Dotty

I am hugely, almost obsessively, interested in the history of my country. I look at castles, abbeys and palaces and wonder at the lives which must have been lived therein; at costumes and jewels and who designed them, who chose them and who gifted them; at weapons and the thoughts of sons lost and at the everyday pots and bric-a-brac which survive against all the odds.

My wonderment turned into embarrassment whilst playing ping-pong one day: as the scores were called out, an important date from history was married to them. “Anne Boleyn beheaded! Ah yes, Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived”. I knew none of this detail – my education was rooted from an early age (a drawback of our education system) firmly in two disciplines: science and language. History, geography, art and philosophy belonged to other people. The family I married into were those “other people”.

The easiest way to begin my education seemed to be through the well-documented lives of our monarchs. I think that I can say, without too much controvercy, that the most interesting monarch who springs to mind is Henry VIII. I read voraciously, first biographies of the king himself then his wives and then back a little and forward a little. As I got a grasp of the era I became mesmerised by the politics, the courtiers, those who risked life, reputation and fortune on the whim of one person…

I read fact and fiction, learning (as with newspapers) to sniff out and disregard bias and supposition. I placed people on maps, marvelling at distances travelled on horseback, and went to those places where great people stopped to stretch their aching limbs and plunge the unfortunate hosts into debt we would be proud of today.

Every so often I make myself move forwards (or back) from the comfort of my nucleus: but then trip up from lack of material – currently I am stuck on James VI/I. Why is there not a plethora of material on this boy-king who united two kingdoms? Alternatively I am sucked (most enjoyably) out on a tangent to seek out texts on the players, rather than the stars: a big fat biography of Sir Walter Raleigh awaits me (a man whose pickled head was kept by his wife!).

What I have found is that there is almost an equal amount of gems to dross, and I would welcome any comments on which you think falls into either camp. I list a small selection here:

Alison Weir
Henry VIII King and Court; The Six Wives of Henry VIII; The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn; Innocent Traitor (fiction/fact)

Phillipa Gregory (fiction)
The Other Boleyn Girl; The Constant Princess; The Queen’s Fool

CJ Sanson (fiction)
Dissolution;  Dark Fire; Sovereign; Revelation

Hilary Mantel (fiction)
Wolf Hall

Jane Dunn
Elizabeth & Mary

Raleigh Trevelyan
Sir Walter Raleigh

I have italicized those books which I felt had little merit or added little to my knowledge.

There are also, of course, the works of David Starkey and Lady Antonia Fraser – but I would be very interested to hear of those you have read which will widen my comfort zone.

Once in a while a chance comment to a chance friend in a chance moment in time can lead to something great. Perhaps not quite as great as in as how marvellously great  Great Britain can be (when she allows herself); or even as in as mightily great as the legend of Alexander the Great: but great in that it brought people together around the world from Finland to Nebraska to share a common interest: reading.

This encounter happened when two Twitter friends (@dottymummy and @Wendymal) both reached the end of the last book on their to-read shelves at the same time. They both happened to be on-line with the next book on their minds when the same thought occurred to them both. If we would value each other’s opinion on a book recommendation, then what about the rest of the Twitterverse (as the Big Wide World of Twitter is known)? Thus was born #goodbooktuesday.

Rising so far beyond either of our expectations, the hashtag took off, soaring higher and higher on retweets and pal to pal to pal recommendations. We determinedly did not want this to be a “Look how clever I am” exercise: just a casual dropped in conversation “I finished a really good book yesterday”. This is what we got:

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Paula by Isabel Allende and Margaret Sayers Peden

We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Possession by A.S.Byatt (2) Amazing book. If you never finished it, do go back to it, and if you haven’t tried, it’s well worth the effort.

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth (4). Don’t be put off by the size of it. Book where you miss the characters after.

Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich. Way too funny to read in public re Jersey girl bounty hunter Stephanie Plum

Really NOT enjoying No Angel by Penny Vincenzi. Been ploughing through 700+ pages for 2 weeks. Must finish.

The Law of Attraction by Esther & Jerry Hicks

One Day by David Nicholls. I do not have the words to explain what a perfect, beautiful book this is.

The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (2)

Whistle Blower by Tess Gerritsen. Not one of her best but decent enough page turner.

Anything by Saki

My Uncle Oswald by Roald Dahl. 20 reads later, still ludicrously funny

I Am A Cat by Natsume Soseki

The Tale Of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

WW1 Trilogy by Anne Perry

Bad News Bible by Anna Blundy

The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch. A dark tale of love and obsession, perfect for cold winter evenings!

Through the Tunnel (short story) by Doris Lessing

Down Came the Rain by Brook Shields

A Town like Alice by Neville Shute

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

When I Found You by Catherine Ryan Hyde (2)

Elvis, Jesus and Coca-Cola by Kinky Friedman

Far North by Marcel Theroux. Hauntingly disturbing novel about what will happen if we ignore our planet.

Wonderful Fool by Shusaku Endo

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. Can’t believe I left it this long to read Raymond Chandler

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Dune, or The White Plague, both by Frank Herbert

Day of the Triffids, or Trouble With Lichen, both by John Wyndham

The Other Hand by @chriscleave Unmissable, best book I’ve read in ages

Behind The Scenes At The Museum by Kate Atkinson

I Heart New York by Lindsey Kelk

Precious Bane by Mary Webb

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows. (4) Simply a delight. Audio book superb. Brilliant!

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) & Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob). I recommend it to everyone I meet!

Dying to Survive by Rachel Keogh. Inspirational book re overcoming heroin addiction.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Beautifully written and moving.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. Cracking

Fingersmith & Affinity, both by Sarah Waters. Am just about to start her latest The Little Stranger

Brick Lane by Monica Ali

Enduring Love by Ian McEwan

White Oleander by Janet Finch

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. Based on Laura Bush

Lord of the Fading Lands by C L Wilson. First of four

Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill

Dear Fatty, Dawn French’s autobiography. A funny & touching read, written as letters to everyone from her Dad to Madonna

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (2). Just read this in our book club and it has stayed with me.

The Other Hand by Chris Cleave

Gifted: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow by Marilyn Kaye fab reads!!

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Anything by Augusten Burroughs & anything by Julie Myerson

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (first of the Millennium Trilogy) by Steig Larsson. A fabulous read!

An A-Z of Possible Worlds by A.C. Tillyer published by @roastbooks

Legend Of A Suicide by David Vann

Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris (2). The darker, more sinister sequel to Chocolat. Loved every page. Is *so* on my Christmas list

A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel. Best novel about French Revolution.

Precious Bane by Mary Webb

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.  My fave

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

Heartburn by Nora Ephron (2)

The Other Side of You by Salley Vickers. Amazing poetic book and male character I really fell for

Turbulence by Giles Foden

Twenty Something – The Quarter Life Crisis of Jack Lancaster by Iain Hollingshead. Delivers in every way.

Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris. Very lovely.

Eat, Pray, Love. by Liz Gilbert.

Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Ninteen Minutes by @jodipicoult Is my fave.

How to Afford Time Off with Your Baby: 101 Ways to Ease the Financial Strain by Becky Goddard-Hill

The Gift by Cecelia Ahern

Every single thing ever written by @Jodipicoult this lady is amazing!!

Random Acts of Heroic Love by Daniel Scheinmann. Tender, elegant, unexpected and very very beautiful. Enriching x

Frenchmans Creek by Daphne Du Maurier. My all time most favourite book, makes me want to become a pirate at once!

The Twilight Saga – Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse & Breaking Dawn  by Stephenie Meyer. My most recent reads and just such great stories

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. This is my demographic & I will give The Powers That Be every cent if they keep this up.

The Happy Isles of Oceania by Paul Theroux

The Irregulars by Roald Dahl

The British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington by Jennet Conant. Interesting and well written.

The Writing Class by Jincy Willet. Very clever and fun twists.

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl by Fannie Flagg. All time fav. I read it about once/year. Can be hard start but worth it.

The L Shaped Room – Lynne Reid Banks Amazing!

I know I can speak on behalf of @Wendymal when I say this is a pretty proud (if not Great in our little worlds) achievement.

A very special guest review by my lovely friend Bruno (he is SO grown-up!)

Love makes the world go round – it’s a nice thought. And when contemplating such a notion it’s also nice to have a book in front of you that reinforces the idea. However, in the case of one character from Love in the Time of Cholera it could almost be ‘sex makes the world go round’. But I’m jumping ahead of myself a bit now. Backtrack.

Love in the Time of Cholera tells the story of Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza. And in case you’re worried, there’s more love in the tale than cholera, so it’s perhaps not as morbid as the title suggests. Fermina and Florentino live on an unnamed Caribbean island at the turn of the century. She’s a feisty though somewhat unsure vision of gorgeousness, and he’s a slow but steady unassuming type. Outward appearances could suggest the hare and the tortoise, but in many ways the book is about what happens behind closed doors, and metaphorically speaking that includes perception versus reality when it comes to the characters and their private lives.

The title of the book could almost be Unrequited Love in the Time of Cholera, for the majority of the tale sees Florentino carrying a torch for Fermina that she blatantly refuses to acknowledge. She doesn’t try to put the torch out, because to her it doesn’t even exist. We follow their lives for fifty years, or thereabouts, and because the story see-saws between these two characters and their very different experiences, it remains constantly engaging.

Written in a ‘warts ‘n all’ style, we often see the people and the places at their most base. However, this is contrasted with flowery, almost poetic prose that gives even the most unpleasant of events a sort of fatal romanticism. The book also feels older than it really is. First published in 1985, it harks back to the style of the classic romance novels, though there’s also enough spice to keep the modern audience engaged. There is sex in the world of Fermina and Florentino, and in the case of the latter it’s numerous and all out of wedlock. But it’s not gratuitous. On Dotty’s Doris Day-o-meter (zero being the sort of thing that would even put Ms Day’s feet to sleep, and ten blowing the dial off the o-meter in a super-saucy, super-cloud of super-sex steam) the book scores a solid five. It’s neither overly racy nor boringly prudish.

However, having spent the last four hundred words heaping praise on the novel, I must say the end left me a bit cold. As the story unfolds there are times when unpleasant things happen to the characters, establishing that unpleasant things happen in the world of the novel and applying a sense of mortality. I thought this was going to be carried through to the end and provide the finales’ dramatic climax. I was wrong. Though this isn’t enough to taint the story as a whole, and I’d still recommend the book if you want your world to spin a little bit faster on the axis of love.

Wow – don’t you just want to go out and buy that book? I’m getting my order in now … I’ll let you know if it does reach #5 on the Doris Day-o-meter