WHAT'S IN A NAME 5 WRAP.

The end of another great challenge, I only wish this was more than 6 categories long.


Amazing how I've visited this world and others, time travelled between the late 1600's to the present day and then back to the late 18th century, met some pretty strange characters and witnessed several murders and all without leaving the house - still, I suppose that's the power of books.

• AUGUST HEAT by Andrea Camilleri
• BEYOND THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES: A GIANT PROBLEM by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
• THE PARLIAMENT HOUSE by Edward Marston
• THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS by Lewis Carroll
• TURNING ANGEL by Greg Iles
• NETHERWOOD by Jane Sanderson

A bit of a mixed batch, I've read historical fiction, thrillers and novels designed for children and young adults to the total of 6 books or, sounding much more impressive, one thousand, eight hundred and thirty three pages and all of this within three months.


Anyway, my thanks to Beth for hosting the event, here's to What's In A Name 6 though it's not too late for you to join in this years challenge as it runs until the end of December, simply click HERE to sign up.

THE TIGER'S WIFE.

THE TIGER'S WIFE by TEA OBREHT.


My grandfather never refers to the tiger's wife by name. His arm is around me and my feet are on the handrail, and my grandfather might say, 'I once knew a girl who loved tigers so much she almost became one herself.' Because I am little, and my love of tigers comes directly from him, I believe he is talking about me, offering me a fairy tale in which I can imagine myself - and will, for years and years.
.......... Outer back cover.


FIRST SENTENCE (Prologue): In my earliest memory, my grandfather is bald as a stone and he takes me to see the tigers.


MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 243): Back and forth he went through the house, latching and unlatching windows with useless determination, expecting at any moment, to look inside the oven and find Death squatting in it - a man, just a man, a patient-looking winged man with the unmoving eyes of a thief.


MY THOUGHTS: The winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction 2011. Oh dear, I generally don't fair too well with prize winning/nominated books as I generally end up disappointed, finding that all too often the book does not live up to all the hype. Still, my last read, LYRICS ALLEY, was nominated for an Orange Prize, and I enjoyed that.


A wonderful, magical story, I loved the way the author managed to combine folk tales alongside vivid descriptions of a country ravaged by war - quite which country (Croatia? Bosnia?) is not made clear but then I think the author was merely trying to pin-point the horrors of war in general without necessarily mentioning any one country, any one war in particular.


Though mainly dedicated to the story of Natalia and her quest to bring medical care to a rural orphanage, it is  Natalia's grandfather's stories that brought the novel alive for me. Poignant and quite beautiful, it is his recollections of the 'Tiger's Wife' along with 'Deathless Man' that kept me reading well into the wee small hours.


A great debut novel from a young author, this is a book all about conflict (much of it religious), ignorance and fear of the unknown but most of all it is a novel about superstitions in general and the superstitions surrounding death in particular. 


Highly recommended, it isn't very often that a book moves me to tears but the last paragraph is one of the most beautiful book endings I have ever read.


KEEP IT OR NOT?: A readers group read, though I enjoyed this I will not be buying a copy of my own.

TAKE A WORD ....... ANY WORD.

First seen by myself on Grandmere Mimi's blog, I thought this would be a fun game to play, the idea being you ........

•  Take a word, any word, from the dictionary 
•  Alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter
•  Supply a new definition.

To give you some examples, I'll quote the following as seen on Grandmere's post, the rest you can see by clicking HERE.

• Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole
• Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high 
• Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you
• Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out

What do you mean, I need to play as well? Really?

OK then, how about ..........

Grief, this is harder than it looks, erm, how about ..........

• Crimate: A monkey with a criminal record.
• Fate Mail: Correspondence sent by astrologers.
• Manxiety: A mental health condition suffered by self obsessed males.
• Penopausal: Writers Block as suffered by some female authors of a certain age.

A fairly pitiful effort on my behalf, let's see if you can do any better.

LYRICS ALLEY.

My FIRST ASSIGNMENT for NEWBOOKS magazine, I've been asked to aim for 150 words (oh dear, as many of you know my mantra is "why use 10 words when you can use 50?"), devoting at least a third of that to my opinion. oh well, here goes, wish me luck.


LYRICS ALLEY by LEILA ABOULELA.


It is the dawn of the 1950s and from the bustling streets of Khartoum to cosmopolitan Cairo, the sun is setting on the British Empire. Mahmoud, the head of a powerful Sudanese dynasty and married to two very different women, has grand ambitions. But there are two tensions between his wives, as one is bound to traditions which confine her to her open-air kitchen, whilst the other is a modern Egyptian woman intent on dividing the household.


Then Nur, Mahmoud's brilliant son and heir to his business empire, suffers a near-fatal accident, leaving him to face a future in which he cannot marry his beloved cousin or fulfil his father's ambitions. Moving between Sudan and Egypt, this is a heart-wrenching portrait of a family in turmoil, a love lost and history in the making.
....... Outer back cover.


OPENING SENTENCE (Chapter 1): Alhamdullilah, he was safe and the worst was over.


MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 96): She would tell them what she wanted and lower the basket with the rope. They would place her order in the basket and she would hoist it up. Then she would put money in the empty basket and lower it again. The basket was so sturdy that Nabilah, as a child, would often plead to be placed in it and hoisted up and down.


MY THOUGHTS: Set mainly in the Sudan and Egypt of the 1950's, Lyrics Alley, though centring largely on the fictionalised real-life story of Hassan Awad Aboulela (Nur in the book), a young man who, after a tragic accident changes his life forever, goes on to become an accomplished poet, this is also the fascinating story of the old giving way to the new as shown in the story of the two wives of patriarch, Mahmoud. Two powerful women, their stories make fascinating, if sometimes, shocking reading.


Not to be distracted by the somewhat complex, rambling, nature of the Abuzeids family tree, the novel gives a wonderful insight in to this sprawling dynasty. Rich and colourful, it makes for a vibrant read that, though it didn't have me gripped from the beginning, slowly drew me into a world that, populated with interesting characters, I knew little of. 


KEEP IT OR NOT?: A favourite with my two readers groups, I shall be donating it to one of them.


DISCLAIMER: Read and reviewed on behalf of NewBooks magazine, I was merely asked for my honest opinion, no financial compensation was asked for nor given.





Oh well, that wasn't too painful and I eventually got it down to 143 words from my original 300.

NETHERWOOD.

The sixth and final read in the challenge, I thought NetherWOOD would be perfect for the 'Topography' category.

NETHERWOOD by JANE SANDERSON.

Above Stairs:

Lord Netherwood keeps his considerable fortune, and the upkeep of Netherwood Hall, ticking over with the profits from his three coal mines. The welfare of his employees isn't a pressing concern - more important is keeping his wife and daughters happy and ensuring heir to the family wealth, the charming feckless Tobias, stays out of trouble.

Below Stairs: 

Eve Williams is the wife of one of Lord Netherwood's employees. When her life is brought crashing down, Eve must look to her own self-sufficiency and talent to provide for her three young children. And it's then that the 'upstairs' and 'downstairs' collide in truly dramatic fashion.

........ Outer back cover.

FIRST SENTENCE (Chapter 1): It was morning but the bedroom was still as black as pitch when Eve Williams opened her eyes.

MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 100): Somewhere in the town a housewife had begun to strike a poker against the grate of her fire and the sound, carrying easily through the walls of the terraced houses, had been heard and replicated by her neighbours, and hers, and again hers, until it seemed that hundreds of pokers were striking hundreds of iron grates, to relay the news more effectively than any telegraph that ..........

KEEP IT OR NOT?: My favourite read of 2012 so far, I'll be keeping this and buying the second instalment which is to be published in September of this year.

Recommended by Dizzy C (see her review HERE) not only was this a perfect choice for this particular challenge but given Husband Dearest's connection with mining I thought I'd enjoy this read on a very personal level.

A debut novel that was based on the author's own background, I thought this a very honest novel...... the miners 'story' perhaps ringing more true to my ears than Eve's story. 

Well plotted and with a tremendous wealth of characters, it dealt with some of the important social and political aspects of the time - not least of which being the divide between rich and poor and the fight for recognition by the trade unions. 

Wonderfully descriptive, the author does indeed paint a graphic picture of life for both for the gentry as well as the 'common man' - her mention of the formal luncheon given for heir to the estate, Toby's (Tobias) coming of age will long remain in my memory as to how the various classes were kept at a distance ..... 

The squirearchy and gentleman farmers, for example, must not be expected to dine and drink with the professional classes, who in turn must be separate from the upper echelons of the estate workers who themselves might take offence at being seated among the miners.

Brilliantly written, you can feel the passion the author has for her characters, I'm so looking forward to the next book to see how they develop.

MOVING CLOSER TO THE EQUATOR.

Weighing less in Mexico and Mumbai than Britain, I need to move closer to the equator.

GNOME TRAVELS WORLD TO SHOW HOW GRAVITY CHANGES. Kern (pictured left in Cape Town) has been packed off with a set of super-accurate scales to show how an object's weight varies around the planet.

He has visited scientists across Europe, North America, Asia and Australia and so far the bearded model weighed more in London than anywhere else on Earth apart from the South Pole. 

In Antarctica’s Amundsen-Scott Research  Station he weighed 309.82g, while in London he tipped the scales at 308.66g. But he was a svelte 307.62g in Mexico City and just 307.56g in Mumbai, which are both are much closer to the equator.

Next on Kern’s itinerary are Snolab in Canada, which at 2km (1.2 miles) underground is the world’s deepest laboratory, and Cern’s Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland. - Fred Attewell, The Metro (18/03/2012) See more of Kern's journey by clicking HERE.

Beyond the call of duty?

FIREMAN INJURED SAVING ....... GOLDFISH.  Fire fighters may be used to rescuing cats stuck up trees – but one broke his ankle after entering a blazing flat to save three goldfish.

The fireman’s team was called to a blaze in New Malden, Surrey, when he decided to rescue the fish while his colleagues doused the flames.

But, as he made his way out of the first-floor flat carrying the goldfish bowl, he tripped over a shoe and fell.

Colleagues helped him up and saved the fish from spilling out of the bowl. - The Metro (19/03/2012)

Jumping from fish to birds, it's time for my hoot, sorry, cute picture of the week.........

MEET LINFORD AND CHRISTIE, two hand-reared burrowing owls who spend the majority of their day living in a one-bedroomed flat in Wiltshire before until they fly the nest within the next month. -Mark Molloy, The Metro (20/03/2012)

From fish to owls, to dogs. Remember my telling you about a local pub, The Brandling Villa, that was offering 'doggy' dinners washed down by dog friendly meat-flavoured beer? Well .......

PAWFECT ........ ANYONE FOR A DOGGY DESERT? Having created a menu for man's best friend, The Brandling Villa has now added ice cream to its range of meals suitable for doggies which are available in flavours such as Peanut Mutter and Oaty Pawfection. (And that's not all) When customers bite into sausages available at the pub's beer festival next month they'll find locusts, barbecued mealworms and chocolate covered ants 9yum, my favourite) hiding in the meat.

And when a horn blows, the chef will appear in a full biohazard suit, warily carrying the world’s hottest sausage at the end of a long pair of tongs, in a smoking pot of liquid nitrogen. - Michael Brown, The Sunday Sun (25/03/2012)

Surely not!

PERMISSION NEEDED TO GROW DAFFODILS. A farmer has been forced to apply for planning permission to grow daffodils on his own land.

Robert Blyth, 29, submitted a seven-page document for permission to plant "a seasonal display of flowers" at his family farm in Ardleigh, Essex, after jobsworth officials threatened to slap him with a £2,500 fine. 

He will now have to wait weeks for councillors to decide if they will allow the display - by which time the daffodils will have wilted and died. 

Officers at Tendring District Council claim the 13,000 bulb display - which spells out the name of the farm's weekly boot sale - flouts strict advertising rules. - The Telegraph (20/03/2012)

On the road to nowhere ........

WORLD'S MOST POINTLESS ZEBRA CROSSING. University students have been left baffled by an ultra-safe zebra crossing located next to a brick wall at the bottom of a dead end road.
Measuring just a few meters long, The crossing ensures pedestrians are kept safe despite the fact there's no traffic on the road. - The Metro (20/03/2012)





PS. As always I will endeavour to bring you the links (marked in bold capitals) to articles I have used in my Media Monday posts but this is not always possible.  

I DID WARN YOU NOT TO GET ME STARTED!

Thanks to Kelly, an uneducated yokel without shoes who nevertheless does have a moonshine still in the wood behind her house(?), I was inspired to put pen to paper finger to keyboard.


An uneducated yokel? No shoes? Makes moonshine? Surely that's not a nice presumption to make about one of your best blogger buddies just because they happen to hail from Arkansas?


No it's not but as Kelly asks in the opening sentence of THIS (spiffing) POST  "What's the first thing that comes to you mind when I tell you I'm from Arkansas?"


Now to be honest, other than what Kelly has told me, I don't know a lot about the splendid folks of Arkanas but I do know that Americans fall into one of three groups just as I know that the Germans are .........., the French are ........... and as for The Italians? Well, everyone knows that they are ..........


Seriously though, it is terribly amusing (if not kind of frightening) the conclusions we leap to based on where someone lives, their names, their hair colour etc, etc, etc.


I mean take us English (Yes, somebody please take the English I hear some of you say) who according to the British Life and Culture site when asked  What are the first three things which come into your mind when you hear the word 'England' or 'the English'? answered ......

• Fish and chips (studies show 'we' actually prefer a curry), rolling hills and sarcasm (No, really?)
• A typical Englishman is a man wearing a bowler hat (Husband dearest won't put the bins out unless he's wearing his. Whoops, there's me being sarcastic)  carrying a folded up umbrella and reading the Times newspaper
• Warm beer (You should here what we say about lager), stiff upper lip, the weather (This one I'll give you as many of us do seem to have a strange preoccupation with the weather)
• (As you can tell from this post) Use the words 'splendid', 'terribly' and 'spiffing' a lot.

But I didn't really want to talk about the English, I wanted to talk about the stereotypes that people have about us Geordies.

OK, so it's nice that we are thought to be amongst the most friendly, the most splendid of people here in England and it's great that we are well known for our sense of humour and our trustworthiness BUT it really annoys me that whenever we are featured in a documentary or a news programme the makers seem to go out of their way to find the most ignorant, the most loud, the most opinionated of individuals.

Then of course there are the stereotypes of the Geordie as 

• Forever saying 'Wheyy aye mann' (Why-I-Man). Quite where this came from I don't know as I have yet to hear anyone say it other than for the amusement of someone not from the area who thinks we say it.
• A bunch of party goers (Tis true we are one of the party capitals of Europe), the women wearing next to nothing despite the fact it's snowing outside, the men in their short sleeved shirts, with not a coat in sight. One of those occasions when there is some truth in the stereotype.

Geordie lasses oot on the Toon.

(Geordie women out on the Town)

AND according to Yahoo!Answers who asked 'What stereotypes do you give to worr (our) Geordies?' people said ......

• Thought it was all brown ale, women with bricks in their handbags 
• Like flat caps and whippets (surely that's Yorkshire?)
• Unintelligible accents,  lot's of bright orange make-up
• Women who are good in a fight. 

Enough of  Geordies though. Just don't get me started on the presumptions people make of us Tracy's ........ thought to be stupid in the extreme, we are of easy virtue, have a best friend called Sharon and a boyfriend called either Kevin or Wayne and our outfit of choice is a mini skirt and low-cut top (always a size or two too small) and white stiletto sandals with at least a six inch heel. Oh, how I wish my parents had called me Carol as planned.

A typical Tracy..

Note the flawless make-up, the large chest, the tiny waist, the 'OMG' shoes, the fact that you can see her underwear.

TODAY IT'S ALL ABOUT ........ SERPENTS IN CREATION.

It was whilst reading THIS POST by Claudine @ CarryUsOffBooks that I came across this book (WHEN WOMAN BECAME THE SEA by Susan Strauss and Cristina Acosta) which tells the story of how according to a Costa Rican creation story, Sibu, Creator of the World, could not figure out what was missing from his masterpiece and thus sought the help of Thunder who alas couldn't stay put long enough to help, causing Sibu to create the world's first woman in the hope of holding his attention.


Hmm, I thought, what a great idea for a post. The question being which story/stories to use? How about .........

• The Four Creations (Hopi)
• The Separation of Heaven and Earth (Maori)
• Pan Gu and Nu Wa (China)
• Birth and the Dawn (Hawaii)
• OR perhaps one of the other stories mentioned HERE?

 I know, how about serpents? Not one of the most cuddly of creatures I know but they do feature quite heavily in many of the creation stories of the world.


Take for example writer Robert Grave's reconstructed Pelasgian Creation Story which tells the tale of Eurynome, Goddess of all things, who danced upon the waters, and dividing the sea from the sky, became a dove and laid the World Egg thus defeating the Dark Serpent, 'Ophion', by crushing his head with her foot.


Then of course there's always the 'Rainbow Serpent' of Australian mythology of which there are as many legends as there are tribes of people. The creation story known as Dreamtime tells how the Rainbow Serpent descended from the sky and moved over the face of the Earth creating deep valleys and rivers, nourishing the planet and giving it form, other versions telling the story of the Rainbow Serpent populating the world with plants, humans and animals, and yet others, of how the great serpent called out to all the living creatures of the planet to come out of hiding and enjoy the land. 


Or how about 'Adishesha', sometimes known Ananta (the endless one)?


The one thousand headed (representing infinity) ruler of the serpent race known as the Nagas, Hindu legend tends to depict Adishesha as floating on the ocean, his body, soft and gentle enough to serve as a couch for the God Vishnu who rests on it during lulls in the creation, and yet, firm and steady enough to to support whole Earth.

Then again, what about the 'Ouroboros' ? An ancient symbol of a serpent devouring its own tail (representing the cyclic nature of the Universe:creation out of destruction, Life out of Death), the Ouroboros though first seen in Egypt as early as 1600 BC is also to be found in several other cultures,  Phonecian, Greek and Norse included. 


Pictured to the left is perhaps one of the better known depictions of Ouroboros which was taken from the "The Chrysopoeia ('Gold-Making') of Cleopatra during the Alexandrian Period, the inner words meaning 'The All is One', the darker half portraying the night, the Earth, the destructive force of nature, the lighter half, the Day, Heaven, the creative force.


Oh, and lets not forget 'He' as the serpent in the Christian creation story of Adam and Eve is referred to in Genesis 3:1-5.


Able to speak (and thus tempt Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil ) and yet unable at first to crawl (it was only able to do this after being cursed by God) 'HE' is in fact often depicted as a she in early artwork, cleverly identifying both the source of evil and its nature.

Fall and expulsion of Adam and Eve

- Michelangelo, 1510.

(Note the fact that the creature is part woman, part serpent)

Hmm, perhaps central to these stories because serpents were seen as familiar and yet strangely exotic, their unblinking, lidless eyes implying an intelligence that suggested they lived by reason and not just instinct, I think it interesting that they are only occasionally portrayed as a positive aspect in the story of creation but are, more often than not, shown as a negative influence, something that is evil.

Highly Recommended ....... Though not necessarily including serpents, to visit one of the best sites on creation I found, The Big Myth: An animated study of world creation myths, CLICK HERE.

PS. Not an extensive list, tales of serpents can also be found in the creation stories of the people of Africa, Australia, China and Greece. My apologies if I have missed any.


PPS. Like my Folk Lore feature? Why not go visit CAROL'S NOTEBOOK on a Thursday for her weekly Thursday's Tales. Yesterdays post, THE DEAD MOTHER , was a spooky and yet moving story from Russia.

THIS IS NOT FORGIVENESS.

THIS IS NOT FORGIVENESS by CELIA REES.


A giveaway win courtesy of Vivienne @ Serendipity Reviews, you can see her review of the novel by clicking HERE.

Caro: She's beautiful, impulsive. And trouble.


Jamie: He wanted her to notice him. Can't believe she did.


Rob: Back from Afghanistan. Wounded. Secretive. Out of reach. Except with Caro. he lets her in.


Over the course of one summer, their lives collide and entwine with dangerous results.
...... Outer back cover.


FIRST SENTENCE (Chapter 1): I can't decide what to do with your ashes.


MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 174): ........ and Jim wanted to know about him so I'd tell him stories - adventures with Dad as the hero. I ain't much good at making things up so I lifted stuff from films - Andy McNab - whatever. Jim sucked it all in - eyes wide. He wanted a hero so I gave him one.


KEEP IT OR NOT?: Probably one for the shelves.


A bit of a difficult start, told by three different characters, Caro, Jamie and Rob, I confess that I was a tad confused as to just who was narrating but problem solved, I soon discovered that each of the three had their own type face - Jamie told his story in your average font, Rob's his in bold print and Caro hers in italics. 


A truly dark read, all of the characters had issues that should have made me feel a little empathy for them, that should of perhaps made me more understanding of why they were the people they were and yet I just didn't feel any of this ..... at least not for two of the characters.


Caro and Rob - two individuals I felt to be almost without redeeming features. OK so both had had a tough time of it BUT I still failed to understand them and though Rob's problems could have been laid firmly at the door of the army, the more I read of him, the more I came to realise that his difficulties  began much further back.


As for Caro? Partly manipulated by a crowd she so wanted to be part of and, I felt, partly rebelling against parents who couldn't really care less, I did come to like her a tiny little bit more towards the end when I think she began to realise just how deeply she had come involved.


And finally, Jamie. The only half-way likable character and yet I still didn't warm to him. Naive in the extreme, a bit hard of me I know, but a lot of the time I just wanted to tell him to grow a backbone.


A story of adjustments, of discovering yourself, this is a topical read that often left me with a bad taste in my mouth and yet there was something so totalling compelling about it that I found myself reluctant to put it down.

NEWBOOKS MAGAZINE AND ME.

I'm soooooo excited ......... 


Having volunteered to be a reviewer for NEWBOOKS MAGAZINE: The magazine for readers and reading groups, I was delighted when, last week, I received my first assignment.

Designed as a way of getting to know me, I was sent a book,

LYRICS ALLEY by Leila Aboulela, which, though previously featured in the magazine, I was asked to review as a way of demonstrating my style of writing, etc.


 No sooner said than done, I set about reading and reviewing said book which will feature here on Pen and Paper in the not too distant future.


And that's not all ...........


Thanks to my good blogger buddy DIZZY C  there are also several other possibilities that I'm looking into. Thanks to both Dizzy and NAIDA for all their help and advice.

GODIVA.

GODIVA by NERYS JONES.


England, AD 1045.


The Normans are circling, biding their time, ready to pounce on the English and wrest it away from the powerful Anglo-Saxon barons who grudgingly support Edward the Confessor, the childless, half-Norman 'virgin king'. the royal court is a hotbed of rumour and political intrigue ....... everything hinges on the succession.


Inevitably, Godiva, wife of Lovric, Earl of Mercia, one of the most powerful barons - and herself a major landowner in her own right - is drawn into the machinations at court. When Edward manoeuvres their eldest son into a treasonable act, imprisons him and uses him as a pawn in his game plan. Godiva's ferocious maternal instincts rise to the fore and the urge to protect her family engulfs her. As the courtly scheming undermines Godiva's hitherto solid marriage and drives her to despair and confusion, the stage is set for a story so powerful its impact has survived for a thousand years.
....... Inner front cover.


FIRST SENTENCE (Chapter1): A marsh mist had drifted in overnight and settled on the Sherbourne, clinging to the frayed riverbanks and tingeing the early morning air with a dank, sulphurous mustiness.


MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 102): Large wooden platters were placed before the guests, each one resting on a big flat square of bread, where the night's spills of gravy, grease, wine and beer would collect and soak into the bread, so that when it arrived next morning in the mouths of the poor, the crumbs from the king's table would taste of the feast on which the rich had dined.


KEEP IT OR NOT?: Not, I'll be passing this one on.


The author of several non-fiction works, this was a debut novel for Nerys Jones who sadly died as it was being published.


Apart from the legend of in Godiva's naked ride through Coventry* I relished reading this novel in order to find out more about the woman behind the myth. A big fan of historical novels which combine fact with fiction, I confess that I become preoccupied with whether or not the author would deal with this aspect of Godiva's life.


Undoubtedly well researched, I just felt that, compared to some novels of this genre, the plot wasn't as well polished as I would have liked or expected it to be. Slow in getting started, the story, as a whole, was perhaps too 'wordy' for my tastes ........ a reflection of the author being firstly an foremostly an academic writer, an expert in Celtic languages? I don't know.


Still, certainly not without its merits, I loved the characters and especially so Godiva (in many ways a woman before her time, a landowner within her own right) and King Edward (outwardly very pious, he came across as a pervert who delighted in the discomfort of other) though it was the religious politics that I found most interesting, fascinating stuff, they gave a real insight into what I imagine life, with its then mixture of gospel teachings and superstitions, would have been like.


Though not up to the standards of the likes of Philippa Gregory, Godiva I'm sure will appeal to many fans of historical fiction.


* To read of the legend of Godiva click HERE.

WHEN EWE GOTTA GO, YOU GOTTA GO.

When you gotta go, you gotta go!

DOG DISQUALIFIED FOR SPENDING A PENNY. Five-year-old Libby was midway through a course that involved running through tunnels and up and down see-saws when nature called at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The black dog was putting on a show-stopping performance at the Crufts Dog Show at the Birmingham NEC Arena speedily negotiating the course before she paused for the call of nature and was then immediately disqualified. - Gaby Leslie, Yahoo News (12/03/2012) Even worse, the whole episode was caught on video.

Cute picture alert!!!!!!!!

THAT'S ONE BRAVE MOUSE. A cat owner in Surrey was shocked to discover her pet being confronted by a gutsy little mouse in her back garden. - Fred Attewill, The Metro (14/03/2012)

Would ewe believe it?

OPEN 'EWE'NIVERSITY? Burnt out business professionals are flocking to a course that teaches them how to be sheep dogs to relieve office stress.

The 'Raising the Baa' course can cost up to £2,000 and helps high-flying professionals bond with one another and develop their teamwork skills.

'This event helps groups of people, who work together on a paid or voluntary basis, to improve communication skills, increase confidence, enhance leadership qualities, be an inspiration to others - and have heaps of fun in the process,' Mr Farnsworth who runs the course explained. - The Metro (15/03/2012)

Did I really need to know this?

SEX-STARVED FRUIT FLIES TURN TO DRINK. Male fruit flies who have been rejected by females drink significantly more alcohol* than those who have mated freely, scientists say.

In an article in Science, researchers suggest that alcohol stimulates the flies' brains as a "reward" in a similar way to sexual conquest. - BBC News (15/03/2012) * Is it just me or are you know imagining alcoholic flies drinking from bottles of cider?

And finally, after the popular Tree-Rex featured in last weeks Media Monday post, I bring you two more 'spotted' images .....

ET(REE) SPOTTED IN TREE TRUNK.  - Story by Mark Molloy, Top photograph by James Douglas/SWNS.Com, The Metro (13/03/2012)

VISION OF JESUS FOUND ON WALL.  Yorkshire decorator, Sam Dalby, spotted this vision of of Jesus Christ whilst eating his sandwiches. - Rob Leigh, The Mirror (15/03/2012)





PS. As always I will endeavour to bring you the links (marked in bold capitals) to articles I have used in my Media Monday posts but this is not always possible.  

WHEN THE SUNDAY BECOMES THE MONDAY.

It's the stuff we don't say.

The pauses.

The squeeze of the arm.

The small hand finding the big one.

The half-hug.

Not many of us say 'it' to our Mums.

We dutifully phone them every week.

We remember their birthdays.

We care about them - but we don't actually tell them.

It's just something of a given.

A glue that holds the world together.

But today we come out with it.

We tell our Mum how good she is.

We say 'I love you' without putting on a comedy accent.

It's the day of crinkly petrol station flowers, and last minute phone calls.

Homemade cards, chocolates and luke-warm tea from six year olds.

It's the day we tell her that we care. 

That we know how much she's done for us.

And that she can finish our sentences - just this once.

But when this is all over.

When the Sunday becomes the Monday.

When the carnations droop and only coffee creams remain.

Our mums will still be there.

Waiting. Listening. Helping.

With hands that hold it all together.

Shouldn't every day be Mother's Day?

- Author Unknown.