It has been 70 years since Anne Frank’s death and today there has been a wonderful campaign to remember her.
#NotSilent is a twist on the usual remembrance minute’s silence, where instead the minute is spent reading a passage of Anne Frank’s Diary.
I chose a passage that particularly strikes me (and can only apologise for having read it from my phone- I can’t find my copy anywhere!)
Hello lovelies,
Sorry for my silence! It’s been a busy start to the working year but look- we’re already in February… And I’m already looking forward to March. Time flies. Soon it’ll be spring and we’ll stop having to take off our 5 extra layers when we get on the tube… I dream of those days.
Next month there are some really exciting new books being published, here’s a little look at a few of them:
Half Wild – Sally Green
Published by Penguin, 26th March 2015
The second book in the Half Bad trilogy sees the half black, half white witch Nathan deal with many conflicts including the death of his best friend, the attempted rescue of the love of his life and coming to terms with the dark power of his Gift.
Compared to Harry Potter and Twilight, while simultaneously like nothing I’ve read before – Half Wild will keep you on the edge of your seat. Half Bad set the scene for this spectacular sequel.
The Shut Eye – Belinda Bauer
Published by Bantam Press, 12th March 2015
I’ve yet to read this, but am a HUGE fan of Belinda Bauer’s work. I can highly recommend the thrilling and complex Rubbernecker and The Facts of Life and Death.
The Shut Eye is about a mourning mother who seizes help from a psychic who may be able to tell her what happened to her son… But is the psychic what he claims to be?
Birth of a Theorem – Cedric Villani
Published by Bodley Head, 5th March 2015
I was lucky enough to attend a lecture at work led by the astounding Cedric Villani and can safely say I’ve never heard someone speak to passionately and with such ease about mathematics.
He has been awarded the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for mathematicians and The Birth of a Theorem takes us on the journey that got him there. Through imagination, beauty and obsession, Villani brings accessibility and excitement to mathematics- no mean feat.
Let’s start with the bad first, shall we? As is probably fairly evident by now, the whole writing every day thing isn’t going so well- it’s been a very busy start to the year! But I do apologise.
The good news is that I still plan to post a lot more creative writing kinda posts this year, so I hope you enjoy them.
Speak soon.
MBR x
January 5th
Call Me Ishmael
Take the first sentence from your favourite book and make it the first sentence of your post.
My favourite book is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Here goes…
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley
Again. The drive unwound before my eyes.
Above, branches embraced so tenderly,
Naked limbs of trees unrecognised.
The drive had thinned, no more than but a thread,
Choked by moss, while grass trailed up my boots.
It lost itself beneath a tree felled dead,
Began again beyond skeletal roots.
At last I came upon it in the moonlight;
The house, alive but ever stranger.
Supressed by what once had been its delight,
The lady of the estate now, is Nature.
It’s a dream, I know, I’ve seen it burn;
To Manderley, we will never return.
MBR x
So it’s the 5th January and I’ve missed out a couple of days.Rather than go back, I’m going to keep to today’s prompt. It’s post will be out shortly!
Resolutions
Last year’s New Years resolution
Was that he be more resolute.
He thinks, perhaps, he might have achieved it.
Happy New Year, readers and followers.
Last year I made an effort to write more book reviews and whilst those will continue, I’d also like to try something different.
I found a document of 365 writing prompts from the Editors at WordPress and I’m going to aim to write a little a day, as suggested.
Who knows if I’ll stick to it! Let’s find out.
Please join me and let me know how the prompts work out for you.
Day 1 – January 1st, 2015
Prompt:
Stroke of Midnight
Where were you last night when 2013 turned into 2014? Is that where you’d wanted to be?
This year we’ve had so much fun
That our countdown nearly overrun.
In 2014 I want to linger,
Hold that hand back with a finger.
Hi all,
It’s very nearly that time of year so if you’re still looking for a present or stocking filler for an awkward member of your family, see some ideas below.
Available at all good local bookstores 😉
For the crime and mystery lover who has been a fan of the Serial podcast this year…
The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins
A daily commuter train pauses at the same spot every day. From this position, a woman on the train can see into the back of a row of houses- one of which used to be hers and now belongs to her ex and his new girlfriend. This tells the story of how she becomes tangled in the lives that she views from the train window…
For the teen who’s a fan of Harry Potter and Twilight…
Half Bad – Sally Green
It’s magic, but not like you’ve seen it before. This is the first part of a dark trilogy following the story of Nathan, a sixteen-year-old witch and the son of the world’s most terrifying and violet witch, Marcus. AND, if it turns out they like it- you’re sorted for the next two Christmases!
For fans of Girls or Caitlin Moran…
Not That Kind of Girl – Lena Dunham
By star and writer of the TV show Girls, Lena Dunham, this book is a compilation of her essays and rants. Both funny and moving.
For the teen who loved The Fault in our Stars…
If I Stay – Gayle Forman
One morning, Mia and her family experience a horrific car crash. Comatose Mia narrates the rest of the story, as it unfolds, in an out of body experience where she has a difficult choice to make.
The film came out earlier this year.
For the Sci-Fi fan who loved Interstellar and Gravity…
The Martian – Andy Weir
Stranded on Mars, it’s lucky our protagonist has a good sense of humour. Both thrilling and funny, it’s not your typical sci-fi.
For those pesky kids…
Father Christmas Needs a Wee – Nicholas Allan
Festive-themed and guaranteed to make the little ones laugh.
For the high-brow reader, who’s read them all before...
The Incarnations – Susan Barker
My favourite book of this year, unfortunately it went under the radar of many. Wang is a taxi driver in Beijing. Mysterious letters start to appear in his taxi from someone who claims to be his soulmate. The letters recount elaborate tales of Wang’s previous lives.
I couldn’t recommend this more highly.
For anyone else, these books will impress even the hard to please…
The Miniaturist – Jessie Burton
If you haven’t already heard of this book then you’ve not been into Waterstones recently- they are big fans and have even done a special gift edition of this book. Set in 1686, Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam ready to meet her new husband. Only he’s not all he seems and his sister is less than welcoming. When Nella’s new husband gifts her a replica of their house in dollhouse form, things start to get stranger…
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry AND The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy – Rachel Joyce
These books are the perfect pair and wonderful gifts. Both tell the same story, more or less, but from completely different perspectives. Harold receives a letter one day from an old colleage, Queenie. It turns out he touched her life in ways he never realised.
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler
It’s really hard to explain this book without spoiling it. I urge you to try it and to gift to others.
Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life by Nina Stibbe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was surprised to see that some reviewers found Love, Nina boring! Personally, I revelled in it.
An easy read, Love, Nina is a collection of letters written by Nina to her sister. At the time she is a nanny for a small wealthy family in London, in the 80s.
It’s like peeping through the keyhole, or stumbling across a diary. We get a snapshot of what it would be like to be Nina. It’s the perfect commuter read, as it’s so easy to dip into.
My favourite parts were the little details of her every day life. Such as the little boy completing his history homework and writing a whole project on “Amber Lynn” rather than Anne Boleyn. That made me chuckle.
Overall, a really lovely read.
This Should Be Written in the Present Tense by Helle Helle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
If you are the kind of reader who enjoyed Stoner and Knausgaard, then you’ll like this. If those weren’t your cup of tea, I’d give this a wide berth.
This is a very minimalist novel, where we follow a normal college girl who lives in a few different places during her time at college. It has no plot really, but instead we follow her every day life.
It’s artistically written and fascinated me. The best way I can describe it is that Helle Helle is to books what Tracey Emin is to art.
my blighter's rock 