So I snaffled from work (borrowed on my library card) the new Lisa Scottoline Look again (it's ok it was reserved for me)and started reading it when I got home from work last night.
As always with Scottoline, it's a damn fine read.
The main character is Ellen Gleason - she's a newspaper journalist and she has an (adopted) three year old son named Will.
One night after work she's going through her mail- in amongst the envelopes is a flyer put out by an organisation that tries to trace missing children.
Ellen notices that one of the children on the flyer looks like her son Will.
She keeps coming back to the resemblance between the kid on the flyer (Timothy Braverman) and her son. At first she figures they're related - after all her adoption of Will was legal and above board - he had heart problems as a baby and his mother gave him up for adoption beacuse she couldn't deal.
But Ellen keeps coming back to the photo on the flyer and does some more digging, trying to avoid the questions - does her son really belong to another family, and if he does, should she keep him or give him up?
The book was good, but I did work out the ending well before I should have but this didn't detract from the suspense or the story at all.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
The brain - use it or lose it
Dr Norman Doidge at the Sydney Writers Festival.
Dr Doidge is the author of The brain that changes itself.
I'd never heard of the 'brain that changes itself until late last year when I spoke at the Kew booktalk about a crime novel in which the protagonist is asked to find a killer who has had 'alterations' made to his brain.
After the talk one of the audience came up to me and mentioned that there was a non-fiction book on a similar subject (the brain, not the crimes) by Norman Doidge.
When I went to reserve it at my library there was already quite a long waiting list for it and that piqued my interest somewhat.
Anyway back to the SWF.
Dr Doidge was in conversation with broadcaster Caroline Baum, who is one of those truly excellent interviewers.
There was a huge crowd in attendance and the line for book signings was about a mile long so didn't get a book signed. But hey.
Doidge is an enthralling speaker, he talked about how the brain was once thought to be quite rigid and that brain trauma was absolutely final; but now the brain can change itself and/or adapt to changes which has lead to different ways of assesing brain function after events such as strokes.
According to Doidge it is essential that we exercise our brains - if we don't use our minds to continue to learn then we may well suffer from 'mental stagnation'.
The Librarian in me was pretty pleased to hear Doidge recommend reading as a way of improving and maintaining cognitive function. Yay.
So there you have it - head for your local library and read, read, read.
Reading keeps your mind active and helps save you from mental stagnation. (Now there's a library week slogan!)
Check out Dr Doidge's website at:http://www.normandoidge.com
Dr Doidge has had a varied writing career, winning prizes for poetry and journalism as well as a stint as editor-in-chief of the Canadian Review of Books.
Must commend Caroline Baum on her 'in conversation with' skills - she was obviously very familiar with his work but let him have the lead, occasionally asking a pertinent question, to get him 'back on track'. A great session.
Dr Doidge is the author of The brain that changes itself.
I'd never heard of the 'brain that changes itself until late last year when I spoke at the Kew booktalk about a crime novel in which the protagonist is asked to find a killer who has had 'alterations' made to his brain.
After the talk one of the audience came up to me and mentioned that there was a non-fiction book on a similar subject (the brain, not the crimes) by Norman Doidge.
When I went to reserve it at my library there was already quite a long waiting list for it and that piqued my interest somewhat.
Anyway back to the SWF.
Dr Doidge was in conversation with broadcaster Caroline Baum, who is one of those truly excellent interviewers.
There was a huge crowd in attendance and the line for book signings was about a mile long so didn't get a book signed. But hey.
Doidge is an enthralling speaker, he talked about how the brain was once thought to be quite rigid and that brain trauma was absolutely final; but now the brain can change itself and/or adapt to changes which has lead to different ways of assesing brain function after events such as strokes.
According to Doidge it is essential that we exercise our brains - if we don't use our minds to continue to learn then we may well suffer from 'mental stagnation'.
The Librarian in me was pretty pleased to hear Doidge recommend reading as a way of improving and maintaining cognitive function. Yay.
So there you have it - head for your local library and read, read, read.
Reading keeps your mind active and helps save you from mental stagnation. (Now there's a library week slogan!)
Check out Dr Doidge's website at:http://www.normandoidge.com
Dr Doidge has had a varied writing career, winning prizes for poetry and journalism as well as a stint as editor-in-chief of the Canadian Review of Books.
Must commend Caroline Baum on her 'in conversation with' skills - she was obviously very familiar with his work but let him have the lead, occasionally asking a pertinent question, to get him 'back on track'. A great session.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Laura Lippman at SWF
Event 116. Laura Lippman in conversation with Christine Cremen.Laura Lippman has long been one of my favourite crime writers so I was pretty stoked to be able go along to the Sydney Writers Festival to hear her speak.
She was being interviewed by critic and broadcaster Christine Cremen (who has obviously read Lippman's books). The session started with Laura reading a passage from her newest (standalone) novel Life sentences.
The first question looked at the similarity of reasons for writing crime fiction between Sue Grafton & Lippman. (Grafton wrote her first crime novel so she could 'kill off' an ex-husband; Lippman wanted to 'kill' the boss of her then boyfriend.)
Lippman's series featuring P.I. Tess Monaghan is currently up to ten books and Laura gave us a heads up as to why there will be probably be a longer gap than usual before #11 is published.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** (highlight to read)
Laura has written a serialised Tess novella for a newspaper - and it opens with Tess being seven months pregnant (yes the baby is Crow's) - and Laura needs to work out how Tess is going to deal with being a P.I. with a young child...
*****END SPOILER ALERT*****
Baltimore is an integral character in all Laura's books and it is hard to imagine Tess Monaghan anywhere else.
Laura gave a brief overview of Edgar Allan Poe's relationship with Baltimore and how one year she wangled her way onto the viewing group for the annual mysterious visit of the 'Poe Toaster' - a cloaked stranger who, every year (since 1949), visits Poe's original grave marker on January 19 (the anniversary of Poe's birth) and leaves red roses and a half bottle of cognac.
She is also not afraid to have a dig at Charm City - quoting a former Mayor, orPolice Chief who madethe boast(!) that Baltimore doesn't have drive-by (shootings) anymore - it has executions!
Laura was a great speaker and it was a shame that there was only 40 or so of us there to hear her speak.
*****
Her advice to aspiring writers - READ. If you don't read how can you write?
*****
I would have loved to hear Laura in conversation with Sue Turnbull - I think they could have had an awesomely wide ranging discussion.
*****
Crime writer Tara Moss was in the audience taking notes.
*****
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The week
My current favourite (have in my backpack to read at odd intervals) title is not a book but rather a weekly magazine.
And before you waste a lot of time trying to decide between Womans Day, New Idea, Who weekly etc. let me tell you it is actually a news magazine called The Week.
It's a magazine format weekly news summary in a magazine format - very interesting and very readable.
This is the Australian edition which launched late last year. Apparently in the US & UK their editions sell very well.
Like a lot of people I get most of my news online which means sometimes I get just headlines and sometimes I miss stuff altogether.
So having a good news summary for the week because I don't always have time to read the papers seems like a good deal to me.
And before you waste a lot of time trying to decide between Womans Day, New Idea, Who weekly etc. let me tell you it is actually a news magazine called The Week.
It's a magazine format weekly news summary in a magazine format - very interesting and very readable.
This is the Australian edition which launched late last year. Apparently in the US & UK their editions sell very well.
Like a lot of people I get most of my news online which means sometimes I get just headlines and sometimes I miss stuff altogether.
So having a good news summary for the week because I don't always have time to read the papers seems like a good deal to me.
My reading glasses do not
I was updating this years 'books read' spreadsheet and realised that my total number of books read in 2009 was way down on the equivalent period in previous years.
After much pondering on 'why is it so' I think I've discovered the reason - my reading glasses.
Yep, my reading glasses (which are meant to make it easier for me to read) actually make it harder for me to read.
You see, I got my first ever pair of reading glasses just before Christmas and since then my reading has decreased even tho' the glasses make it easier for me to read the print.
Once upon a time If I couldn't sleep or was bored I'd just pick up the nearest book and start reading - not anymore.
Now a typical spur of the moment read goes something like this:
Find book
Can't read book
Get out of warm snuggly bed & go looking for glasses (probably in bag ready for work tomorrow)
Glasses not in bag
Perhaps I took them into bedroom in case I woke up and wanted to read
Glasses not in bedroom (mighty p****d if they are)
Wander round flat looking for glasses hoping I didn't leave them at work.
Find glasses in kitchen (why in kitchen - no books in kitchen? - light dawns - was reading ingredients on box of soup)
By now it is either time to get up anyway or I'm too tired to read and it's back to sleep time.
Solution - need pairs of glasses in every room of flat, in every handbag, on desk at work, on info desk at work, in tea room at work, at other branches of work, at abode of every person I know.
Then, and only then, will I be able to resume normal reading throughput.
Either that or I'm going to have to read more large print.
After much pondering on 'why is it so' I think I've discovered the reason - my reading glasses.
Yep, my reading glasses (which are meant to make it easier for me to read) actually make it harder for me to read.
You see, I got my first ever pair of reading glasses just before Christmas and since then my reading has decreased even tho' the glasses make it easier for me to read the print.
Once upon a time If I couldn't sleep or was bored I'd just pick up the nearest book and start reading - not anymore.
Now a typical spur of the moment read goes something like this:
Find book
Can't read book
Get out of warm snuggly bed & go looking for glasses (probably in bag ready for work tomorrow)
Glasses not in bag
Perhaps I took them into bedroom in case I woke up and wanted to read
Glasses not in bedroom (mighty p****d if they are)
Wander round flat looking for glasses hoping I didn't leave them at work.
Find glasses in kitchen (why in kitchen - no books in kitchen? - light dawns - was reading ingredients on box of soup)
By now it is either time to get up anyway or I'm too tired to read and it's back to sleep time.
Solution - need pairs of glasses in every room of flat, in every handbag, on desk at work, on info desk at work, in tea room at work, at other branches of work, at abode of every person I know.
Then, and only then, will I be able to resume normal reading throughput.
Either that or I'm going to have to read more large print.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Bayside Literary Festival
The Bayside Literary Festival is on again this year.(may 22-31 at a range of venues in Bayside.)
Unfortunately I'm going to miss the first few events as I'll be in Sydney - I'm disappointed to miss Fantasy & High Tea with Cecilia Dart-Thornton (" sip from bone china complemented by a range of home made goodies, reminiscent of an old fashioned high tea, as you listen to world renowned and local fantasy author Cecilia Dart-Thornton explain a life which 'alternates between seen and unseen worlds of vivid strangeness, beauty, peril and passion')"
Professionally - one event I'd like to attend (and I'll be checking my roster to see if it's possible) is 'So you want to start a book club' "Meet the Library Reader Promotion Team for idas on how to run your own book club. See new and recommended books, chat to the staff and enjoy morning tea"
It sounds like a cross between a booktalk and (an offline) 'click goes...' session, and would be a good way to launch a 'bookgroup booklist' or 'bookgroup in a bag'.
It would also be a good outreach talk for local community houses etc, but I digress.
Back to the Bayside Literary Festival.
Authors include: Alison Goodman, Jarad Henry, Cathy Cole, Vikki Petraitis, Christine Darcas.
Events include: Start writing your own blog, Poetry workshops, National Simultaneous Storytime, a self publishing talk, writing for radio and stage.
Check out the full program here.
Unfortunately I'm going to miss the first few events as I'll be in Sydney - I'm disappointed to miss Fantasy & High Tea with Cecilia Dart-Thornton (" sip from bone china complemented by a range of home made goodies, reminiscent of an old fashioned high tea, as you listen to world renowned and local fantasy author Cecilia Dart-Thornton explain a life which 'alternates between seen and unseen worlds of vivid strangeness, beauty, peril and passion')"
Professionally - one event I'd like to attend (and I'll be checking my roster to see if it's possible) is 'So you want to start a book club' "Meet the Library Reader Promotion Team for idas on how to run your own book club. See new and recommended books, chat to the staff and enjoy morning tea"
It sounds like a cross between a booktalk and (an offline) 'click goes...' session, and would be a good way to launch a 'bookgroup booklist' or 'bookgroup in a bag'.
It would also be a good outreach talk for local community houses etc, but I digress.
Back to the Bayside Literary Festival.
Authors include: Alison Goodman, Jarad Henry, Cathy Cole, Vikki Petraitis, Christine Darcas.
Events include: Start writing your own blog, Poetry workshops, National Simultaneous Storytime, a self publishing talk, writing for radio and stage.
Check out the full program here.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Ye olde cure for bedwetting
Bibliophile Bullpen pointed me at this little gem... The Wellcome Library has digitised and uploaded PDFs of its entire collection of 17th century cookbooks - also known as receipt (recipe) books. This first image is a recipe for peacock, followed by a cure for bedwetting. (Wellcome Library ref. MS.1, f.2r).
The second image is from the Recipe book of Lady Ann Fanshawe. 1651-1707"The comments scribbled next to recipes sometimes reach out across the centuries to give us a powerful sense of individual women’s lives and experiences. Ann Fanshaw’s note endorsing a red powder to be taken after miscarriage (‘I have found good experementalley of this medicin’) is all the more poignant since we know that in the 22 years of her marriage she bore fourteen children and miscarried six times." Wellcome Library ref. MS.7113, f.73r.
I enjoy exploring digitisation projects such as this - there's something interesting about looking at someones recipe books - often they are an informal version of a family bible (says the genealogist within)
*************
The Wellcome Library is part of the Wellcome Trust, which funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending over £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas.
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