Night Owl

Yesterday was a bank holiday here in England which meant I had the day off work. Normally this is great, however I am in the middle of working a long set of night shifts so was stuck in a difficult situation. Do I try to stay awake and enjoy the day then sleep normally at night time knowing I have to go to work the next night? Or do I stay awake all night at home and sleep all the next day as I normally do and be ready to return to work the next night?

In the end I decided it would be a brilliant opportunity to do some serious reading of a book I am struggling to make headway with. I would be alone all night without any interruptions or distractions – perfect!

I have been reading the ‘Voyage of the Beagle’ since the beginning of March this year and had only managed to reach page 135. I am enjoying the book and certainly learning a lot from it however it is not a ‘page turner’ in the traditional respect and is very scientific and often difficult to follow.
The HMS Beagle sailed across the world on a five year survey mission in 1831. Among the crew was a young English geologist named Charles Darwin. The journey took place at the very beginning of his long, illustrious career in science. It is really interesting to read of his experiences on the voyage not just of wildlife and fossils but of encounters with local people and tribesmen and women of whom he often described as ‘savages’ or ‘barbarians’.

I found I could only read the book in segments of 20 pages or so at a time then I would take a break of perhaps 15 minutes then attack the book again. In this manner I was able to stay up all night and read 101 pages. I had begun to struggle by 4am but I set myself a target and with the assistance of generous helpings of strong coffee I was able to do it. 101 pages may not seem like such an achievement but for a non-scientist I don’t think this is bad going. I am feeling quite smug right now!

I intend to post a full review of the book when I finish it then move onto Mr Darwin’s more famous effort ‘On The Origin of Species’ this probably won’t happen until 2020 so don’t hold your breath!

By Chris

The Secret Life of Bees

This is a read the book watch the movie post. I recorded the film a couple of months ago but didn't want to watch it until I had read the book. I also have The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Revolutionary Road and The Reader recorded but I just need to also read the books first.

Anyway back to The Secret Life of Bees which is a book that seems to be well loved and a firm favourite of readers in general, it isn't hard to see why. Set in South Carolina during the 1960s, The Secret Life of Bees is a gentle coming of age tale about Lily who may or may not have accidentally killed her mother when she was four. Lily lives with her rather bitter and abusive father, and is looked after by one of the black servants called Rosaleen who works on her daddy's land.

When the Civil rights act is put into effect, Rosaleen decides to register to vote and is accompanied by Lily who has just turned 14.
It is here that Rosaleen gets arrested and beaten forcing Lily to act. Now fugitives from the law Lily uses what information she has on her mother and they find their way to the home of three bee-keeping sisters August, June and May.

All the female characters in this book are very likeable and this is a very feminine book. Lily starts to come to terms with what has happened to her and tries to gain understanding of her mother and her place in the world all the while under the gentle guidance of the three sisters. There are also family dynamics in place as the women live, work and share their problems together. The author does a very good job of setting the time and place, most of the story is set during a very hot stifling summer and I could believe I was there and could hear the endless humming of the Bees.

This is a book dripped in sentimentality, despite the darker themes such as mental illness and racial tension the author does not let these issues get in the way of Lily's coming of age story. Unfortunately this also means that something like racial tension does not give the full impact or message it deserves and gives the book a slightly rose-tinted feel.

None of the characters are two dimensional and each have their own flaws (with the exception of August) Lily is 14 years old when this story takes place and sometimes she does act like a child, the servant Rosaleen is sometimes frustrating and the sister June at first comes across as cold and aloof. On the other side of the coin as Lily understands more about her mother, so her father becomes slightly more understanding from the bitter, angry man we seen in the beginning.

The Secret Life of Bees is not a complicated read but it has enough drama to keep a reader interested throughout, it is not a 'powerful' book but it is charming and full of enchanting characters but unfortunately I found it a little sickly sweet and in parts clichéd. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a slightly more uplifting read or to take on holiday.

Verdict 3/5


The film – well its exceptionally well cast. Dakota Fanning has that sad, skinny look which I imagined Lily to have and although Jennifer Hudson was a little young for Rosaleen, I think she got away it. Queen Latifah was kindly and wise enough to play August but I thought the stand out stars were Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo playing June and May.

Unfortunately the beginning of the film was far too rushed and Lily's reasons for running away were not fully explained although this could be because Paul Bettany played the father role in a far more sympathetic way than the book suggested. But other elements such as Rosaleen's friendship with May were just as strong as in the book, but this is more to do with the actresses work rather than the script.

Some of the more cheesy elements in the book translated to practically cringe-worthy moments on screen, August telling Lily to 'send the bees love' in order to prevent them stinging her in the book was yes, cheesy. But then having Dakota Fanning chanting 'I love you, I love you, I love you' to the bees on screen looked a little silly.

Other than that not a bad adaptation, the film moved at a very fast speed as it seemed to be desperate to fit all of the plot in. Perhaps some elements of the plot could have been sacrificed in order to keep more of the charm and spirit of the book.

Verdict 3/5

Posted by Jess

Special Edition Book Sets

I rarely keep any of my books, they either go to a charity shop or if I think they would be interested, my family or friends. Perhaps this is why I am attracted to 'special collections'. You know the ones, its when publishers release a limited edition set of Jane Austin books or cloth bound books of old classics for a limited time only. I rarely actually buy any of these sets because I find that with special edition copies comes a special edition price as well, but I do like looking at them so here are my latest 'wants'

Now I was in town a week ago and I saw Alice in Wonderland in HMV for £1.99, but in Waterstones they had this rather nice edition for £12.99.



Now I'm not an idiot, this is a book I've never read so I did get the £1.99 one but it didn't stop me thinking about it. The rest of this rather lovely collection can be see here.

Bloomsbury do a special collection of Margaret Atwood books that when lined up spell ATWOOD on the spines.



Little Brown publishing have released these books here which are special edition and the covers have been designed by various textile designers. These were released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Virago Modern Classics back in 2008.

oh then we have these as seen on various book blogs over the past year.



No these are not special edition, but they do all have matching covers...........therefore I want them............all.

There is a bit of a point to this post, I recently treated myself to these.



To celebrate being 75 years, penguin have released the 'books of the decades'. Basically 5 books from each decade from the 50s to the 80s which according to them 'helped shape modern Britian' So four decades, 20 books - I don't really see how that fits with the '75' years thing but there you go.

What I have brought are the books from the 70s decade, the books here appealed to me plus one of them is a collection of Daphne du Maurier's short stories which I can use for the du Maurier challenge.

So there you go, some books which I will be keeping.

Logan's Run

This has been the most enjoyable ‘Read the Book, Watch the Movie’ challenge yet. Both the book and the movie are excellently put together with a gripping, fast paced story and original characters. Another great Science Fiction plot conceived way ahead of its time.

The story is set in the not-too-distant future where, due to overpopulation, no-one lives beyond the age of 21. Each citizen of this new order has a small gem stone embedded, from birth, into the palm of their hand. This gemstone changes colour the older you get. Once the stone turns black your life is over. You are expected to report for execution so that a steady population can be maintained. Of course not everyone is willing to be executed and so attempt to escape by going on the run, searching for a mysterious place called ‘Sanctuary’. These ‘runners’ are hunted by police of the future known as ‘Sandmen’ who exist solely to hunt down and terminate runners. The main protagonist is Logan 5 a Sandman who decides to go on the run himself after his own gem turns black.



The book and the movie are actually quite different in a significant number of ways, too many to list but I will name some. The book is set on a much larger scale; the entire world is under the control of the new totalitarian authority whereas in the movie only a relatively small community are affected. Logan’s reasons for going on the run are different too; in the book he reaches his last day on earth and decides if he can find and destroy Sanctuary then he will be hailed a hero and not executed however in the movie Logan is ordered by the authorities to hunt for Sanctuary when he is nowhere near the age cut off himself. Minor details are different too; for example in the movie the age limit is 30 not 21. I’m sure this was done for practical reasons otherwise the whole cast would have been teenagers! I preferred the ending of the film as opposed to the ending of the book which felt abrupt and a little rushed. The addition of ‘Carousel’ in the movie was a stroke of genius, I’ll say no more!



All I will say is that both the book and the movie are excellent; apart from the ending of the book I have no real complaints at all. I prefer the movie but that was always likely to be the case since the movie is one of my favourites. The only aspect of the movie I never really liked much was the music which is horribly dated (the movie was made in the 70s)
One more point I will raise; the book had some scenes in it which could not possibly have been effectively re-created using 70s special effects. I have heard through the grapevine that a new version of Logan’s Run is currently in the very early stages of production. It is billed for release sometime in 2012. I hope that with the dramatic improvements in special effects over the years it will be able to do the book full justice.

A visit to Darwin's house

It is a slow long side project of Chris’s but he is working his way through Journey of the Beagle by Charles Darwin. So when we found out we only lived about 40 minutes from where Darwin used to live and where he also wrote the origin of Species we decided to visit a few days ago.

Darwin’s old house is open to the public and it’s a rather grand house, he certainly was born into a privileged background. The downstairs of the house is still kept the same and the upstairs has been converted into a series of exhibitions detailing not only Darwin’s life and works but also those of his family. In fact in the children’s rooms you can still see where the eldest child carved his name into one of the cupboards shelves. The gardens and the original hot house are also there and if you’re ever in the south east of England it’s well worth a visit.
Unfortunately you are not able to take any photos inside the house so we were unable to get a photo of the famous study where he wrote the origin of species but we did get some exterior shots.

The front of the house.


The back, taken from the garden.


Darwin's hothouse where he was able to grow his more exotic plants.


Not a surprise to find the gardens were our sons favorite part of the day - he certainly slept well that night.


If however you find yourself in central London then the natural history museum offers a free guided tour around their Zoology spirit building where they have the largest collection of the original specimens collected by Darwin on his Journey of the Beagle (the second biggest collection of Darwin’s original specimens is in the natural history museum in New York). Me and Chris did this tour a few years ago and its quite spooky. They have thousands of jars full of animals in formaldehyde, from a tiny jar with a mouse to enormous jars filled with sharks and primates. The scientist doing the tour tells you how they preserve all the specimens (a lot of which is over 100 years old) and their ongoing work. I remember the whole centre was very cold as they have to keep the temperature below a certain degree as all the alcohol in the formaldehyde makes the area very flammable! Its not for the really squeamish but very interesting, plus they have a giant squid which sealed the deal for us.

Regeneration by Pat Barker

I found out about this book from C.B.James’s blog after he reviewed the whole trilogy of which this book is the first of (many thanks C.B.James)

Although the front cover of both the American and British edition of the book indicates this is a book about WWI it takes a more different way of looking at that period. Set in Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh, the book mostly follows psychiatrist W.H. Rivers as he treats the soldiers who have been taken out of service for his treatment. These soldiers are not physically injured but mentally and the idea is that Rivers can ‘cure’ them enough so that they can be sent back to the front line to fight.

The author here has mixed fact with fiction; Dr Rivers really did exist as did several of the patients in the book including Owen and Sassoon. There is an author’s note at the back where she explains that the information on patient’s treatment in the book was obtained from papers which Rivers and others had written at the time. Mental illness caused by the experiences of war was not a subject which had previously been extensively studied and this is reflected in the different types of treatment given to patients depending on which doctor is treating them.
An example of this is where a patient has become so traumatised by his experiences he loses the ability to speak. Where Dr River's treats this condition using Freud and waits for the patient to speak in his own time, another doctor will treat the same condition with electric shocks in a technique which would be classed as torture today. However although this was not brought up in the book (maybe it will in the rest of the trilogy) these men were the lucky ones, many men at the front were executed for cowardice when they showed signs of shell shock.

The patients in the book have various issues such as shell shock, persistent vomiting etc One case which I found particularly fascinating; a doctor who could not stand the sight of blood as a result of all the amputations he has had to perform on the front. There is no medical jargon in the book instead it focuses on whether there is any hope for these men in the future, the guilt these men feel about being away from their friends on the front and what exactly is the point in preserving these men’s mental health only to send them back to an almost certain death?

This does not exactly sound like a fast based war book and indeed it is not, it is however an interesting and understated story. If I have one criticism it is that the author does expect the reader to know a little about the real life patients of Owen and Sassoon. These two were famous war poets that met in hospital; something which I was unaware of so did not really understand some parts in the beginning, but that really is a very minor quibble.

This book very much focuses on the aftermath of war and the doctors and the patients convey sadness and disillusionment which gives the book a poignant feel to it, it was refreshing to read about experiences away from the front. I am glad this is part one of a trilogy because the story felt as though there is more to tell.

Verdict 4/5

Posted by Jess