Random Jottings

Random Round up of 2017 and my Book of the Year

On checking my list on the blog it seems I have read around 200 books this year  which is about average for me. I am not saying that any of my fiction reading is of the highest literary quality in terms of Booker or Orange or any other listings, I gave up on those yonks ago, but reflect my enjoyment of just sitting down with a damn fun book and having a good time. I do not go in for analytical criticism any more, not sure that I ever did really, but now read for pure pleasure and not because I feel I should read the latest authors lauded by the glitterati and posh papers. Having just written this I am wondering whether posh papers is an oxymoron...

Well on we go and it is no surprise to me or no doubt to you dear Randomites, that I have read a HUGE amount of crime this year. I love crime fiction. I remember reading Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie (called something much less politically correct then) when I was about eleven and being totally stunned by it. This started me off on my crime binge which has been life long and my love of the so called Golden Age of Crime remains undimmed to this day.

This has been aided by the wonderful and marvellous publishing arm of the British Library with their Classic Crime series. I have discovered writers I did not know, or who were difficult to get hold of, and some who I think were deservedly forgotten but it is all grist to the mill and am delighted that this series is now such a thumping success. Just before Christmas they issued their 50th title in this series, Portrait of a Murderer in hardback as a celebration and it goes on my list of books I have enjoyed this year.

Mystery in the Channel by Freeman Wills Croft sent me off to read more by this author.  I have a very kind friend who has a whole shelf of books by FWC and she packed them up in a carrier bag and has loaned them to me long term so I can work my way through them. If you read this Thank You!

I did my usual re-read of Gaudy Night by DL Sayers and loved it all over again as I always do. I have also being re-reading Agatha Christie who I admire enormously and I dismiss as purblind the critics saying she only creates cardboard characters etc. Utter nonsense. She can sum up a person in one pithy sentence. She remains unsurpassed in my opinion. 

I have read the latest books by Tess Gerritsen, Linda Castillo and LJ Ross whose DCI Ryan books are now eagerly awaited by her legions of fans. They have a running story line so are best read in order. Michael Connelly remains master of his trade and the series of Bosch on Amazon Prime is just about right in every aspect.  I have also read David Baldacci in 2017 who I discovered by a trawl in a local charity shop. I then binge read them and wished I hadn't. As with James Patterson if you read too many of them they pall. Incredibly violent some of them and married to an overwhelming sickly sentimentality which I find leaves me feeling nauseous. Not sure I will bother with any more by these writers though, in all fairness, I do believe Baldacci actually writes his books. Patterson does not.   Lee Childs with his Jack Reacher books is rapidly approaching the Baldacci/Patterson category. Not quite there yet but teetering. Same story same boring hero in each one and, as we know, this hero who is 6' 5' in his stockinged feet and burly with it, is played by Tom Cruise in the movie franchise. Words fail...

I have rediscovered and re-read the entire oeuvre by Evelyn Anthony a writer I used to love back in the day, now all available again as e books for the Kindle. Great stuff. Her series featuring Davina Graham, head of MI5, was written long before we had M in the Bond films and Stella Rimington spy books.

I have to mention before I leave the crime genre, Jane Thynne, whose books set in Berlin during the WW2 and featuring Clara Vine are brilliant. Atmospheric and fascinating with a strong background of research so that the portraits of Goering, Eva Braun et al are spot on, I ended the year with making sure I got hold of copies of all her titles which I had foolishly passed on after reviewing them. This is a series to hang onto and they are now all on my shelves and I have every intention of reading them from the start once more. Hopefully, there will be more to come. The link above sends you to her latest title Solitaire and in that review I also mention Anne Zouroudi whose books featuring the Fat Man and set in Greece are an abiding delight.

And at the end of the year I discovered Val Mcdermid. Why has it taken me so long? Answer came there none. I had seen her on the library shelves over the years but just never tried one. Well in October I did and that was that. Total and utter binge read. Brilliant writing, superb plots, sometimes they make you flinch and all immersive so that once you start, to hell with washing, ironing, cooking or anything else that you may need to do, you just read until you are done. Off on a six week cruise next week (more of this later) and am loading up my Kindle as I speak...

My final book which I have to mention in the fiction genre, and not a crime this time is Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley which had me totally entranced over a weekend. I had loved her first title the Watchmaker of Filigree Street a couple of years ago and this second title was equally brilliant. And the covers are just gorgeous.

And now non-fiction. Yes I have read some and they have all been excellent.

First up, Another gem from the British Library, not crime this time, but A History of Children's Books in 100 books. Beautifully illustrated and written and sheer enchantment and nostalgia all the way.

The Greedy Queen by Annie Green which I have almost finished and not yet reviewed, all about the scale of the cooking and catering at the various palaces and residences resided in by Queen Victoria. I think the title is a tad unkind but I get very defensive about QV as I am so fond of her and will spring to her defence at any nasty comments. She was not greedy, she just ate the way the Victorian upper classes did - a lot. But an entertaining and interesting read.

The Story of Crime in 100 books by Martin Edwards - Martin edits the above mentioned Classic Crime series for the British Library. I have not yet reviewed this book because I am still reading it - I dip in and out and pick up a chapter or two now and then and am appreciating it very much. A marvellous book and one all lovers of crime should have on their shelves.

Christopher Fowler - the Book of Forgotten Authors. Loved it. Full of interesting biographies and anecdotes of writers who I remember back in my teenage years when I used to shelve them all in Highgate Library so not forgotten by me, but admittedly by many. I was slightly taken aback to see that he lists E M Delafield but then reallsed that apart from the Diary of a Provincial Lady, her other works have fallen into neglect so had to admit that perhaps he was right. I did take issue with the inclusion of Margery Allingham which I thought was plain daft and started gibbering like an idiot when he included Georgette Heyer.  Yes. GEORGETTE HEYER! I ask you.

Mem: as a link to Fowler I admired his style of writing very much and was told by a friend that he had written a series of detective novels
featuring Bryant & May. Just read one. Loved it. Loads to come. So that will kick start me in 2018.

Anne Sebba - Les Parisienes. How the Woman of France lived and loved in the 1940's. I do like this author. Have read some of her other titles and this is the kind of history I like - not political as such, but social and showing how people coped in difficult
circumstances.

OK this is getting to be a long post but I am ending up with a book I read back in January 2017 and which is without doubt, and no contestants at all in the running, my Book of the Year. Queen Victoria by Julia  Baird. As I said in my review, I had wondered if another book on Her Majesty was needed and would there be anything in this I did not already know. Well, I was wrong. It is a simply superb book. I love Queen Victoria, always have done and think she is a feisty, indomitable woman and this book gives the most rounded portrayal of her ever. I doubt it will be surpassed.

When I started this post I did think that perhaps I had not read as widely this year as in others and was wondering if I could find gems to write about. Looks like I was well and truly wrong.

Wonder how I will get on in 2018. You will be the first to know.

Ma'am Darling:99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret - Craig Brown

I am wondering why I read this book. I cannot really think of a reason why. But I did.

Princess Margaret was, by all accounts, a difficult person, haughty and hard to please and incredibly Royal and demanding. This seems to be the general consensus and it is hard to find the real Princess reading between the lines of all the press she has received. Without exception it has been hostile and vicious.  When she became older she said 'the press left her alone now and went after somebody else' but even in her declining years and suffering from ill health the criticism and snide comments persisted. After her death all the nasty little bits about here were resurrected again.

Princess Margaret was the Diana of her day - glamorous,sophisticated, witty and the leader of what became known as the 'Margaret Set'. Every move scrutinised and commented on she was the polar opposite of her sister, the Queen, and suffered accordingly. I remember well
the Townsend affair which was emblazoned across the papers day after day.  In this book we learn that she developed a crush on the Group Captain when she was a teenager and it seems he did nothing to squash it despite being a married man of 32 with two children.  In the papers today there have been rumours resurfacing that their affair may have started when she was just 17, a vulnerable teenager. It is also worth mentioning that Townsend's second wife was years younger than him and he first met her when she was just 15 years old. Bear that in mind when judging her...

I remember, difficult thought it is to believe now, that we had a day off school so we could watch the wedding of Princess Margaret to Anthony Armstrong-Jones.She  looked, as a bride should look, beautiful and radiant but I do know and this is not in hindsight, that I thought he was a bit of a nasty piece of work and looked a right drip in his trendy clothes and hair style. Trying a bit too hard to be cool. The marriage was pretty awful as we now know and, once again, PM got all the blame because she was having an affair and Tony A-J took the high moral ground even though he was having a long term affair as well (he later married the lady, had a child, they divorced and he then had a long term mistress who killed herself when he dumped her) and generally behaved like the shit I always thought he was.

It is intriguing to read about these events now when I remember them so well as a child and teenager.  I have recently watched the series The Crown and because I do recall many of the happenings portrayed I am able to say that I think the writers and producers have got it more or less right. The portrayal of Margaret is not an easy one but enables the viewer to feel some sympathy for her. I was also pleased to see that the character of Anthony Armstrong-Jones in the second series is as I have always viewed him.

Every single anecdote in this biography shows Princess Margaret in a bad light. Her so called friends of the glitterati of the day are all, without exception, bitchy and nasty with a story to tell about her rudeness and hauteur. Nice to her face and vicious behind her back they are all pretty repulsive. I have a feeling that she knew exactly what they were like, knew they were not real friends and decided to give them what they wanted. 'F**k it' I would have said ' they want me to be snotty and nasty, well I will be'.

One thing to remember, she had two children who seem to be eminently sensible and sane and both with long lasting and happy marriages (hope I am not putting the kibosh on this by saying so) and who seem to have escaped the disfunction at the heart of the Windsors.   Many years ago I used to work in Camden libraries and got to know a lady there who was a regular visitor. I got chatting to her one day over a coffee and she told me she was a lady in waiting to the Queen. She brought in a huge envelope one day and gave it to me saying do not show them to anybody and let me have them back. I was intrigued as you can imagine and was thrilled to see loads of photographs of the Royal Family on board the Royal Yacht and all letting their hair down and having fun. I gave them back to her the next day and never mentioned them to anybody. She would probably have lost her job.  One thing she said to me was that Prince Charles was polite and charming but, on the whole, the Queen's children were pretty obnoxious. She then told me that Princess Margaret's two were delightful, beautifully mannered and well behaved. So make of that what you will...

So back to this book and to the writer. I did not notice until I had finished the book that Stephen Fry has written that 'Craig Brown is the wittiest writer in Britain today' and AN Wilson thinks it is 'howlingly funny'.  Wilson is acerbic and too pleased with himself and Stephen Fry is, in my opinion, insufferable and pompous.  Perhaps if I had spotted these comments earlier I may not have bothered reading this title.

I could say, I suppose, that this book is witty, amusing, perceptive, satirical and full of pointed observations. I could but I feel those descriptions would give Ma'am Darling a status it does not deserve. It is a nasty self satisfied little book. There is one word to describe it:

Unkind.

Merry Christmas everyone

May  I wish all my lovely readers on Random a wonderful Christmas wherever you are

Elaine

xx

Reading catch up - behind as per

Last ten days I have been thundering up and down the A12/M11/North Circular looking after grandchildren and attending carol concerts and Christmas at Kew. All wonderful but boy by the start of this week I ached all over and could barely move so I decided to have a Duvet Day, well afternoon anyway. It was dank and grey and horrid, so I put a hot water bottle in my bed, got into my nightie and dressing gown (it was 3pm) made a cup of tea and repaired to my bed with ipad, books and just chilled out. Oh it was lovely. I was cosy and warm and I also had the telephone by my bed so when a friend rang I reached for it with a languid hand and had a good old natter all the while feeling wonderful.

Next day I was fine. And since then I have done three loads of washing (it is ironing night tonight), wrapped up all my Christmas presents, also wrapping up those coming to me from daughter in Oz to take to Kew on Christmas Day ("oh do you mind doing this for me Mum? Ta"), been to the dentist, marzipanned the cake (to be iced later in the week) and got all the ingredients for two pates I am making (again later in the week). I have also labelled and marked up a box load of china and bits and pieces that are going into a cabinet at an antiques centre (turning 70 concentrates the mind wonderfully when you then look at the bulging cupboards)  and my To Do List is diminishing satisfactorily.

And in between I have tried to do the odd bit of reading, not a lot mind you but some. Though having said that I admit to having read a huge pile of Val Macdermid books over the last week or two. There is a series featuring DCI Carol Jordan and psychological profiler Tony Kind and I have motored through them all. I read the latest one last week and now find myself, as usual, adrift until the next one is written. So I have now turned to the other series she has written, hooray for her prolificness (is that a word - no matter) and am exercising restraint and loading up my Kindle for my travels in the New Year. More anon of this.

They are all, without exception, beautifully written with a taught narrative and very exciting indeed. Some of the gory details I could do without but are not as revolting as those by Patricia Cornwall, whose obsession with minutiae of oil on hair and grease under fingernails
and in arm pits made me nauseous after a while and I had to give up on them.

I do love it when I discover an author whose books I like and then find that there are about thirty to catch up on. I sometimes wish I was not such a quick reader though and did not get through them so fast.

About a year ago I read Deep Water by Christine Poulson, reviewed here, and which I enjoyed much. Now I have read Cold, Cold Heart which follows on from that title. It can be read on its own merits, but I think it would be better if the reader had knowledge of the previous title as there are characters common to both.

Following on from the above title, we follow scientist Kate Flanagan whose career has foundered. She is offered a post on a remote Antarctic research base and decides it is perfect, allowing her to get away, work, and hope that memories of her reputation as a trouble maker will fade.    Another character who we met in Deep Water, Daniel Marchmont, a lawyer is undertaking due diligence on a breakthrough cancer cure. The scientist responsible for this has vanished, all knowledgeable crime readers will know that a body will turn up in due course, and this links to the Antarctic station. It is not long before nasty little tricks are being played on all the crew who are there, and then one of them goes out into the night and vanished....

This is an Agatha Christie situation in sub zero temperatures.  Instead of a weekend party with house guests surrounded by snow and cut off from the world, we have this ice station and it is clear that the murderer is a colleague or friend. But who?

A good tight thriller with an eerie feel to it and the feeling of total isolation and the dark and the cold gave me a shiver or two...

I read the latest David Baldacci which is pulp fiction and nothing else. I blitz read most of these earlier in the year and some are good, some are pretty naff. This was one of the naff ones.

And a complete contrast, My Husband and I by Ingrid Seward a story of the marriage between Her Maj and The Duke of Edinburgh. Ingrid Seward is the editor of Royalty magazine and knows her stuff and it is a thoroughly good read. It is not a hagiography and she does not gush and that makes such a difference as earlier royal biogs have sometimes been obsequious to say the least. I liked it and I am enormously fond of Her Maj and the Duke who I think are amazing for their age.  And as I have just finished watching Series Two of The Crown this made very good background reading.

I have also in the last week binged on Designated Survivor Series 2 so I am amazed that I have managed to read anything at all. OK, it is not exactly Booker stuff, but hey who cares? they are books.

Back again soon with news of My Big Trip in the New Year and arrangements I am making to ensure that I am never without reading matter.

Random on Customer Service - rant alert

Customer service in the UK seems to be a non event. I do wonder sometimes if companies give a damn about us and could not care less if we just went away and did not bother them. In the last ten days I have had the following experiences:

BT - yes wonderful BT who won the Wooden Spoon award for the worst customer service in the Money Mail three years running They do not seem to be in a hurry to shed this title.

The Ashes is on BT Sport not Sky so very cross at this so decided to splurge and get BT Sports. So did it online. Then realised after checking the dates and the times that I would hardly be able to watch it as it is mainly in the middle of the night and over the next few weeks will be away a lot. So cancelled. I was immediately hit with a bill of £191. I telephoned and got through to somebody who just kept
repeating 'it's the contract you see' over and over again. I then asked to be transferred to a manager who was equally gormless. I went online and found that if you enter into a contract online you have a fourteen day cooling off period. So back I went and this time spoke to a lady who said No Worries you are well within the cooling off period but I will transfer you to the relevant department. So I ended up with the Gormless One again. Decided to email, spent ten minutes drilling down through the website until I found the customer services address, boy do they make it hard to contact them, and fired off an email quoting the legislation and pointing out that some of their staff were aware of this and some weren't. Next day to my utter astonishment received a phone call from a Customer Relation Supervisor apologising, telling me that I was quite right (well I knew that) and I would not be charged. End of story?

No, A week after this conversation in which I threatened them with awful things if they went near my bank account I discovered they had deducted the full amount by the direct debit I had originally set up. I then get emails telling me they are going to refund me. No sign of the money yet

Fired off an absolute stinker. I await further developments.

Legal & General - Home insurance. In the New Year I am away for three months and, on checking my contents insurance, found that I was only covered for absence of thirty days. So I call.

After a fifteen minute wait I spoke to a Person. Told her my problem.

She: Oh we can't deal with that

Me:Why not?

She: Well we just don't. We only cover 60 days.

Me: OK well can I take out extra cover?

She: oh no you can't do that. You will have to go elsewhere

Me: What you mean another company?

She: yes cos we can't do it. Oh and if you go to another company you will have to cancel with us because you are not allowed to have two insurances running at the same time

Me: so let me get this straight. You cannot give me cover, I have to go and find it from somewhere else and then come back to you and cancel my insurance cover with you

She: yes that is right

Me: do you have a direct number you can give me to call?

She: oh no we don't do that you will just call the main number

Me: but it took me fifteen minutes to get through

She: well I can't help that

I put the phone down.

So I get cover and once more go through a website to find a contact email and send off a stinker. I receive a generic reply telling me they are 'sorry I was disappointed with their service and a refund is on the way'.

Post Office - Colchester.  Had a large parcel to go to Surrey, a parcel to go to Australia, a recorded delivery with travel documentation to the cruise line I am using and I needed some stamps. So quite a lot to do. I use a local sub post office as often as I can after being told Use it or Lose it. Lady behind counter took the big parcel, dealt with it, then turned to the Oz one. Told me it was going to cost a lot as it was over 2 kilos. OK I said. She then said you have to fill in this form so I did. That is no good she said if you put Christmas Presents on it all they will do is open it. So I scribbled a few items and gave it back. Is your sender address on the parcel? Yes it is. Where? On the bottom. Oh well I can't see it please make it clearer so I rewrote it. She then stamped it, stuck it and signed and grumbled and put all the relevant stickers on it and threw it into the sack. I then presented my recorded delivery envelope. What's in it? Why do I have to tell you I ask. You just have to it is the rules. So gritting my teeth I told her travel documentation. So we dealt with that. Then I said I wanted some stamps. At this stage she let out a sigh, a groan and did an eye roll at which point I totally lost my temper and told her precisely what I thought of her and I was terribly sorry to be such an irritating customer wanting to post things and buy stamps and got very sarky. I wanted a book of six second class stamps. They only do twelve she told me triumphantly. OK then give me twelve I bellowed at her.   So she shoved them under the counter and added everything up that I owed.  Then my card would not go through for some reason.  More sighs and shrugs of shoulder. I put the card through again and this time it worked. Before I left I turned round to the queue behind me and apologised for keeping them waiting. Cries of no worries darling and smiles all round. So I then took my receipt and told this wretched woman that she needed to get her act together.  Stomped off.

Home Base, Colchester.   I need to get some paint as I am having decorating done while I am away. Find one tin ok, second one was one mixed by the Dulux mixer. So I ring the bell saying Ring here for Service. After three attempts and no response I trek down to the other end of the huge shop and speak to somebody at the counter who gets on the microphone and asks 'Gary' to go to Dulux counter. So I trek back and wait and wait and wait. Then I go back to the counter and Gary is called again. So once more I sit and wait and wait and wait and then see somebody in a yellow jacket with Home Base on it walking towards me. I wave at him. Oh just a minute he says and veers off to the right. He does not come back. I am boiling by this time, grab any old tin of paint from the shelf (I am now going to have a Raspberry Ripple bathroom it seems) and stomp back up to the counter and there I see Gary lurking in the background and looking shifty. Let rip. Oh I did not see you was the reply. I pointed out that I was a large blonde lady 5'9' in her flat feet and wearing a shocking pink coat so I was pretty hard to miss. Grabbed the paint and thundered out after telling them that next time I would go to B&Q.

I mean, just what did they think they were doing?

On the plus side, the company I used for my insurance were incredibly helpful and nice; both my credit card companies who I rang to inform them of my travels so they would not block my cards, were lovely and chatted to me about my cruise and wished me a great time.  The Amazon drivers who have delivered in the cold and the snow are all great and cheerful, floor tiles I had delivered yesterday arrived with a cheery chappie and my postman is always smiling.  It can be done

And in case you think I am a bolshy cow, I wish to make it quite clear, that after years of dealing with the public myself, I fully understand how irritating and difficult people can be so I always, always make an effort to make eye contact, smile, be polite and patient with whoever is behind the counter. Nearly all the time the response is great and no worries but last week I just seemed to get one miserable git after another who was totally disinterested and unhelpful.

Well I hope they all have a lovely Christmas ....

Christmas Days - Jeanette Winterson - a new tradition at Random Towers

Last year I was sent this absolutely lovely book. I did not know what to expect as I have read very little of this author so when this title, Christmas Days 12 stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days, dropped through my letterbox I was not sure what to expect. Each year I read A Christmas Carol, it has become a personal tradition and the joy I feel when we get to the end and Tiny Time says "God Bless us every one" never fails to bring a tear to my eye.  And the other night I took this book down from the shelf and read it again and I have a feeling that I shall be doing so every year for some time.  

What I got when I read it was total and utter beguilement and enjoyment. It is a delightful mixture of stories, recipes and chat about friends at Christmas time. There is a lot of background on her childhood, which I had read about, and which sounded unremittingly awful though one senses from certain remarks in this book that she reached acceptance and forgiveness with her parents.

I can do no better than quote from the blurb inside the book: "Everybody loves a Christmas story...read these stories by the fire, in the snow, traveling home for the holidays, give them to friends, wrap them up for someone you love, read them aloud, read them alone, read them together. Enjoy the season of peace and goodwill, mystery and a little bit of magic"

Well, I read them alone, in the warm with a candle or two burning. I had put my Christmas cake in the oven, was feeling comfortable and settled and picked up this book. The juxtaposition of story, recipes and reality is what makes this book so fascinating. A delightful story about a modern twist on a Christmas Carol, when a couple whose relationship may be in trouble, find a child alone in the snow who is the Spirit of Christmas and through her, rediscover their love for each other, is then followed by a chat about the author's great friend, the crime writer Ruth Rendell who she used to spend Christmas with and who was a genius at pickling red cabbage. A page about how they spent their day is followed by the recipe.

We then have a ghost story or two and interspersed recipes for New York Custard, Mulled wine, Turkey Biryani, a creepy story The Mistletoe Bride with a wicked twist at the end, O'Brien's First Christmas about an Irish girl alone in the city at Christmas time and how a wish from the Christmas fairy transforms her mundane life and her job working in the pet department of a large store; a story about a wicked woman running an orphanage which sounds like something out of Oliver Twist and how the table are turned on her by a horde of silver frogs, yes that is right, frogs..

And at the end a classic Christmas story The Lion, the Unicorn and Me which is also available in a separate format I have to admit that I had a lump in my throat at the end of this particular part of the book.

"So at Christmas I think about the Christmas story and all the Christmas stories since. As a writer I know that we get along badly without space in our lives for imagination and reflection.....so light a candle to miracles, however unlikely and pray that you recognise yours...and light a candle to love"

A gorgeous heart warming book.   Please go out and order it now and give as many copies as you can to friends and loved ones. They will thank you for it.

I am a bit of a misery when it comes to Christmas and find myself getting fed up and rather resentful of all the fuss but reading this today has made me feel, yes, happy.

And what more could you ask for from a book?

Oh and there is a recipe for her dad's Christmas trifle with its jelly and stale cake and custard and great blobs of cream on top which is SO like my mother's that I felt quite a pang of nostalgia!

Do read

Strictly Come Dancing - Week whatever it is

Thought we had seen the back of a theme week but no, tonight was Musicals Week so I wondered what horrors would await. Well the opening number was from Oliver and lots of barrer boys poncing around with the fingers in the buttonholes, cloth caps and dirty faces. All a bit yuk and overly Cockney and oom pa pa

Cannot remember order of dances but here we go.

Gemma and Aljiez - hair up in a chignon a la Barbra Streisand in Hello Dolly and yes she was dancing from Hello Dolly. Good spot there Elaine. Quickstep. Bit hefty but I like Gemma she is a great girl and the other night on It Takes Two she said I know I am not light on my feet but I am eleven stone. YAY I cheered like mad. Not sure she will get through though

Mollie and AJ - the Toothsome Two with the Dashing Gnashers (try saying that quickly) doing a Rumba aka the Dance of Death to the sloppy number from Grease, devoted to you or something. It was pretty dire but the judges adore Mollie, well Shirl and Bruno do anyway, and awarded her nines which was beyond stupid.

Davood and Nadia did an Argentine Tango to Phantom of the Opera. He was lowered down to the dance floor hanging from a chandelier. I do wish they would not do this, throws the dancer for the first bit of the number and I do not think Davood felt secure after that. Nadia did a lot of waving her legs around and we had a good look at her bikini wax. Not a lot of dance steps, just a lot of Nadia and I felt it was not an Argentine tango at all. Judges did not like it.

Debbie and Giovanni - American Smooth to Memories (a tad too much Lloyd Webber tonight for my taste) and I LOVED it. I have enjoyed watching this partnership from week one and vote for her every week. Would love her to win. I adore Giovanni and the way he treats Debbie is wonderful.

Alexandra and Gorka did a Charleston to supercalifragilisticexpialidotius from Mary Poppins and it was all wrong. Not the dancing, that was excellent, but the music just did not lend itself to a Charleston.

Another example of the wrong music was Joe and Katya doing a Samba, yes a Samba, to Money Money Money from Cabaret. Again, totally weird but a fantastic routine and Katya went into full screaming mode. Wish she would tone it down a bit.

The judges marking tonight was seriously bonkers. Well, not Craig or Darcy but Shirl and Bruno were lunatic and hurling Nines and Tens around like Smarties. Come back Donny Osmond all is forgiven.  How Mollie and AJ got two Nines I do not know. If Mollie ends up in the Dance Off they will get through and it won't be from lack of trying from Shirl. Odd how some dancers are taken agin and some loved no matter how crap they are.

Dress watch - Claudia wearing either trousers or a dress that had been attacked with shears. Could not work out what it was. Tess in a lovely blue satin number, a bit Quality Street and a string type neckline.  Looked more golden than usual - obviously using a Golden Glow spray tan this week. Shirley in a weird dress with a net. Darcy elegant as always.

The songs featured played safe from predictable musicals. Was hoping for something from Rodgers & Hammerstein or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers or a bit of Sondheim but no we ended up with Bloody Lloyd Webber as per. 

Tess gets more irritating each week. If that were possible.

I gather next week the remaining contestants will do two dances. Should be interesting. Hope Debbie can make it, she is beginning to look rather tired.

 

More reading and new stuff at Random Towers

Christmas time, so much to do, so many books to read. So little time.

An absolutely gorgeous sumptuous book which would make a great pressie for anybody interested in the history of fashion comes from, yes it is that place again, the British Library.  Fashion Illustration in Britain, Society and the Seasons by Amber Jane Butchart ticks
all the boxes and, as well as being a delight to the eye, is a fascinating read and has the kind of illustrations on glossy expensive paper that makes you want to stroke it. Here is a sample of some of what is within courtesy of my photo app on the ipad. I could make a cartoon of these pics as well should I so desire...

Two lovely children's books which I have earmarked for my eldest granddaughter who, I am delighted to say, is the chip off the proverbial and loves reading. Both are from Alma Press who I must thank for sending me delights all the time.  A new edition of Heidi with great illustrations and I sat down last week and read this one afternoon and wallowed in nostalgia. I have two old editions on my shelves, different illustrators and that is why I keep them, though one of them continues further into Heidi's life after her return to her grandfather and the Alps.What is special about the Alma Press books is that there are extras at the back of the book for young readers, A short biography of Johanna Spyri, a breakdown of all the characters in the story, another section on other orphans (Anne of Green Gables, the Secret Garden etc) a glossary of all the terms used, and then a test to see if you have read and understood the
story. Perfect,

Then another story about which I know little, the House in the Tree by Bianca Pitzorno who, it seems is one of Italy's foremost living children's authors. "All children dream of having a secret house where they can live on their own...." What a beguiling tagline. Illustrated by the perennially wonderful Quintin Blake this is also going to Florence as a pre-Christmas present. (Amazon seems to have them only in Italian so I am linking you to the Alma website)

Foreign Bodies - edited by Martin Edwards. Yes the British Library strikes again with another of its Crime Classic Series. This time a collection of short stories culled from abroad, many of which have never reached the shores of the UK or been translated. Well, now they have and a perfect stocking filler. The first one in the collection, The Swedish Match, by Chekhov, no less, is unexpected.

Somebody at the Door - Raymond Postgate. Yes another BritLib one. II read this recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is the winter of
1942, it is cold and dark in the wartime blackout. One evening Councillor Grayling steps off the 6.12 from Euston carrying £120 in cash, and on his way home through the snow is taken ill, collapsing on his doorstep. he dies. The cash is missing. The victim is not a nice man and he has shared a railway carriage with several people who would not shed a tear if he died. But who did it?   Each suspect has a back story and we are given each in turn and see if you can spot the murderer. I did not I readily admit.  Another perfect stocking filler.

I had a friend staying with me for a few days and we are both avid charity and second hand book shop crawlers who never come away empty handed. We both came up with a goodly haul in the last few days (I always drive her home as her suitcase is inevitably heavier than when she arrived...).  In a charity shop in lovely sea side Frinton, I came across a pristine, brand new copy of The Mistletoe Murder and other stories by PD James.£3. A snip.

And oh the stories oh the stories. Ones I had never read before and they are wonderful. I always loved the way PD James wrote, such a clean writing style, nothing wasted and so superbly described. She could summon up a picture in a few words. These stories, and I wish there were more of them, brought a beam of sheer pleasure to my face. Spot on, intriguing and a wicked twist in the final sentence. And two of them featured Dalgliesh. I hate to say another stocking filler because that sounds as if I think it is the equal of a tangerine or some chocolate coins, but oh anybody who loves crime would be thrilled to find this there on Christmas morning. A total gem.

A week or so ago I borrowed a book by Val Macdermid from the library. MISTAKE. I am now binge reading them. Well, I have to do something. I have just finished binging on The Good Wife on Netflix, seven series in about eight weeks, each series 22 episodes long, and a yawning gap is before me. What is a girl to do?