This week the weather has taken a serious swerve – windy , rainy and cold – well for here anyway – so we have hunkered down and I’m going to tell you about what I have been reading and watching….
There was Junkanoo at the weekend but I was cold, tired and not in the mood for sitting for a few hours – so dear readers please forgive me for the lack of pictures of Junkanoo ! Thinking about it I could have used last year’s pictures and only the eagle eyed amongst you would have known – but my Mother has made me pathologically honest so I couldn’t fake it !!
Ok so let’s talk about books and reading ….. The writer Isabel Allende is a favorite writer of fiction for me – so it is a great treat when one of her new books wings it’s way to my bedside table. The latest – In the Midst of Winter – was a great read. It is set in Brooklyn, New York in the midst of winter ! – and it brings together 3 very different individuals because of a big snow storm and freeze. Their lives become enmeshed and during the course of the story you learn the history of each of them. Isabel Allende is a South American writer and many of her stories have that link. This book brings Guatemala, Brazil , Chile and the US all into the mix and you learn the fascinating histories of each person. Plus it is a love story – nothing wrong with that at all ……
As an aside – I was a hairdresser for many years – starting as a Saturday shampoo girl just over FITY YEARS AGO – how shocking ! – but I learned from a young age that everybody has a story inside them to tell – learning how to draw that out became a fascinating study for me and over the years I have found time and time again that given the right circumstances these personal histories are so often more amazing than fiction ….
Anyway I highly recommend both that book and all Isabel Allende’s novels.
We watched on DVD Victoria and Abdul – dear Dame Judy Dench is wonderful as Queen Victoria. I have a deep affection for Judy Dench – and not just because she looks like my Mum ! It is a fictionalized account of the true story of an Indian man who came to her court during the year of her Golden Jubilee to present her with a keepsake from the Indian government. She still had a eye for a handsome man and he became a confidant and dear friend to her during the last years of her reign. It is not going to win any major prizes but sometimes a cosy, feel good movie is just the ticket !
Ok – so now I am reading another one of my favorite authors – Alan Bennett – this book is a collection of his personal diaries from 2005 to 2015. The book is called Keeping On Keeping On– and there are parts that I just have to read out loud to Bob. He is a brilliant observer of people and has a keen, dry wit. I’m not sure how American – or rather non British readers would take to him – but reading his books makes me very happy and I can’t wait to find a bit of time every day to read a few more chapters.
Waiting for me is Stephen Hawking’s book – The Illustrated Brief History of Time – this is going to be a challenge – but I do love a book that challenges me an this one certainly will !
OK – so not too much about Eleuthera at all but a little insight into what is going on in the library at Colman Towers !
And finally a big thank you to the very thoughtful renters who brought me a bright orange Princeton sports shirt ! They knew about my love – obsession ? – with orange through following this blog – it continues to amaze me how many people I have never met or heard from do follow this bit of blather – thank you so very much !
