We're back!

A week away from the computer - that hasn't happened for a long time. But here we are, back from our snowboarding holiday, and very nearly undamaged. Mr A has the worst crop of cold sores I've ever seen in my life, and I have a bruise that runs from wrist to elbow up the inside of my arm. The odd thing is that I didn't hit anything, just pulled the muscle underneath, and I've never had any kind of bruise from a pulled muscle before.

There's lots to write about from a week away, but I only have half a day before school starts again, and a large rucksack full of dirty clothes and no food in the house. There was time for lots of reading, so I'll put a bit of that in. From now on I'm going to write about books after I've finished them, or at least when I'm part way through, so that I can vent my spleen at the same time.

That last Henry James audio book had far too many words in it. I can't bear to think about the number of times that something or someone was described as "exquisite" or "too beautiful". Hardly anything happened, and I didn't even care about the things that did happen. Not a successful audio choice - I kept drifting off, and then realising that I hadn't a clue who 'he' or 'she' was, even if they were "too, too beautiful, you know".


The House at Riverton
by Kate Morton

"Summer 1924: On the eve of a glittering Society party, by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, will never speak to each other again. Winter 1999: Grace Bradley, 98, one-time housemaid of Riverton Manor, is visited by a young director making a film about the poet's suicide. Ghosts awaken, and memories, long consigned to the dark reaches of Grace's mind, begin to sneak back through the cracks."

Another of my never-ending selection of Christmas presents (only one more after this). It was actually very good, well written, and gripping towards the end, when you find out what really happened. Recommended.