November 2010 Archives
Hmmmm, I realise that I have no category for "factual" - what does that reveal about my reading?
A smashing little book, passed on to me by my dad on his last visit to The Smoke, which gives the origin of the name of each station on the London Underground network, from Acton Town ("...recorded as Acton(e) in 1181 and the name is derived from the Old English ac, 'oak' and tun, 'farm' - meaning 'the farm by the oak trees'.") to Woodside Park - and with the DLR tacked on as an appendix. Where relevant there's a snippet about the name(s) considered and eventually selected for each station, together with date(s) when the station was first used by Underground trains.
All within 5 to 10 lines of text in this pocket size paperback.
Amazon.co.uk link:
What's in a Name?: Origins of Station Names on the London Underground - Cyril M. Harris
I bought this to read in advance of my trip to Libya.... and still haven't got through it all. I found it much more readable once I'd been through / to some of the places described in Hugh Clapperton's account, in particular the Fezzan. But not readable enough to finish.... and very disappointed that the quote used as the book's title continues ... "for camels...", making it sound rather less difficult and dangerous for human beings.
The autumn 2010 issue of The North Magazine includes a piece on Clapperton (page 36) and a photo of Ghat medina that I took on my trip (page 37) - just click on the bottom right hand cover of each emagazine page to turn to the next page.
Some people are not as they first appear, and don't have stay the way they are.
Amazon link: The Private Lives of Pippa Lee - Rebecca Miller
More classic Jane Green in her US incarnation: divorcee mother rebuilds life and soul, finding work as the assistant to a famous reclusive author with sorrows of his own, and with the support of her network of closest girl friends and the obligatory wise old lady cum fairy godmother who lives next door. Then a few new faces appear in town and all is no longer as it seems...
There's a paragraph about a third of the way in on chick lit being more than frill and froth, which I have a gut feel comes directly from the author's heart and mind, and which I agree with wholeheartedly.
I do prefer her earlier, London-based, novels though.
Amazon link: Girl Friday - Jane Green
Bought second hand in Frinton, and an OK literary read. Not a page turner, and no real surprises with the plot: actress meets politician, they have an affair and fame gets in the way.
Amazon link: Half in Love - Justin Cartwright
Readable social history of 14th century England.
Amazon link: The Time Traveller's Guide to Mediaeval England - Ian Mortimer