Perfect Weather...................For Reading

With the weather here at the caravan in St Andrews no different to how it was when we were here in January there was no chance of getting on the bike today. I'm not a fair weather cyclist (honestly) but when the wind is strong enough to keep Sir Bradley Wiggins at a standstill and it's so cold that the central heating is on at full blast, it's time to leave the bicycle in its locker.

I had a good day - lunch at Zizzis in town with Sarah, Duncan and Rose followed by a trip to the supermarket and an hour or so babysitting. But after dropping Rose back home and with the hurricane force winds eliminating any thoughts of getting out with the metal detector I decided to head back to the caravan and read.

We loaded the Kindles up a week or so ago so I had a good look through what we had downloaded. I found one called Crooked Letter Crooked Letter which I think Marion must have bought after it got good reviews in The Guardian.

Although I suppose that you could describe it as a thriller (which is not my usual cup of tea), the blood and gore were left to the reader's imagination leaving us with an intriguing story of two Mississippi boys one black, one white, one cool, one not, whose lives are inextricably linked. The novel jumps between their 80's childhood and the present where one is now a cop seeking a missing girl, the other a vilified loner who everybody thinks is linked to her abduction. Tom Franklin creates a vivid and atmospheric evocation of life in the backwoods and swamplands around the small town of Chabot with well drawn characters you can see and dialogue you can hear. I read the book in no time and felt like I had just watched a very good film. Great stuff.

I'm glad that I managed to finish it quickly as Scott Pack (blogger meandmybigmouth who is linked over there on the right on my blog list) is doing another of his periodic online book clubs next week. This time it's The Amazing Adventures Of  Kavalier And Clay and I'm really looking forward to reading this as it looks very different and entertaining. I hope it is as I am regularly disappointed in trying to find entertaining books. I'm doubly pleased that this was chosen as Scott had put it to a vote and it was neck and neck with current bestseller Gone Girl which both Marion and I read recently. We both wondered what all the fuss was about. Marion hated it and I thought it was so-so although we both agreed that it is a page turner albeit one with a big disappointment at the end. 

In an attempt to read something entertaining, I read Oh Dear Sylvia by Dawn French a few weeks ago and, although it is readable, I was expecting something funny from such a great comedienne. It didn't raise as much as a smile I'm afraid. If anyone can recommend something to make me laugh I would love to hear from them.