Recent Reading

Hello everyone! Sorry about the delay in posting. I've just handed in my three English essays, so I'm posting now before I have to write any more!
I've just started reading the books of two mystery authors recently - the Campion books by Margery Allingham and the Adam Dalgliesh books by P.D. James. Both authors are quite good and I'm enjoying the new realms I'm being introduced to, so here follows a short review on the books I've read so far.

Margery Allingham
Read so far: Mystery Mile, Coroner's Pidgin, Flowers For The Judge, Hide My Eyes and The Black Dudley Murder

Well-crafted stories with quite a lot of mystery remaining after you've read them, like who Campion is really and has the worldwide crime scene been conquered by the death of its leader or will it keep popping up unexpectedly. I don't know; I'll just have to keep reading!  Perhaps someday I'll find out. The books are full of interesting people and cunning crimes and Campion always seems to have something up his sleeve. Another thing I'm glad of is that there are also quite a lot of Campion books, so I shan't run out any time soon.

P.D. James
Read so far: A Certain Justice, Original Sin and The Murder Room

A bit more gory than any other mysteries I've read so far, often with more than a few bodies piling up in each one, but nonetheless each a great read. Full of suspense and excitement, the books also give a deeper picture of human nature than many other similar books of this genre. Her books are also set closer to modern times and are quite gripping. They are also quite long and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader amused.

A Quick Note About What's Been Happening

Recently, just in case you didn't already know, there's been a rather large amount of exciting things happening at my end of the blog. Firstly (and best of all) my dad came home from a seven-month deployment on a Canadian navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea (or perhaps it should be "the Canadian navy ship"!). I missed him a lot and its great to have him home again! As well as this excitement though, I'm teaching a drama class for 5 to twelve year-olds. I've got about twenty kids to keep busy, plus I'm planning all the lessons and writing all the scripts myself. As I've never done anything remotely like it before, it's quite the job! As if that were not enough, I'm currently working on several short stories and a novel of my own. Hopefully I'll actually end up finishing the novel, as earlier attempts have tended to peter out.

Now a word as to my next post (currently a post-in-progress), which will be on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man And The Sea. It is the first book in a long time that I have really wanted to put down, or better yet, throw away. It was, however, a library book and against all better judgement, I finished it. From what other people have said about it, I think I may be missing something, especially as I find Hemingway's style very stunted and difficult to read. So, please allow a few more days for a re-reading and perhaps I will discover why so many people like The Old Man And The Sea and why it won a prize before I expound my views about it in a Boni Libri post.

~Alice

P.S. Please note the addition of my wonderful cousin Luke's blog (A Blog Fondue) in the sidebar. I'm very much enjoying it, and if you're reading this Luke - Well done and Bravo Zulu (as they say in the navy)!

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson

Ratings:

Age Group: 12+ . Availability: 7/10 (Most librarys and many bookshops now have it as it is making a comeback). Cleanliness: 6/10 Overall: *****

Review:
English author Winnifred Watson wrote six novels, the best-known of which is Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, a Cinderella-type story of a failed governess who finds happiness and turns her life around in only 24 hours. It is a delightful pre-WW2 tale of cocktail parties, clubs and the people that inhabited them. It is also the story of Miss Pettigrew who suddenly finds herself caught up in this unfamiliar world and has her fortunes radically altered as well as finding the beginnings of love in the process. The glitz and glamour of classy 1930's London is well-described in the book and one can easily visualise the glittering lights and champagne the story invokes. This lighthearted and bubbly book whips us and Miss Pettigrew through a dazzling story that I could hardly put down. The writing is good quality and while not of the calibre of say, Homer or Thomas Hardy, it is a highly enjoyable book. Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day is probably more appealing to girls than boys because of the Cinderella aspect of it, but it is a thoroughly good read.

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day is by Winifred Watson. Republished in 2000 by Persephone Books, it was originally published in 1938 by Methuen.

An Additional Note:
The movie Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (2008), starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams, is widely available both for rent and from libraries. I viewed this film not long after reading the book and while it does deviate from the original in more than a few places, it does capture the spirit of the book and place it in a more realistic context. It also does a good job of showing the glamour of the world Miss Pettigrew steps into and the clothing and sets are true to the period. It does change the roles of a few characters and leave out some interesting parts. But, all in all, a very enjoyable film, although probably more for females.  It is rated PG-13 and is suitable for a teenage and adult audience.
You can see the trailer here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970468/

Oh Dear!

I'm afraid it has been an awfully long time since I last wrote anything. I will try and keep more things coming now that things are back to normal. I have recently been re-reading a number of books and then writing about them for my English Three course, so by the time the assignments get sent in I really cannot stand to write about the same books all over again. In addition to this I went on a trip to England and saw a lot of my family and a whole load of very exciting places. I went to the British Museum, which I have always dreamed of visiting, The Victoria And Albert Museum, Hampton Court Palace, Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, The Museum Of Kent Life and The Natural History Museum as well as a lot of churches, ruins, bookshops, parks and so on. When I got back it was almost Christmas and with that came a lot of performing with the Victoria Salvation Army Band and the choir I'm in plus the usual busy-ness of life. Once Christmas was over and we were in the New Year I had three essays to write in one week, which I did and now I finally have the time to read a book again! I have just finished Winifred Watson's Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, which was one of the best books I've read in a long time, so I shall certainly be reviewing that later this week. It is also the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens, so I shall have to do something special for that as well. But for now, my Latin homework calls, so I shall write more later.