I get from them. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-19098666250645528342023-11-27T16:17:00.001+00:002023-11-27T16:17:08.267+00:00The Iliad - Emily Wilson<p>This is a mildly embarrassing confession, but although I've read The Odyssey, I haven't read Emily Wilson's translation yet - despite having had it on my shelf for a while. I was reminded about this last week when someone returned a copy because they didn't like the deckled edge. A quick look on Wikipedia suggests they're not alone and that the misconception that it's a printing error instead of a design choice is a common one. I'm not overly fond of deckled edges either, but I do like it here with it's nod to our historical obsession with the Greek and Roman classics. </p><p>Wilson's Odyssey was, and remains, a hit. The youth are also really into Marcus Aurelias, and locally I'm pushing Ovid's Metamorphoses because I really enjoyed it and it's so relevant to a lot of the very popular mythology retellings around at the moment. It's not really surprising that Wilson's Iliad would fly off the shelves either, and yet I don't know that I ever expected to see young women come in for a £30 hardback on publication day and leave with it and Bea Fitzgerald's 'Girl Goddess Queen' under their arms - but I did. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhznMCL_XmPsvat4kjiIQ0zcrK2cX2G1B6-c8IfQDf8bepDLmhBQbfERp7I5zgLNlacEMTbV3Aqyyc4lkkAOFOv5fB7x7slvB2NLAbMbUiTJhPJjYZ68ThObFggQ5ac6ei_GdKa1dM0mqwnvlOWeTB23ZA6l6-q652olftXFPyHNeVdBx9Xf54qSCC_36Yu/s500/9781324001805.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="321" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhznMCL_XmPsvat4kjiIQ0zcrK2cX2G1B6-c8IfQDf8bepDLmhBQbfERp7I5zgLNlacEMTbV3Aqyyc4lkkAOFOv5fB7x7slvB2NLAbMbUiTJhPJjYZ68ThObFggQ5ac6ei_GdKa1dM0mqwnvlOWeTB23ZA6l6-q652olftXFPyHNeVdBx9Xf54qSCC_36Yu/s320/9781324001805.jpg" width="205" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The Iliad is currently being reprinted so it's not easily available online if you want a physical copy (that big website doesn't have it) but there are plenty around in actual bookshops and this might be on more teen wishlists than you imagine. And just generally on more wishlists. I got over-excited and bought my copy straight away - now I really need to make sure I read it before it comes out in paperback...</p><p>Girl Goddess Queen is a funny and smart take on the Hades and Persephone myth appropriate for teens and above - as an adult reader there were some repetitive bits I thought could have been cut, but that's most YA books for me. I really liked the combination of banter and historical detail on ancient Greek buildings and customs. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQBne69yEY2FS0Skr6-ngWvjxb1ZrXbYNpVGXo6oPNrrs0er4daV6uSbetEq0kmnKeW2egeFlKzZNhrZdGXh4atbT-SVYHcG34C05M0Xvr341zJ56qAzY6pmk2x9dVrMA5RBVR9x6WvUqhF7UgAYBxI27ycomPlDcZQHsgc-qZU0rKDzLKYmhqcW0LOUWY/s293/51EabLzcvJL._SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_ML2_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="191" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQBne69yEY2FS0Skr6-ngWvjxb1ZrXbYNpVGXo6oPNrrs0er4daV6uSbetEq0kmnKeW2egeFlKzZNhrZdGXh4atbT-SVYHcG34C05M0Xvr341zJ56qAzY6pmk2x9dVrMA5RBVR9x6WvUqhF7UgAYBxI27ycomPlDcZQHsgc-qZU0rKDzLKYmhqcW0LOUWY/s1600/51EabLzcvJL._SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_ML2_.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-28361779354104936922023-11-26T23:08:00.002+00:002023-11-26T23:08:31.043+00:00Stir up Sunday <p>I'm finally beginning to feel like all the meds are doing some good and that I might be able to leave not just my sofa, but even my flat for longer than it takes to collect my post - which will be nice. </p><p>I had planned to spend this weekend doing pre-birthday and Christmas things including starting some biscuit baking. None of that has happened and whilst in the greater scheme of things it doesn't really matter it's something I look forward to; a tradition that reclaims a bit of Christmas spirit from the madness of Christmas in retail. </p><p>It's probably why I have such a weakness for books about Christmas - I have the River Cottage one, Nigella Lawson's take on it, Kate Young's Little Library version (a definite favourite) a Gingerbread cookbook bought for £3 in The Works a long time ago that's surprisingly good, Annie Rigg's Gifts From the Kitchen, Anja Dunk's Advent, and a whole lot more with Chrismas chapters. </p><p>I have never hosted a Christmas - although I've helped with a few, and maybe never will for more than 2 of us, and have very mixed feelings about the day itself. There's never enough time to enjoy it properly, it really should still be a 12 day festival season, and it brings up a lot of complicated memories. This year it's the absence of my friend Lorna who discovered she had cancer in January. The last things we did together before we knew she was ill were Christmas shopping and present swapping. I have just finished the coffee she bought me and have almost burnt through the candle she gave me with it. She's very much on my mind as is the family she left behind.</p><p>The mixed emotions Christmas brings as we get older are part of why I've found making my own traditions around the season so important. Puddings were made at the beginning of the month, a little earlier than actual Stir Up Sunday - and it's not too late to make one yet if you want a crack at it. It makes your kitchen smell amazing. </p><p>Not that it matters what the traditions are so much as that we make time to share good things with the people we care about whilst we can. The specifics evolve anyway as life keeps changing and maybe my biggest constant will end up being to buy myself another Christmas-themed book each year and daydream about the perfect celebration whilst reading biscuit recipes. Lizzie Collingham's The Biscuit, The History of a Very British Indulgence is therefore my recommendation of the day. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9y7RiN43Ny4GxTTfo0qT_1HJyyTpNtTkBkEMn5uGB0RVDOL5CFdOuC8ahGyQXW3HkYLOch7LVz1-ZL4RkSvciC9v-31p3XzbeLK3mL2KMIgfh_ddrp9RKkC251rBcTt0gAzxTKt0XxqZvcE3mVLB1-10S2xGCfC7zVjNXNwrSZNPeoblAtPC2TP5UQfvX/s466/81eYcovR+3L._SY466_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="368" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9y7RiN43Ny4GxTTfo0qT_1HJyyTpNtTkBkEMn5uGB0RVDOL5CFdOuC8ahGyQXW3HkYLOch7LVz1-ZL4RkSvciC9v-31p3XzbeLK3mL2KMIgfh_ddrp9RKkC251rBcTt0gAzxTKt0XxqZvcE3mVLB1-10S2xGCfC7zVjNXNwrSZNPeoblAtPC2TP5UQfvX/s320/81eYcovR+3L._SY466_.jpg" width="253" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Desperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.com0