Like Mother Like Daughter?

I've just read another two books about mothers and daughters. These short novels are rather different to the mother and daughter story in my last post though ...

Troubling Love by Elena Ferrante is the first novel by one of Italy's most acclaimed contemporary authors, a Neapolitan, who shuns publicity and is rather an enigma.

I found it very hard to engage with this book. The tale of a daughter returning to her home town after her mother's death and discovering her mother had a secret life was interesting, however the author's preoccupation with bodily functions and secretions made it a little too earthily blunt and somewhat sordid for me. However symbolic it was, I didn't need to know every time Delia had to change her tampon!

The sultry heat of backstreet Naples did come through though, and combined to make an emotionally claustrophobic short novel that I recognised as being a great debut from this secretive Italian writer, but not one that I enjoyed reading. 5/10

***

The Book of Proper Names by Amelie Nothumb was very different. It's a comically disturbing and definitely absurdist ugly duckling story.

The story of Plectrude, an orphan born of a mother who murdered her father when he suggested a silly name for their baby. Her mother then committed suicide, leaving Plectrude to be brought up by her sister, who always wanted to be a ballerina. Plectrude has a difficult time at school, but then gets accepted by the ballet school, and learns to be anorexic before finally finding love and becoming a swan.

I hope that real ballet school is not all like that in this book, where the girls are ruled by a rod of iron that make them willingly starve themselves and drive their emaciated bodies to the absolute limits of their endurance. The vicarious pleasure that Plectrude's aunt took in her charge's body was also troubling.

Both serious and silly, this short little novel has plenty to say for itself, and I enjoyed it - racing through to see how Plectrude would fare in life, especially once she finds out about her mother... I would definitely like to read more by this author. 8/10

Songs of Blue and Gold by Deborah Lawrenson

A few weeks ago the author of this book Deborah Lawrenson, having followed a trail from a comment I'd left on dovegreyreader scribbles to my blog, sent me a note to ask if I'd like to read her latest book. I was absolutely delighted, as once I'd visited Deborah's website her books sounded very much my cup of tea. Being a relative newcomer to the blog world, being offered books to review is a fantastic bonus.

Songs of Blue and Gold is a novel about knowing yourself and where you come from. Melissa's life is in crisis, her marriage is cracking up and her mother is increasingly lost to the erasing power of Alzheimers. During brief minutes of clarity, her mother gives her a gift which hints at a secret past involving the great writer Julian Adie, who lived in Corfu when her mother was younger. Melissa decides to take a break from it all and heads out to Kalami to find out what happened back in the late 1960s.

Adie has been modelled closely on the writer and hedonist womaniser Lawrence Durrell who got through four wives, and had a rather bohemian lifestyle lived mainly in Kalami in Corfu, and later the Languedoc. He wrote a lyrical semi-fictionalised account of his early Corfu life called Prospero's Cell, and after he became a literary superstar with the publication of the Alexandria Quartet, the White House in Kalami appears to have been quite a tourist attraction in this quiet corner of the island.

Enough potted history, at this point, I must declare that I have never read any of Lawrence Durrell. Like many of you I've read (and seen on TV) his brother's work My Family and Other Animals and that was the extent of my knowledge of the family. My Mum gave me three out of four of the Alexandria Quartet last year funnily enough, and after reading this super book, I will definitely seek them out, but you don't have to have read any Durrell to thoroughly enjoy this novel.

Melissa uncovers that her mother had an affair with Adie and even appeared to have had a grounding influence on him - now single after his first wife died. But for the presence of an old flame - a woman who drowned that summer and the locals couldn't, or wouldn't say what happened. When an academic writing a biography of Adie turns up on the scene and implies that her mother was involved in the accident, Melissa runs away to her family's holiday home in the Languedoc, where she uncovers her mother's writings which help her complete the story, and finds more local connections to Adie. Running alongside the quest is a lovely will they, won't they romance between Melissa and Alexandros, a historian who lives in Kalami; and Melissa's attempt to try and re-build a relationship with her husband.

Interestingly, the author prefaces the different sections with selections from the academic's biography of Adie, and Melissa's book putting things straight, which questions the purpose of biography without the full story. And we hear the story from the academic, the daughter, and her mother - a PoV device which Durrell used to great effect in the Alexandria Quartet (apparently).

There is so much more to this book than the washed out cover photo suggests. What is it with cover designers these days? It screams women's novel at you, but it is not really that at all; although the romance element is satisfying it deserves a wider readership. The Corfu sections in particular have a great sense of place, and the ex-pat community in the 1960s really comes alive. I highly recommend this novel, and look forward to reading others from this interesting author. 9/10

To star or not to star ...

Opinion has always been divided about whether or not to give ratings for books – be it points out of ten, stars out of five, or any other system you choose. When all is said and done, the words written about a book reveal far more than a mere rating. So why bother with the rating at all?

On a personal level, it’s a useful aide-memoire, a quick way of seeing how much I enjoyed a particular book - my inner librarian at work. But people’s tastes are so different - is that any use to anyone else who doesn’t know me? I don’t know about that, but a little flag-waving, especially when in I my humble opinion(!) think a book deserves five stars, is an at a glance recommendation. Something that once spotted may encourage others to further exploration and good reading adventures. What do you think?

Now I’m aware that last year I was probably guilty of awarding the full five stars to far too many books – 22 out of 114 read. This year I’m being tougher so here’s what I’m now thinking of when I rate a book.

***** A five star book has to be truly exceptional with no niggles. A keeper, one I’d definitely like to re-read in the future.
****1/2 (Yes I know I’m really running a points out of 10 system!) – Also exceptional, a keeper too, but maybe just a very minor niggle preventing it from getting the full five.
**** A superb read – well-written; not necessarily a book I’d want to re-read but one I’d recommend to others. Maybe just lacking a little of that je ne said quois needed to make it really special. Could be a keeper, or maybe not (see my book-keeping rules here).
***1/2 Better than average. An enjoyable read. Recommended but with some reservations perhaps. Probably not a keeper.
*** An average read, OK but maybe a bit derivative or didn’t engage me fully.
**1/2 or less. Below average. A book I really didn’t engage with, one I had major reservations about.

Checking on Librarything, I find I've only ever rated 15 books at **1/2 or less. Am I too lenient, or do I manage to mostly read good stuff ?!?!? I hope it's the latter - whether by accident or design.

Spread the Word - World Book Day - The Shortlist

The Spread the Word shortlist is out. This is part of World Book Day, and the 100 books to talk about have been whittled down to the last ten as voted for by vistors to the site. You can vote until Feb 27th for the winner.

One of the books on the longlist that didn't make it through to the shortlist but which I particularly enjoyed last year was The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato. It was one of the first I reviewed on my blog here.

In fact, Marina will be visiting Mostly Books, my local prize-winning indie bookshop, in Abingdon next Thursday (Feb 26th) at 7.30pm.

Also there that evening will be Bethan Roberts another Spread the Word longlisted author whom I've not read yet ...

It is a ticketed event as space is limited, so contact the bookshop if you want to come.

Great title, great cover ...

Could the second book I've read in the past few months to feature the word 'hedgehog' in the title possibly be as good as the first here?

Sadly, no - Up a Tree in the Park at Night with a Hedgehog by P. Robert Smith drew me in with its wacky title and plug by Douglas Coupland on the front cover, then when I read the blurb on the back I decided it was probably going to be great fun.

I didn't expect it to be quite so laddish though. I should have read the first page in the bookshop which does set the tone - propriety forbids me from describing the request made by the novel's main character of his new Korean virgin girlfriend (I am very broad-minded, just don't need this on page one). Suffice it to say, if I'd read that far, then I would have been unlikely to buy it. It was a bit like all the other similar books about but nowhere near as intelligent as the best. It was a quick read though!

It features Benton, a thirty-six year old who has never grown up, and is sex mad and commitment-phobic. All the people around him have bizarre accidents, or die in horrid ways - their misfortunes being the only really interesting things in his life worth telling us about. I must admit, I quite enjoyed some of these bits, and did chuckle occasionally. But they are no more than vignettes interspersed with the current state of Benton's relationships which are rocky, and far from being funny or having real depth - unlike those of Rob in Nick Hornby's High Fidelity - a book I adore.

In retrospect, the thing I most liked about the book was the cover, which if you look carefully is peopled with little figures and things around the letters of the title and tells you the entire story! **1/2

Probability Angels by Joseph Devon

I won a copy of this book on a giveaway over at Me and My Big Mouth. Based on the snippet of blurb it sounded quirky and intriguing. I was surprised when it arrived on the doormat, as a) it was sent out from the USA, and b) it turns out that the author Joseph Devon is a self-publisher. I'm grateful to him for sending it at his own expense, especially as it's not available in the UK yet.

It's starts off being about a chap who's dead, (you presume he's an angel), and what happens to him when his wife then dies. It turned out to be rather different to what I'd expected - less Five people you meet in heaven and more Dawn of the Dead! Not my usual type of reading, but that's not to say that it wasn't an enjoyable read for a change.

For a dark fantasy it discussed many interesting notions about afterlife and the choices people make; that angels can get involved in steering peoples' lives, and what angels do when they get tired of bring angels etc. Then when the zombies get introduced, it becomes more of a classic good versus evil battle and chase. Good fun and I wish him luck with it.

Reducing the TBR mountains & Giveaway result!

As one commenter said, when they offered some of their non-wanted books as giveaways - no-one else wanted them either.

Back at the beginning of the month I offered three of my books, culled under my new book-keeping rules, and in truth I wasn't overwhelmed with offers to take them off my hands, but a few were keen, so here are the winners -

• Megan won The last family in England by Matt Haig - the story of a family's disintegration through the eyes of their dog;
• Chantele won Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier - her debut about Vermeer.
• There were no takers for the Jenny Eclair so that'll go onto my bookmooching/swapping list.

I'll contact you for your snail mail addresses and get them in the post to you - Happy reading!

Bring on the revolution?

The Courilof Affair by Irene Nemirovsky

The Russian Minister for Education, Courilof, is notorious for his cold-bloodedness and brutality and has been selected to be liquidated publicly to send a message to the masses that the revolution is coming. It's 1903 and Leon M is assigned to the task. His initial job is to become part of Courilof's household so that he is not suspected, and after several months posing as a Swiss doctor treating the ailing Minster, he begins to understand and develop some sympathy for his target and see him as a fellow human. Courilof meanwhile has cancer and wishes ultimately to die on the job with the favour of the Czar rather than be assassinated. I won't spoil the plot with further details.

For a short novel, this had a slowburn start which rather got me bogged down at first, then once the young revolutionary was in place it picked up. The subject of terrorism versus tyranny is of course very relevant today and this raises many questions - this and the novel's shortness would probably make it a good choice for a book group. I shall look forward to reading more of this author too. 8/10

Kitchen chemistry

As I've been very busy this week, and I've let myself get bogged down in a short novel of only 165 pages, I'm writing about something else again today...

One of the nicest parts of working as a lab technician in a school is when you get to help the children in the classroom during practicals - I used to work in a senior school and only had rare opportunities to do this. At Christmas I moved over to the prep school, and it's really fun working with the younger pupils who often need assistance.

We did a great short practical experiment yesterday ... getting the iron out of cornflakes. Yes, you did read correctly – most breakfast cereals are fortified with extra iron amongst other vitamins and minerals. If you happen to have a good strong magnet, this is a good example of kitchen chemistry that anyone can do at home with their kids.


· Get a cupful of cornflakes and pulverise them finely. We put them in a Ziploc bag and used a rolling pin.
· Put them into a container (e.g. sandwich box) and add enough hand hot water to make a really watery slurry – about a cupful. You need the grains to expand, go really mushy and disintegrate.
· Cover your magnet with a double layer of clingfilm – make sure you will be able to unwrap it easily.
· Then stir the slurry gently with the magnet for about 5-10 minutes. Try not to touch the bottom of the container.
· Get a sheet of white paper or card and unwrap the magnet so the wet side of the clingfilm is face down on the card. You should see some little black specks – that’s the iron!
· There is just 2.4mg of iron in a 30g bowl of Kellogg’s cornflakes, so don’t expect too much. Interestingly(!) having just been shopping I found that Nestles cereal like Cheerios have more iron, and Tesco own brand has more still.
· One of my scientific friends tells me that with a higher iron cereal you can float a flake on water and drag it round with a magnet ... Next time I’m buying I must check that out.

Now enough of school - I'm on half term. YIPPEE!

I'm not going out on Tuesdays now (unless I get back early!)...

Last night saw the return of one of my favourite TV series from last year - the second season of Mad Men started, and it looks just as good as ever.


Everything about this show is so stylish, they put an immense amount of research into getting it exactly right for the period at the start of the 1960s in New York. The dresses are so fabulous and woman-shaped, and Christina Hendricks deserves a medal for bringing real curves back into fashion as Joan Holloway, the Office Manager. Jon Hamm as Don Draper the Ad Agency's Creative Director makes it all hang together and is always good to look at.

If last night was your first episode though, you'd be forgiven for not understanding half of what was going on between all the characters, as the show's creators are expecting you to keep up. Plotwise it was rather slowburn too, although there was one real cracker of a scene. Don was taking his wife out for Valentine's night at a very swanky hotel, and she bumps into an old school-friend accompanied by a much older man. Polite conversation ensues and after they go Don and Betty talk along these lines ...

Betty: I never thought she'd end up with someone that old.
Don: I don't think the relationship's permanent!
Betty: I don't understand.
Don: She's a party girl.

Party girl - That's a good one!

The bits I like best are those where the ad-men plus Peggy (secretary turned junior copywriter) get creative and are throwing slogans and ideas around. One of my ambitions at about eighteen was to be a copywriter in an ad agency - whatever happened to that eh?

So Mad Men is required viewing for me. Even though I have Sky+, it's one I'll happily stay in for. You can catch up on the show in some detail on its official website here.

Stevenson Under the Palm Trees by Alberto Manguel

An odd little novella about Robert Louis Stevenson; this edition is lushly produced with posh covers and illustrated with some of Stevenson's own woodcuts (at 105 pages of big text it needs to justify its £7.99 price tag!).

It's a story based on Stevenson's last days in Samoa as he is dying of tuberculosis. After his meeting with a newly arrived Scottish missionary, bad things start to happen and Stevenson is drawn into the events in a way such that in his ill state he can't be sure what's happening.

A powerful and slightly strange little story that echoes RLS's own work, (particularly Jekyll & Hyde), and also his desire for his fiction to convey purely actions and dialogue - 'War on the adjective' and Death to the optic nerve' as he wrote to Henry James, a real correspondence that Manguel quotes from. Interesting but I would have preferred a longer novel or collection of stories. 6/10

Incoming ...

I have to share this wonderfully titled book with you - I couldn't resist it.

Up a tree in the park at night with a hedgehog by Paul Robert Smith sounds brilliant fun, quirky and probably full of black humour. The blurb mentions that the main character Benton Kirby has a girlfriend with a history of suicidal pets for instance, so think I'm in the right territory for a hilariously shocking read.

It reminds me of some of Christopher Brookmyre's wacky titles like Quite Ugly One Morning, One fine day in the middle of the night or All fun and games until somebody loses an eye.

It goes straight to the small bedside table pile - I'll report back soon.

Bookmooching

Having been encouraged by a comment from Esther a couple of posts down the page (see my giveaway), I joined Bookmooch (www.bookmooch.com) yesterday. I was put off before, as Bookmooch is not a straight-forward swapping forum like ReadItSwapIt. In BM essentially you list the books you're willing to give away, people request them and you get points which you use to get books you want. So far, so good.

I added about 25 books, and got bombarded by people wanting them, so I've sent off 9 packages to points east and west around the globe (you get more points if you're willing to post worldwide). So I've already spent about £15 in P&P, but have reduced the amount on my swap/for sale shelf by six inches or so. Time to find some books to spend my hard-earned points on ...

This is where I've failed so far. The few books I found that I want to read are not in the best condition, and I do have a slight thing about tatty books. Also the Bookmooch system is not as transparent as RISI, where you can see the condition up front - you have to click on the copy selected again to see more details. There is an option to donate your points to charities so they can get books. A very worthy thing to do, but I want to get a few books back first!

I was a '70s teenager!

As I'm currently reading a real chunkster with some way to go, I thought I'd post about music today.

I was born in 1960 (I don't feel that old mind!), so my teenage years spanned the whole of the '70s. I can't help but look back on the decade through rose-tinted glasses, and will forever remember the 1973 Christmas Top of the Pops. Once glam went out of fashion, pop was never so much fun again. Luckily we do get nostalgia trips on the box now and then; and the TV series Life on Mars was pure joy with its soundtrack from my youth. Glam and disco were brilliant, but punk largely passed me by - I veered off down a folksy, soft and prog rock route, but please don't hold that against me!

So today, pop-pickers, we have my top ten 70s singles. I compiled a list of songs I adore; ultimately all these songs still have their hooks in me. They're songs I can still remember most of, if not all, the lyrics to; songs whose guitar riffs, sax and keyboard solos, even drum breaks, I still have a tendency to mime to; and they are all songs that make me feel happy or send a little shiver down my spine. Some good criteria for picking great pop singles, and I hope you'll agree that not everything about the '70s was bad!

1. Dec '71 - Horse with no name by America. At 11yrs old when this came out, I was almost a teenybopper; David Cassidy was to become my idol of choice! However later at about 16, I and my classmates at my all-girls school discovered US folk/soft rock together in a big way with Bread, John Denver, and of course America. Several of us had guitars and we used to sing and strum every lunchtime, broadening our previously Beatles dominated repertoire with songs such as Horse with no name - which has an irresistible strum-along riff and la-la chorus. It's B-side 'Sandman' had an even better guitar part. Unfortunately America weren't to go on and repeat this chart success but did produce a string of well-received albums that I still enjoy.

2. Jan '72 - American Pie by Don McLean. This is a rare thing - a narrative semi-acoustic pop song with literate lyrics crammed full of cultural references and it's 8.5 minutes long. It shouldn't have worked perhaps, but the almost throwaway last line of the first verse is the killer - "the day the music died". It was another of those lunchtime singing session songs for us schoolgirls. McLean has always refused to explain the song, however it is generally accepted that it is a tribute to Buddy Holly and commentary on the lack of good time music since that fatal air-crash fifty years ago. (Apparently it starts in mono and ends in stereo, but I've not checked that out). You can find a fascinating analysis of the lyrics on don-mclean.com, his official fansite.

3. May '75 - I'm Not In Love by 10CC. Best known for uptempo numbers full of ironic humour, this superb bittersweet love song marked a change for 10CC. It couldn't have been a hit without Eric Stewart's breathy, plaintive voice, enveloped by synthesizer swirls. It's a beautiful sad song and just thinking about it now brings a small lump to the throat - one of the best-ever love songs without a doubt, and for me the greatest song that 10CC ever crafted.

4. Nov '75 - Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Arguably one of the greatest singles ever with that groundbreaking video, BR is pure opera. My brother got me the sheet music for Christmas - it might be worth a fortune now if I hadn't written in transposed chords to play it in an easier guitar key (it was written in E-flat). However, I digress; imagine the scene with me at the piano being Freddie Mercury playing with all the flourishes, and singing at the top of my voice. This is the ultimate singalong magnum opus whether you're alone at the piano or with your mates and their air guitars in the car - Party on dude!

5. Feb '76 - Rain by Status Quo. Quo were massive in the 70s and we frugged along to all the hits. Three chord wonders or not, they rocked, and being a local (South London) band we were all fans; I was drawn to Francis Rossi's sideburns and waistcoats rather than the blonde locks of Rick Parfitt. This hit is more bluesy than its predecessors, slightly slower, and with a fourth chord or more it's my favourite from the Blue for You album. We, like the band, were all denim clad by then; trying to find the widest flares - I had some superb brushed denim Brutus bags I seem to remember, aah - those were the days.

6. Apr '77 - Hotel California by The Eagles. The Eagles blend of country rock with pop sensibilities was never better than in Hotel California. Though I loved this song in the seventies, I love it even more now as it has taken on mythic status for us. My other half was on a job in Norway which kept getting extended, and the little guest house where he stayed took on the mantle of being where "you can check out any time you want but you can never leave". What a killer lyric - Nuff said!

7. Dec '76 - Haitian Divorce by Steely Dan. The Dan's only top twenty UK hit struck a particular chord with me; not least because I'd just found out that the guy I fancied from afar for ages was into them. This was a possible way in ? Needless to say that romance never worked out, but I did fall in love with Steely Dan. I adored their cleverness, the tightness of the groove, and the nasal tones of Donald Fagen's voice, although I can remember being shocked when I first found out where their name came from (if you don’t know, don't ask, ditto 10CC!). Haitian Divorce was very different from the rest of the chart fodder at the time, so this stood out from the crowd for me.

8. Oct '77 - She's Not There by Santana. This version of The Zombies' 60s hit is one of those rare covers that is better than the original. Giving it the Santana latino treatment with a great organ accompaniment provides a backdrop for some blistering guitar & keyboard work towards the song's climax. I later bought the 2CD Santana Ultimate Collection only to discover that this song is on CD2, along with all the duds rather than on the brilliant CD1.

9. Aug '78 - Three Times A Lady by The Commodores. I turned eighteen in May '78 and as there were loads of 18th birthday parties around then, I decided to make mine an end of summer celebration before we all went off to university or back to school instead, and held it the first weekend of September. This track was number one and was just the classic smoochy single I needed to make the party a success. It took me a while to track it down though - all the usual shops in Croydon had sold out. I splashed out and also bought Jilted John and Quo's Again & Again. All three singles went down a treat, and I think I got my slow dance to The Commodores (but with whom I can't remember). I'm told the party was a hit and it must have been OK as we only had a couple of part bottles of Cinzano left at the end.

10. Dec '78 - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick by Ian Dury & the Blockheads. Ian Dury and Chas Jankel took punk and funked it up. Sheer brilliance. Witty lyrics full of double entendre delivered in Dury's half-singing, half-talking style helped to take this to the top spot. Ian Dury provided some musical relief from the excesses of punk that I really enjoyed. He is sorely missed.

And that makes ten. What didn't make it? Well there were a few hard choices and in the end I left out: Got to get you into my life - Earth, Wind and Fire (fab Beatles cover); Metal Guru - T.Rex - My dad hated this!!! Follow you follow me - Genesis, just a little too soppy; Bridge over troubled water by Simon and Garfunkel; and sadly somehow neither David Bowie nor David Cassidy made it either - I wasn't a Bowie fan in the 70s, not getting into him till later on.

So there you have it. Just one thing - clicking on any of the highlighted names and titles will whisk you off somewhere where you might be tempted to indulge in shopping - you have been warned!

Driven slush!

Wasn't it Mae West who said 'I'm as pure as the driven slush'?

Anyway, after moderately heavy snowfall overnight, by lunchtime driven slush what we have on our roads here. Our side road is still very thick slush, but the main road outside is fine. As the snow was fresh last night and we haven't had a freeze to make it icy, the local roads haven't been so bad.

Yet almost all the local schools closed today. The two sites of the Abingdon Foundation that I work for and one of the local secondaries were amongst the few brave enough to open! It takes a lot more than this to close Abingdon School, and its little brother, Abingdon Prep. So I had to take my daughter into work with me as her school was closed.

I know there are many arguments for and against closure due to bad weather, but the roads weren't that bad round here. Shortly after 8am, once out of our side road I had no problems driving the four miles to work. A large number of staff and many of the boys did make it in too and they continued to drift in for an hour or so.

I do have sympathy with those who live in the villages where the roads can be very dangerous in bad weather, but anyone with a 4x4 should revel in the chance to use it properly, (and there are a lot of them round here!). I think the schools though, particularly those with a local catchment area, are over-cautious. I'm waiting to see what'll happen tomorrow...

Meanwhile rant over. I'll leave you with a photo of my daughter's snow angel in the garden.

My new rules for keeping books once read & GIVEAWAY!

It’s no good, my book mountains seem to be more and more like the Himalayas every day, new piles thrust up from spare bits of floor in the study, and existing ones seem to get higher and higher. I've probably got about fifteen years worth of reading if I can manage a hundred or more books a year!

There are two ways of dealing with this. Firstly to stop acquiring new books. Very, very difficult indeed! Stopping going to bookshops leads to more browsing online which is just as, if not more, dangerous, and the withdrawal symptoms don't take long to set in, leading to feelings of books lost, never to be read. Secondly to deal with those I do read and reduce the number I keep. Now this is easier, but still requires some willpower, it's all too easy to keep books you know you'll never re-read just because the cover's nice, or for some other reason.

So I’ve devised a draft set of rules for selecting the books to be sold, given away or go to the charity shop. Let’s see if they will work – I'm going to test them on a few boxes I have filled...

To make it more fun – I will give away the first three books to be culled under these rules. If you’d like to get one, (I will post worldwide) just leave a comment before Friday 13th Feb - there's no triskaidekaphobia here! I'll tell you what the three are at the end of the post. Now here are the rules:

I may keep a book once read if it meets one or more of these criteria:
· I rated it 9 or 10 points out of 10;
· It’s part of a series I am reading and intend to keep in its entirety;
· It’s a collectable edition, e.g. hardback firsts, Folio, illustrated, other special editions;
· It’s won a major prize, e.g. Booker, Pullitzer, Orange, Costa, Goncourt etc;
· It’s an important book in the history of literature;
· It’s by an author I collect (see list below);
· It’s a book I want to keep for my daughter;
· It belongs to a particular ‘reading trail’ or area of special interest, e.g. Russian novels, fairy tales, children’s novels;
· It’s signed by the author;
· It’s non-fiction and useful for reference;
· It’s a top-class hardback biography.

Authors I collect: Paul Auster, Ian Fleming, Iain Banks (not M.), Michael Connelly, and whichever others I gradually realise I am collecting.

Suggestions for amendment, additions, deletions and anything else useful to help me develop these rules further are, as always, absolutely encouraged – please do comment ...

Now for those giveaways! All three are paperbacks in excellent condition. Comments with preference of title if any by Feb 13th when I'll randomly select the winners.

• Matt Haig - The last family in England. I gave this 8/10 V.close to being a keeper for this tale of a family's disintegration told from their dog's PoV.
• Tracy Chevalier - Girl with a pearl earring. I loved this but don't need to re-read it.
• Jenny Eclair - Camberwell Beauty. Bitter, twisted, funny chick-noir in South London. 8/10

Friday Nights by Joanna Trollope

Recently I saw Joanna Trollope talk about her latest novel Friday Nights and wrote about it here. She was a great speaker and we had fun listening to her talk about her new experiences in researching for this book, and I had no hesitation in getting a signed copy.

Now I've read the book, and while it was enjoyable I don't think it's her best (although I've only read a couple of other earlier ones). It examines women's friendship as a another facet of extended families.

A group of rather different women (and their children) get together regularly on Friday nights for companionship and support. Eleanor, the spinster matriarch oversees - she started it all off when she asked two young mums, Paula and Lindsay, that she saw through her window always hurrying with the pushchair, but never talking to each other if they'd like her to babysit. Paula is an ex-mistress who was dropped when she got pregnant, but is kept in some style by her son Toby's father; Lindsay is a young widow with a young son and a younger sister Jules who wants to be a top club DJ. Then there's Blaise (honestly!) and her business partner Karen; Blaise is a single workaholic - Eleanor sees her younger self in her; Karen is an accountant, married to wastrel artist Lucas, with two kids. So that's the group. Then Paula stirs things up by meeting the enigmatic Jackson and introduces him to everyone. Things are going to change...

Jackson is a true catalyst for change, in that a catalyst is added to a reaction, speeds it up, but remains unchanged itself. He's good-looking, appears to be interested in everyone, appears to be considerate, but when asked to do more once things have started to change says 'I don't do that, (babe)'. We are always wondering about him and what his motives are, unlike in Muriel Spark's superb short novel The Ballad of Peckham Rye, where a young man arrives in a staid area of South London, stirs things up and leaves, but we do engage with him. In Spark's novel, the story is told mostly from her catalyst's perspective, but we never get that from Jackson at all. His involvement is told entirely from the others' viewpoints, and that made him definitely creepy in my view.

Much is made in the book of Jules' transformation into an up and coming club DJ, and young Toby's introduction to the joys(!) of soccer - both areas in which the author had to do some serious research. This makes for some rather clunky dialogue for Jules in particular for although she is a likeable young thing, the world of clubs doesn't sit well with the rest of the novel.

I found it a good read, but nothing special. However the evening with Joanna Trollope I went to was special and I shall keep the book for memories of that. 6/10