The twelve posts of Christmas...day eight. There is no boxing on Boxing Day.

When I was a lad, I would wonder why Boxing Day was called Boxing Day? 

No one in my family had an answer to it. 

I came to what I thought was a logical conclusion at the time that it must be named after the sport of boxing. But I also wondered why it was that on Boxing Day there was actually no boxing on the television. Not only that, but I would just be laughed at if I asked what time the boxing was on.

Then one day at senior school, in England a Secondary Modern, I was in the library, but not because as a young teenager I had any great interest in books at that age. No, the librarian was a rather attractive German lady, who had short blond hair which may or may not have been natural. She also wore short dresses, the mini skirt being quite popular back then. 

The library was often quite busy when she was on duty. 

On this day, I plucked up the courage to ask her the Christmas question that had been on my mind. Well, it was on my mind every Christmastime. 

The conversation went something like this.

“Miss, can you tell me why Boxing Day is called Boxing Day?”

She gave a friendly smile, got up out of her chair and said, “follow me.”

How could I refuse?

The twelve posts of Christmas...day seven. When you get the writing itch, you have to scratch it.

So, it's Christmas Day, and I'm writing a blog post. 

It will just be a quick one today, because if you feel the urge to write, then you just have to. This happened to me last night, Christmas Eve, but not for the blog, for a story that I am in the process of writing, my first attempt at fiction. 

Here's what happened.

I fell asleep last night after an early evening carbohydrate rush took over. I woke up around ten and pretty soon I wasn't sleepy at all, I started to think about something that had been on my mind about the story that I am writing. That was the opening line and first few pages. I've read that it should be dramatic, set the scene for what's to come. I looked at the first page and the opening line of fiction books that I owned. They all had a fairly dramatic start. Authors on Twitter X comment on this occasionally, and I looked at what I had written so far. The start wasn't that dramatic, I would even say it was mundane, I needed something better.

The thought that suddenly came to me, late night Christmas Eve, was around a character that I had planned to introduce later in the story. It occurred to me that it would make a good opening to the story, so I got writing. Several hundred words later, I think it works. Time will tell.

I also discovered something else recently about my own writing. I watched an interview recently with the author Cheryl Strayed, who described herself as a binge writer. She is not one for writing every day, she seems to write better when the inspiration is there to do so, and I suppose when the ideas are ready to flow. Others require the commitment of writing every day. I think I am more of a binge writer than the latter, although I try to mix both. Science says that binge writing is bad for you, who would have thought?

Binge writing

All I know is that when it comes to having ideas, I work better when they just come to me. I struggle when I try to force things. 

It was the same when I was at school.

 

If I get the urge to write more today, like an itch, I just might struggle to resist the temptation to scratch it.

Merry Christmas!

 

The Twelve Posts of Christmas: Day Six. Working For the Man.

My first job, other than doing errands and helping out at home for pocket money, was a paper round.

That's not me in the picture, but I remember the cold dark nights and early Sunday mornings, out in all weather delivering to even darker places.

Then during my final school year, I got a real job at a working men's club. Just like this one.

My job? I can't remember the job title, but it was working as a glass washer and general dogsbody in the main concert hall bar. I mostly worked weekends when it was really busy and a little rowdy at times. Furthermore, I must have been earning at least 70 new pence an hour.

At the end of each weekend shift, it gave me one of these.

Which meant I could do more than just look at things in my local toy shop.

In reality, I was never a big spender, but it did help me buy one of these.

The TV was black and white, had a very small screen, and had an indoor arial that was not always reliable. 

I think I bought it from Comet.

Thanks for reading!

The Twelve Posts of Christmas: Day Five. Marshmallow or Book?

 A while back, someone posted the image below on Twitter X. It speaks for itself.

We live in a world where you can buy a book, new, for a few pounds or less. Self-published are often offered for free. Buying a book could well be one of the cheapest forms of entertainment around at the moment. You can spend £5 to £10 on a magazine these days.

Then I came across this picture.

A marshmallow for £3.95? I'd rather buy a book, or maybe two for that. Then there is the bargain-basement, or charity shops, car boot sales, flea markets…

The Twelve Posts of Christmas: Day Four. Andy Pandy is Coming to Play.

Amazingly, this is my most viewed tweet on Twitter X in 2023 and for a brief period, a few weeks after posting, it was trending.  It has 7200 views. Go figure.

Andy Pandy. pic.twitter.com/xeZTauSFc6

— Lost In Words (@LostInWords2023) November 9, 2023

Andy Pandy (1950)

Each episode began:

Andy Pandy is coming to play, la, la-la, la, la-la,
Andy Pandy’s here today, la, la-la, la-la.

And ended:

Time to stop play, just for today,
Andy and Teddy must now go away.
Time to stop play, just for today
Andy is waving goodbye …, goodbye …, goodbye.

If you grew up in the 1950s or 1960s, this was most likely part of your childhood. Not that there was much to watch on television. Andy Pandy is coming to play. Don't have nightmares.

The Twelve Posts of Christmas: Day Three. A Billion Kindle Unlimited Reads

Just to say right at the start of this Christmas post, the billion reads on Kindle Unlimited does not refer to my book. I wish! No, it refers to a tweet I came across on Twitter X yesterday (I'm still going to call it a tweet regardless of what Elon says). 

Here's the tweet.

That is over one billion reads, which is remarkable.

The Twelve Posts of Christmas: Day Two. A Load of Rubbish

Back in the 1960s and 70s, every house in Britain had one (at least) of these. 

The tin rubbish bin. This was long before recycling and different bins collected on different dates. Everything went into this one bin, and it was small. It would be collected every week and occasionally would go missing. Sometimes there would be a heated argument between neighbours if they picked up your bin, which just happened to be newer or shinier. 

The Twelve Posts of Christmas: A Bit of Television Nostalgia.

Well, this will be ambitious. I came up with this idea, a blog variation on the twelve days of Christmas, ambitiously called the twelve posts of Christmas. Ambitious because so far I think the most number of posts that I have done in any month is five. I will have to see how it goes.

So, here's the first one.

The Christmas Radio Times seems to be a tradition for many households. It gets bought even if no one reads it. Here is a selection over the years.

1940. 

With Hitler planning his invasion of Britain, which thankfully never happened, The BBC offered its Christmas Radio Times for two old pence.

1957.

Seventeen years later, and the price had increased by a penny.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed: A Book Review

I finished reading Cheryl Strayed's book Wild a few weeks back and have been meaning to write about it, a review. As often happens, other things got in the way, so I thought it was about time that I did that review, because it is a good book. 

 

Wild is a memoir that describes her adventure as she hikes the Pacific Crest Trail. The book is subtitled From Lost to Found and starts off by giving us some of her background history. The author is very open about her own flaws, her failed marriage, drug use and relationship with her family, especially her parents. Her mother died young of cancer, a battle that did not last very long. Her mother's death had a big impact on her life. Strayed embarked on what becomes a journey of self discovery.

It has been a long time since I read a book that started with a prologue, and Wild has a very good one that achieves its objective, which is to get you to read on.  Strayed tells the story of when she loses one of her boots over a cliff edge. Now, barefoot walking is a thing, but out in the wilderness, in the middle of nowhere, with stones, sharp rocks, rugged terrain, you are left wondering, what is she going to do now? No spoilers, you will have to read the book!

A Book Haul, Courtesy Of the Local Park

I was cycling through the local country park very early this morning to do some shopping, when I came across a bag of books. The park exit takes me across a walkway close to a river and through a small car park. There is a wall that runs alongside the river, the plastic shopping bag with the books inside had been left there. I decided that if they were still there on my return journey, I would have a look.

This was not the first time that I had seen books left in that spot. I assume that a local resident, having read the books, had perhaps put them there so somebody else could have the pleasure of them. A sort of book recycling. It's also possible that they were just a litterbug, someone who couldn't be bothered to take them to a charity shop. I'd prefer to think it was the former. 

I did have a quick look and decided to take them with me. There were clouds gathering, the possibility of rain. If I left them there, they would get a soaking. I thought that if I had no interest in them, I could recycle them to the local charity shop. One way or another, someone would appreciate them.

When I got back, I took the books out of the bag. There were four books, all fiction. Now, I am more of a non-fiction reader, I probably should make an effort to read more fiction than I do, especially as right now I am trying my hand at writing fiction. The last time I did that was at school, years ago. I don't think I was very good. 

Here are the four books that I found.

All the ratings are from the Goodreads website. 

1) Listen To Me by Tess Gerritsen.  4.17 average review rating. 14787 ratings and 1339 GR reviews (as of writing).

NATIONAL BESTSELLER — Rizzoli & Isles are back! From New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen, this “shocking and fast-paced” (Karin Slaughter) thriller has Jane and Maura investigating a brutal murder with dire implications, and this time, with Jane's intrepid mother, Angela, looking into a mystery of her own.

Listen To Me

2) ALEX by Pierre Lemaitre.  4.09 average review rating. 17009 ratings and 2349 GR reviews.

Kidnapped, beaten, suspended from the ceiling of an abandoned warehouse in a wooden cage, Alex Prévost is in no position to bargain. Her abductor's only desire is to watch her die.

ALEX  

3) The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly.  4.20 average review rating. 78370 ratings and 4321 GR reviews.

Bringing together Michael Connelly's two most popular characters, “The Brass Verdict” is a thriller which reaches for, and then surpasses, the highest level!

Twitter X Analytics: How Do They Work? I Wish I Knew!

One of the mysteries of being on Twitter, or its new name X, is figuring out how the algorithm works and making sense of Twitter analytics. For the last three months I have been getting a message like this.

Now, I have Tweeted, not a lot, but more than zero. I've even posted this as a Tweet complete with the image above and according to Twitter X, people do like photos. Obviously not enough for X (formerly known as Twitter) analytics to pick up.

 It does say on the X (formerly known as Twitter) analytics page that they are working on improvements. They even offer a link to the new version of account analytics beta, but when you click on it, you get taken to Twitter. X analytics remains a mystery.

There are many complaints about how Twitter X works right now, with some thinking that it favours the bigger, paid for accounts. Elon wants to charge us all a quid a year to have access. Right now, I don't think it offers enough to be worth that much.

Not Happy... With Happy.

I'm currently reading a book called Happy by Derren Brown. I bought it a while back in one of my charity shop book hauls. So far I have found it to be an interesting read, yet I am not happy with it. There is something about Happy, that I am not happy about.

It's the actual book itself, not the contents.  It is a paperback and has 558 pages, but the book is one of those that when you hold it, you have to apply constant pressure to keep the pages that you are reading open and in view. If you get too physical with it, the inevitable end result is that you will get a crease in the spine of the book.  I don't like that with paperbacks. 

The local charity shops are full of second hand paperback books with damaged spines. Surely no one buys a book with the intention of damaging it so you can read it comfortably?

Hardback books are more durable, but paperbacks often get abused in this way, but the real problem is why has it been produced like that? Was there no testing beforehand? There are paperbacks where the pages open smoothly and there are no creases on the spine of the book. So far I have managed to resist the temptation to force it open and damage the spine. I'm on page 103, so 425 more to go (not including the index at the end).  

Will I last the course? Brown seems to think that the stoics had some answers to being happy. Perhaps I need to be more Stoic when reading this hefty tome?

Charity shop book haul...another five for a pound haul.

Last Friday, I got another five for a pound haul of books from the charity shop that keeps on giving.

Let's see what I got this time.

All the ratings are from the Goodreads website.

1) QI Second Book of General Ignorance by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. 3.91 average review rating. This is one of those factual books that you can dive in and out of as and when it suits. Originally published in 2010 it has hundreds of individual bits of trivia like what did Cornish wreckers do, and what is a brass monkey? Like the BBC TV series, many of the answers are not so obvious.

 

2) First Man In by Ant Middleton. 4.02 average review rating and 705 GR reviews (as of writing). The memoir of a Special Boat Services sniper and a No.1 bestseller, which you might be forgiven for thinking that this is a man's book, yet quite a few of the reviews on Goodreads were from women. Maybe because it is about the secretive world of conflict and war, I assumed it would be a “man” thing. GQ describe it as “fist biting fun”, I suspect that at the time it wasn't always fun for the writer.

Until You Realise, It's Just a Story

43 years ago today, the band Teardrop Explodes released their debut album Kilimanjaro. An unofficial Twitter fan account describes their music as bubblegum trance music, psychedelic soul music. Not sure what it is, but it is very pop and melodic, very 1980s post punk, new wave. It was music that I had long forgotten about until I listened again today.  

Music is subjective, so just to say that having rediscovered this today, it is like finding something new. I will be reacquainting myself with their back catalogue of music for a few days now. It seems to have stood the test of time.

As they say. Until you realise, it's just a story.

Is it Christmas Yet?

Clearly not, but I was in a local charity shop earlier today and I noticed that the music playing in the background was a Christmas tune. At the front of the shop was a table set out with potential Christmas gifts, including a box of books, all of which had a Christmas theme.  The saving grace was that there was that they had not yet put up a Christmas tree.

The music was coming from a CD player, the CD that was playing being a Christmas greatest hits compilation album. Track number one was Slade's Merry Xmas Everybody. In merry old England, you always know that Christmas is just around the corner when shops start playing the Christmas hits of the past.

Except it is the 6th of October, the sun is out and this weekend into next week is expected to be sunny and warm.  Might even be hot. 

For the shops, even charity shops, the time to sell for Christmas just seems to be getting earlier. I have to say I wasn't tempted to do any Christmas shopping just yet.

These Boots Are Made For Walking: Including a Secret Book Review

I wrote a couple of posts a while back about finding an almost new pair of walking boots. I needed a new pair and there they were, lying at the side of the road, just waiting for me to find them. Furthermore, I contemplated the mystery of how lucky I had been to just find a decent pair of boots, it was as if I had manifested them to appear out of nothing. I should be so lucky! 

There then followed even more boot related strange events.

A few weeks later, I was shopping in a charity shop, looking for books. I've written a couple of posts about this shop, as it regularly has a five books for a pound offer. When writing about the boots, I had mentioned the Law of Attraction. Now, I can't say I'm a believer in it, but I'm intrigued by strange coincidences that life often throws up. Another one was about to present itself.  

As I was looking through the books on offer, one that caught my attention was The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.  Now, this is a charity shop with a relatively small selection of books on offer, yet here was a copy of the Law of Attraction bestseller that was very popular in the mid 2000s.  I can remember being at a friend's house and the Law of Attraction was being discussed on the Oprah Winfrey show. Oprah was really into it.  So, I had to buy it.

I have now read it. It is an easy read, in part made up of quotes from Law of Attraction practitioners. It's all very positive and destiny in your own hands kind of stuff, but the idea that it is science based I have never found convincing. More spiritual than science. One of the chapters tells us how we are responsible for any medical condition that we may have, which I am tempted to say is hogwash. The overall impression is that to succeed with the Law of Attraction, you have to believe.  Any questioning or deviation in believing will be the reason you fail. It's also quite religious and Christian based. What if you are not religious?

My series of coincidences continued in that same charity shop visit as another book that I picked up that day was Happy, by Derren Brown. Brown is an English entertainer, magician, mentalist, illusionist, and writer.  Happy is his attempt to address the question that we all ask at some point in life, perhaps often, what makes us happy? 

Little did I know when I bought Happy that chapter two would question the Law of Attraction and The Secret.  Needless to say, Brown is sceptical about the claims made in The Secret. I have not read the whole book yet, it is 528 pages long, quite an effort from someone who does not claim to be an expert on the subject, but so far, I have found it to be a good read. So did many others, as it became Sunday Times bestseller. Like The Secret, Happy found a market, although I doubt that Brown spent too much time trying to manifest sales.

But what about those boots?  I do wear them frequently and they are a perfect fit. There is certainly something unusual about them, a magical quality.  I was wearing them the other day on a long trek when I looked down at the ground and there was a £2 coin looking for a new home. I obliged. 

I wonder what the next mysterious coincidence will be?

A Little Admin: Setting Up a Twitter "X" Feed

I've been meaning to set up a Twitter feed to the blog (I know Musk has decided to call it X, but hardly anyone does, so I think I will stick with Twitter). But I only got around to it yesterday. In itself, it was quite straightforward to do once I had found the instructions on the web. So, the Twitter feed can be seen at the bottom right of the blog.

However, there are one or two problems with it, thanks to Elon's new Twitter rules.

First, I noticed today that the Twitter feed was not showing any Tweets. When you click on the Twitter link, it simply takes you to the Twitter login.  This is Musk's new rule, to see any Tweets you have to be logged in. However, I noticed that when I logged in to Twitter, the tweets on the blog can be seen, but I assume that if anyone else clicked on them, you will still be presented with the Twitter login. 

So, I don't think there is anything that can be done about that.  Musk has his new rules, including plans to charge everyone a monthly fee to use “X”.  

I think if that happens, I probably won't be using Twitter “X” anyway, but we will see.

Charity Shop Book Haul: Finding Books Priced at Five For a Pound.

On Saturday, I made another visit to my favourite charity shop for buying books. They have a sale on of five books for a pound. In fact, that sale appears to be a permanent sale now, as every time I go in the same sale sign is on show.  

Let's see what I got this time.

All the ratings are from the Goodreads website.

1) Conquer Your Year by Natalie MacNeil. This has a 4.05 average review rating. It's more of a daily planner than an actual book, but I thought I would have a look. I'm not the greatest at planning for each day, so this might give me some ideas.

2) I Never Knew That About England by Christopher Winn. This has a 3.63 average review rating. Published in 2005 it is a book that presents a random selection of little known facts and stories about the 39 counties of England. It's one of those books that you can dive into as and when you are in the mood for some trivia.

3) Anyone Can Do It, My Story by Duncan Bannatyne. Has a 3.9 average review rating. Probably best known for being one of the dragons on the BBC'S Dragons' Den and for saying “I'm out”. 

4) Blowing The Bloody Doors Off by Michael Caine (who else could it be?). It also has a 3.9 average review rating. I expect a heavy dose of nostalgia.

5) Ancestors by Alice Roberts. Has a 4.12 average review rating.  The book is about the prehistory of Britain in seven burials. 

This may be the one I read first, or maybe Blowing the Bloody Doors off will beat off the more academic challenge of Professor Roberts.

I note that in the three charity shop book hauls that I have done so far, all the books have been non-fiction.  That's probably because I mostly read non-fiction. I should probably try harder to pick up some fiction.  There is usually plenty available, so no excuse, other than the non-fiction just draws me towards it.

Imposter Syndrome: The Creative Person's Curse?

I must admit that I had never come across imposter syndrome until recently. I was on Twitter when someone, a self-published author, mentioned that they felt like they were not worthy of being called an author. That they felt like they were an imposter.  There then followed a discussion on Imposter syndrome.

Around this time, it was announced in the UK that the TV chat show host and journalist Michael Parkinson had passed away.  Parkinson interviewed many famous people from all walks of life.  He was considered to be the best in the business, the UK equivalent of Johnny Carson.  He was particularly good with great story tellers, like David Niven and Peter Ustinov.  

Then I read an article where his son Mike Parkinson said that his father had suffered from Imposter Syndrome, a feeling that he was not worthy of the undoubted success that he had achieved. He said that his famous father did not have as much self-confidence as he appeared to have on TV.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66605926

It's remarkable to think that someone who was so successful had so much self-doubt, but it does seem to happen quite a lot to those in the creative arts.  I'm sure that many who have a written a book, fiction or non-fiction, have wondered to themselves, “why would anyone want to read what I've written”. I've certainly had that self-doubt. 

When I was a lot younger, I would often hear people say things like “don't have ideas above your station” or “know your place”. It could be a class thing, or just that being from a certain background, you were not expected to be anything.  Michael Parkinson had working class roots, the people he worked for at the BBC were typically from a different background. 

Knowing your place is difficult to overcome. I'm still trying to beat it. My self-doubt makes me wonder if I ever will.

The Fine Art of Procrastination...

I don't think I can be bothered to write about this.

Maybe.

No.

So, here's a nice picture instead.

The Price of Magazines, Just Buy a Book Instead!

I rarely buy magazines these days, the same with newspapers, the availability of free information on the internet means that I don't really need them any more.  

But occasionally, I will check the news-stand when out shopping, just to see if there are any magazines that I can remember.  I was doing this the other night in my local ASDA and one thing stood out about all the magazines that I looked at, the price. 

I am old enough to remember a time when you could buy a magazine for a pound or less.  

Okay, that was quite a while ago, but I think the last time I paid full price for a magazine it cost me £1.99.  Most of the magazines that I picked up the other night, just looking mind, were in the £4.95 to £9.99 price range.  Many of them had pages of adverts as well! I couldn't help but think, does anyone actually buy them? 

We are living through yet another cost of living crisis, but ten quid for a magazine?

You could buy a book for the same price. 

In fact, books can often be found for a lot less than a tenner.

Now, I like a bargain book.

I've written about the charity shop that I go to that often has a five books for a pound sale. I've managed to get some good books that way, but these days you can buy brand-new books for less than the price of a magazine. 

ASDA also had a selection of books for sale, many of them were of the bestseller variety, and they were priced between £1.99 and £4.99.  

Online you can find many priced at £0.99p or free, especially from indie, self-published authors.  

Magazine or book?  I think I'd rather buy a book.

Thanks for reading!

The Steps of Balamand University

I was on Twitter (or X as Musk would prefer it) this morning when I came across this picture.

The steps of Balamand University, Lebanon.

How original and clever. Wonderful. 

Don't really need to say much more.

Charity Shop Book Haul: Another haul

I made another visit to a local charity shop that regularly runs five books for a pound sale.  This is what I bought this time.

1) Pause by Daniella Marchant. How to press pause before life does it for you.  Has a 3.79 rating on Goodreads.

2) The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.  Has a 3.73 rating on Goodreads. I don't really buy all this Law of Attraction stuff, but I thought that given how it cost twenty pence, I would finally read the book. It also has something to do with a pair of boots I found recently.

3) Happy by Derren Brown.  Has a 4.06 rating on Goodreads.  I see a trend here.  Three self-help type books in a row.  Interesting.

4) The Meaning of Sport by Simon Barnes.  Has a 3.78 rating on Goodreads. I like sport, so for 20 pence this was an easy pick.  We will see.

5) A field Full of Butterflies — Memories of a Romany Childhood, by Rosemary Penfold.  Has a 3.67 rating on Goodreads. The lowest Goodreads rating here. Having written a memoir myself, (well, the only book I've written) it is a genre that I like, a real life story. 

So, plenty more to read and all five for a pound.  

The Bestselling Books of 2023 (So Far)

Here are the bestselling print books for the first half of 2023 released by Publishers Weekly.  It does not include audiobooks or e-books. 

Perhaps not surprisingly the top spot is taken by Prince Harry with Spare, 1,179,379 books sold.

Colleen Hoover has seven books in the top 20 with almost four million in sales.

 For the full list, go to Publishers Weekly.

Going For a Walk, and the Satisfaction of Picking Blackberries

I'm fortunate in that there is a local park just across the road from where I live.  It is a country park where you are invited by the local council to walk through woodland, grassland, wildflower meadows and open water. It's home to many varieties of birds, where the ducks, geese, and swans will come and greet you in the expectation that you might feed them. A local canal and river also runs through the park.

 

There is something else about this time of year on the park. It is fantastic for blackberry picking. From around July to the end of August there is a feast to be had, if you like blackberries that is. I do, as a healthy option for breakfast or in a smoothie, and they are free. They are just starting to ripen now, although the full on black ones are still hard to find, every day there are more and more. 

That Friday Feeling…

Here are three things that we may never see again.

1) A pay packet with actual money in it (but not much money).

2) England winning the World Cup.

3) House prices this low (I think this one is a certainty).

And they were still being built with a chimney!

But I suppose how low pay was - see number one, five grand would have been a lot back then.

These Boots Are Made For Walking: Something Wild and the Law of Attraction — Part two

A few days after I found my “new” walking boots, I was looking through my book collection for something to read.  I say collection, it's not that large, perhaps two to three hundred books. It is mainly the ones that have survived various culls over the years. Books that I have read, or unlikely to read, I often give to charity shops.   

Books can take up a lot of space.  When I was a young boy, I lived near a couple of neighbours who had large book collections, all in book cases that covered the walls of a room in their house.  Between them, they could have opened a bookshop. I wondered if I would ever have the same, not a bookshop, but a house with a room or a study with lots of books.  The answer has turned out to be no. The books I have tended to be housed in different places, some stored away, hidden away.  Occasionally I would remember to go and look at them and pick one to read.  

This time I settled for one that had been sitting in a pile of books for some time.  It was in used condition and I had probably picked it up at a charity shop or car boot sale. It was something that I had looked at many times and put down, never quite being in the mood to read.  It was a book by Cheryl Strayed called Wild. Part memoir and part travel adventure, it tells of her journey to walk the Pacific Coast Trail.  I thought to myself, it's about time I read this, or at least a few chapters to see if it is worth reading.  I can usually tell after two or three chapters if a book has got me interested, and I really want to read more.

These Boots Are Made For Walking…and The Law of Attraction — Part One

About a month ago, I was out walking when the thought came to me that I really needed a new pair of walking boots.  The walking boots that I was wearing, more of a walking shoe really, had seen better days.  The sole was beginning to show wear and tear, clearly damaged from years of pounding the pavements and walking country paths.  I had put in the mileage on my footwear, and it was time for a new pair.  

I knew that a new pair of walking boots would not be cheap.  A good quality pair with a decent hard wearing sole is always likely to cost a little more.  The ones with softer tread on the sole never last me that long.  They may look good, but they don't last.  As the saying goes, you get what you pay for, but I do like to get a bargain.  That is not so easy in these Cost of Living crisis times.  Mind you I've always lived a fairly frugal life and when it comes to footwear I've usually managed to find a bargain, either from a charity shop or a car boot sale (flea market in the USA).  I couldn't rely on that happening this time, but I wondered if my current walking boots would hold out until a bargain came along. 

The need for a new pair of boots was on my mind.

And then something strange happened.  Really strange.

Gone Fishing: "What's Your Tomato?" A Book Review

The first thing to say about this book is that you do not need to like fishing or be interested in the sport of fishing to read it.  As you would expect from the title it is about fishing, but it is actually more about the two men doing the fishing, the British comedians and comedy actors, Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse. It is as much about them as it is fishing.  They share something in common in that they both faced a serious heart health issue. Whitehouse had three stents put in, while Mortimer had a triple bypass.  The book, and the BBC TV show that has now been running for five series, is about their friendship and Life, both before and after having been close to death.  

They are both in their sixties now, an age I know something about. They are perhaps aware that they may be on, as the saying goes, borrowed time, and so they are making the most of it.  Fishing has become a big part of that for them, and I suppose they are fortunate in that they have been able to make the TV series as a job of work.  In five series, they have travelled around the UK and occasionally overseas to fish and ponder life.

Both still have a child like approach to life, especially Mortimer.  Working in comedy has probably given them the chance to never grow up or be overtaken by the seriousness of life.  Whitehouse is very serious about fishing and its history, and this comes out in the book. While it is an easy read, it does go through the history, traditions and technical side of fishing.  Those chapters are written by Whitehouse, who has been a lifelong fisherman.  His knowledge comes to the fore, while Mortimer is like the apprentice, taking it all in.  

Except that Mortimer doesn't always take in what he is being told. You can see this quite often in the TV series as Whitehouse shows frustration with his apprentice.  “Don't wind” as in winding the caught fish in, can frequently be heard from Whitehouse.  There is an art and technique to landing a fish, and overuse of winding the rod to pull the fish in is not part of it.  Mortimer is always caught winding, his innocent reply is always “I'm not winding” with a cheeky grin on his face. The fish regularly escapes as Whitehouse holds back his disappointment. I'm tempted to say anger, but they remain mates.  Bob is like a child at heart.

So, if it's your thing read the book, but if you don't, you can watch some episodes of the TV series as they are on YouTube.  If you like TV with scenery, a nice view, travel to different places, it's wonderful, calming, and funny.  Funny as in silly.  As Mortimer asks, what's the tomato in your life?  I suppose we all have a tomato in our life, or perhaps we are still looking for it.

 

Going For a Walk: It's Cold Out There.

It's almost the weekend, and the weather forecast for much of the UK is indicating a mini heatwave for much of the country.  Various weather warnings have been issued, including the possibility of flash floods.  It will be a bit windy as well. 

The British weather, it's just something we like to talk about.  

                                                                   Image by OpenClipart-Vectors on Pixabay     

Well, recently I have been making an effort to get up early and go for a morning walk. I'm an early bird anyway, but now it's around six in the morning that I am up by, an hour earlier than before.  I'm trying to make it a habit, getting out early, some exercise, the world is just a very different place at that time.  It's still mostly peaceful and quiet.

I've also noticed something else.  It's cold.  It's a brisk type of coldness that defies the fact that we are now in June, summer is here, at least according to the Met Office. The Meteorological summer, that is.  

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/seasons/summer/when-does-summer-start

As I write this it is early afternoon, still windy, but the sun has now broken through.  This morning I was out wearing a heavy coat, now it's t-shirt time.  I had a theory that our four seasons in the UK had moved on by about a month, each one starting later.  

There again it might just be that I'm getting older and that I just notice the cold more.

 

Why Are Biographies So Popular? Are They?

I came across an article in The Guardian online that posed the question, “why are biographies so popular?”  I could ask, are they?  

I like to read biographies. Actually, I prefer the “auto” biography or memoir.  I do read biographies, but I am more inclined to go for the account actually written by the individual telling their own story. 

I feel that sometimes biography is used as a catch-all word that includes autobiography, biography, and memoir.  I quite like the Wikipedia definition of memoir.

Going For a Walk: Meeting a Dog Named David

I enjoy a good walk, both for exercise and for thinking.  I find that some of my better ideas come to me, or are developed further on a good walk. Likewise, I try to do some walking every day, several miles a day if possible. Not always possible, but I find it good for the soul when I do.  I always seem to feel better about life after a walk.

The NHS in the UK states that research shows that physical activity can boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reducing your risk of stress, clinical depression, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease.  That's good, especially in times like now.  

My walk this morning was a strange one.  A woman was walking her dog and while there was nothing strange about that, I heard her calling out to “David”.  I thought that David might be her son, hiding somewhere, but no, David was the name of her dog.  Is that a modern trend?

I had to look it up and saw on one site the 10 most popular names for boy dogs in 2022 were, Max, Charley, Cooper, Milo, Buddy, Rocky, Bear, Teddy, Duke, and Leo.  No sign of Prince, which was the name of a family dog that we had way back in the 1960s.

https://www.rover.com/blog/dog-names/

That was a USA listed site.

I found a UK site and Dave was listed number 24.  Prince is still in use by some, listed at 34.  Nice to see that Prince is still in use, although at number 11 is Harry, singular with no Prince title.  

https://www.bluecross.org.uk/advice/dog/wellbeing-and-care/top-dog-names

 

Image by Pexels from Pixabay.

Son of My Father: A Further Extract — The Bully and My Aston Martin

I had a friend at school by the name of Colin. Although we were the same age, he was quite tall and a lot bigger than me. I suspect that because of his size no one picked on him at school. We would often play football in the street opposite Number Thirteen. There were several garages with pull down sliding doors which we used as a goal. I'm sure the residents were overjoyed with the noise every time the ball hit the garage door.

Colin seemed a decent lad, but as the saying goes, appearances can be deceptive, as I was about to find out.

One day I invited him over to my house while mam and dad were out, and we ended up playing with my toy car collection made up of Matchbox, Dinky, and Corgi cars. Pride of place was a new car that Dad had just bought me, a James Bond 007 Aston Martin. A quick check on the internet tells me that back in 1966 this cost all of 3 old pennies. I think I was about seven or eight at the time, so I would have got mine in 1967 or 68.

As we were playing, Colin took a liking to my new car. At one point he said to me, “do you want this?” I thought he was joking and just laughed. There were loads of cars in my toy box, but Colin only seemed to be interested in my new James Bond car. When I asked for it, he just said no and carried on playing with it. He seemed to especially like the passenger ejector seat, which shot out of the roof. He wouldn't give me the car. I asked for it again and his reply took me by surprise.

The conversation went as follows…

Charity Shop Book Haul: Bargain Hunting for Books

I do like to look for bargains in charity shops.  I recently visited one that I had not been to for quite a while.  They had a sale on their books, five for £1.  Despite the sale being so cheap, I had trouble in finding five that I actually felt I might read.  It always seems to be like that.  A struggle to find the last one. It could just be me.

I came away with the following.

The Timewaster Letters by Robin Cooper (actually written by Robert Popper).  Looks fun and has some good reviews.  Huge bestseller according to the front cover.

Quite by Claudia Winkleman.  Will I ever read Claudia's offering? Is it aimed at me?  Not quite sure.

Peaky Blinders, The Real Story by Carl Chinn.   I've never watched The TV series of Peaky Blinders, but this book might give me an idea of the real past history of Birmingham's gang violence.  Do I really want to know?

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.  Bill Bryson knows how to write an epic book.  A big book.  There again, is 574 pages really enough to cover “everything” that history has to offer?  Well, he does say “nearly”.

Gone Fishing by Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse.  I've started with Gone Fishing, as I have watched the television series on YouTube.  I like both Mortimer and Whitehouse.  Even though it is about fish and fishing, the latter being something that I have never done or felt the need to do, I think I will read it all.  I do like fish though, especially with chips.

So, not bad for a quid in these cost of living crisis times.   Once I have read them, I will probably re-distribute them back to a charity shop or two.    

The Kenneth Williams Diaries: A Review

I am currently writing a series of reviews on books that I have read in the past, in part because I am a new member of the Goodreads website. I wanted to post reviews based on my memory of those books and how I felt about them at the time. As time goes by, memory can often be unreliable. Inevitably, I am finding that it is the books that I really enjoyed which are the ones that I have better memories of. The bad ones have long since been forgotten. 

Son of My Father Kindle Countdown Deal. (Now expired).

For the next seven days. Son of My Father is available on Amazon for £0.99. (Now expired).

It can be found here.  Son of My Father

“They Think It's All Over, It Is Now...”

From Son of My Father, a further extract.

I played for the school football team, but it almost didn't happen. We played on a Council run park that was on the outskirts of the city. The facilities were basic at best, and there were three football pitches.

Boys in the school team or close to selection played on the main pitch. The game was usually between two sides picked by the school football captain and the football coach. I was never picked, probably because I wasn't a mate of the captain, and the coach hadn't seen me play. I went and played on one of the other pitches. Pitch number three it was called. I played against boys who were not very good. At that level I was pretty good. I seemed to have a knack for scoring and most weeks, against inferior opposition, I would score several goals.

Son of My Father: An Extract

I’m in the back seat of a car parked down the road from a pub. This pub was in the city, but some way from home. It was the pub where, according to dad, “this is where your mother meets her fancy man”. It was a cold, dark night and the streets were empty, other than the occasional drunk singing the night away.

In the car, my dad was in the front passenger seat. In the driver’s seat was a man who I didn't know. He must have been one of dad's mates. He was tall and broad. He looked like a man that you would want by your side in the event of trouble. It's possible that he was there for a more sinister reason. Given that dad’s plan was confrontation, this man may well have been there to back him up if things turned nasty with “fancy man.”

I was about nine years old at the time.

Traditional Publishing or Self Publishing?

When I had the idea to write a book, one big question had to be addressed. Would I approach a publisher or an agent to do all the leg work involved in getting a manuscript accepted? Both of these options seemed like a lot of hard work and time-consuming.  You also have to prepare yourself for rejection.  It is great to think that your book will be the next bestseller or can't miss read, but a publisher or agent may have other ideas.  They are also very busy.

I chose to self-publish.

Spared

2023 has started with a bang in the world of books.  Spare is a memoir written by the British Royal who chose to step back from his role, Prince Harry (ghost-written by novelist J. R. Moehringer.) Released on the 10th January 2023, it has caused a stir, and not just in Royal circles.  

This is my first blog post, and it is not my intention to review or write about Harry's book, as I have not read it.  Instead, I write about it in the context of my own memoir writing experience, which coincidentally meant that my first book, Son of My Father, was more or less published at the same time.  

Actually, my book was published as an e-book on Amazon the week before Christmas, 2022.

Now, the first big difference between my book and Spare is that mine was self-published with no fanfare. Self-publishing used to be called vanity publishing and not encouraged.  The traditional route, if the book is any good, is to go through a publisher.  That can be a lot of hard work.  Many a good author has had their work rejected only to eventually find success. Self-publishing was the easy option for me, and Amazon (and others) do make it reasonably easy to do that.

There is one big drawback to self-publishing.  Your new book is one of thousands. How do you get it noticed?  I did not publicize it at all.  It sat there in the Amazon store waiting for someone to take notice and buy it.  Compare that with the 400,000 copies Spare sold on the first day.  No surprise in that given all the publicity it received and the fact that this was a book spilling the beans on Royal life. The BBC report that it has become the UK's fastest selling nonfiction book since records began.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64226729

I would have been happy with forty copies sold on the first day.  Over the moon.

I will have more to write about Son of My Father in due course, but for now here is the Amazon link.

Son of My Father