Nothing Much

Only dead fish swim with the stream.

Fear: False Evidence Appearing Real.

The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do.

The meaning of life is not an unquestionable answer; it is an unanswerable question.

A hundredload of worry will not pay an ounce of debt. (this is really relevant for me!)

if we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.

When you aim for perfection, you discover it's a moving target.

You'll never find peace of mind until you listen to your heart.

BR - ~Where were you Robert? by Hans Magnus Enzensberger

I read on Amazon that this is considered a good book by a renowned European author. Think I must be missing something. I found the book bitty, hard to follow, the historical information felt wrong and I didn't care about either the main character or any of the other characters.

Did like this cover though.

Not a keeper, straight back to the second hand book shop where I got it - didn't help with children's book research much either except maybe on how not to write it!

Where were you Robert? Who Cares!?!

Dix

BR - The Tent, The Bucket and Me by Emma Kennedy

I brought this book because it sounded like it had huge potential. I went camping in the 70's and had some interesting experiences (not least getting totally flooded out on a site in St Olaves even though my dad chose the highest spot to camp on). [The site is now almost totally flooded and actually a marina for Broads Cruisers]. But I digress - I really thought this would be a good book. I certainly remember using something like a bucket although I think it was a very early porta potie but took some balance as I remember and strict instructions of 'no number twos'. But this book starts off ok but I feel like in the end she almost goes too far. I just can't believe that her parents would keep trying if they had such hideous experiences.

I must admit we never went abroad so maybe the first intrepid campers in France did have it hard but it seems to me that most people would give up camping if they had one or maybe two terrible experiences. I did laugh in places but in the end I just found myself saying 'oh yeah' and being glad when it came to an end.

BR - When Skateboards Will be Free by Said Sayrafiezadeh

I won this book but am not quite sure who or from who. I guess it might be one of the competitions I do on the Penguin site. It just turned up one day and I thought, hey this sounds interesting. And it was.

It is an amazing auto biography of a lad being brought up in USA whose parents are devout (and I think that is the right word) socialists. They truly believe in the workers revolutions. He tells how this has so affected his life, his childhood and his view on being an adult. I just really liked it. I guess I have read stories like this when children grow up in very religious environments but to hear it from a political point of view was really interesting. The choices his parents made in order to follow their principles and how his life had been because of this.

If you want a good and different read I recommend this. I think it is a keeper - something I will read again.

Dix

More from Study in Grey

Parts of Having It Out With Melancholy by Jane Kenyan




4 OFTEN

Often I go to bed as soon after dinner
as seems adult
(I mean I try to wait for dark)
in order to push away
from the massive pain in sleep's
frail wicker coracle.

6 IN AND OUT

The dog searches until he finds me
upstairs, lies down with a clatter
of elbows, puts his head on my foot.

Sometimes, the sound of his breathing
saves my life - in and out, in
and out: a pause, a long sigh....

and

Depressed Mode by Heidi Greco

i am wearing
the same
tired clothes
for three long days now
around the clock
i know
it is not
a good sign


Perhaps I underestimated this little book - there are some extracts/writings that I don't get but why would I understand it all. Others just give me little rays of understanding and comfort.

Maybe I will keep this book after all.

Dix

Separation

This image is called separation. I thought it appropriate.

BR - No and Me by Delphine De Vigan

I purchased this book because I am trying to research older children/teenage books. I picked it up almost on a whim as it was by the till on special offer at £4.49. I had heard of it and thought it sounded interesting.

I loved it - I have read it in just over 24 hours and never wanted to put it down. It has many elements that I normally don't like - an unhappy ending, difficult to pin down characters but I still loved it. I loved the feeling of all the main characters being outsiders, outside their families, outside their friends. I understand that homelessness does not necessary have answers, that we can't heal others however much we try, the relationship between the two main women so close and yet so distance. The young girl and her male friend not being based on sexually but on something else. This is just a totally fabulous book - but not an easy book. This is what I like about it.

It is a keeper. It is one I will read again.

Dix