Writing in the Sand

I saw a post from a fellow Scottish bookcrosser, Nell-Lu , saying that this was a 10, so thought I'd sign up for the ray. Writing in the Sand , book set in the very north of Scotland, with different things going on: the country show, some smuggling and the old Gods returning. Dark, funny, a great debut from a Scottish writer.

Xiaolu Guo

Last night, I went to Colchester Library to see Guo as part of the Essex Book Festival, dragging Mum with me. I was a bit wary, as you are never sure that an author will live up to your opinion of them.

I was sent Village of Stone as part of an NSS package from AFIR, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The village is in Southern China and the book deals with a girl's life there and her life now in the city. Apparently it is as available as her others. I didn't connect her with A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers , as this seemed like such a different book. It tells of a Chinese girl who comes to London to learn English, it is narrated from her point of view and is written in Chinglish. Another good book, but very different book from the Village of Stone. Guo read from this and her latest book, 20 fragments of a Ravenous Youth, which is out in hardback. I decided to buy a copy from the couple from Red Lion Books, a great local bookshop in Colchester.

She was a good speaker, reading from her books, answering all the questions put to her thoroughly. Her books seem to be inspired by her own experiences, she was a student in Beijing, as in the character in her latest book, she grew up in a small Chinese village and studied English in London.

She is also a poet and a film maker, for more info, see her website: Xiaolu, Guo

Ipswich March Meet

Another morning of book chat at Caffe Nero IP1 book-crossing zone, nice to see everyone, as haven't been to one in a while.

I had another clearout of children's books, so took a few along. A selection of Noel Streatfeild's: White Boots, The Circus is Coming , Gemma (diff cover) and Apple Bough (Puffin Books). Some animal-themed: The running foxes , The Secret of Hunter's Keep (House of Secrets) and The Silver Tide (Woodstock Saga).

I realised on arriving at home that I had already read Coastliners, which I picked up at The Big Swap. I also took along The Viceroy's Daughters: The Lives of the Curzon Sisters (Women in History) , a biography of the well-connected sisters.
2 others were snaffled at the meet: Mouse or Rat: Translation as Negotiation taken by our resident grammar boff Semioticghost, Maya by turquoisefloyd and a 3rd book, Annie John, which I left a while back, was taken by Pakasanelly for her speed reading.

I picked up Innocent Traitor , a book which I have been looking out for, though 3 of the group had read it for a splinter bookgroup, and none enjoyed it. Will give it a quick try to see. I would be disappointed if it were rubbish as I have read her non-fiction, which is of a high standard.
Also took Bill Bryson's Notes from a Big Country , recommended by two of the crew. Have already read 3 of his, and have been on the look out for this one. I also saw a book I have read before, but am taking it for a friend, Nanjing 1937: A Love Story .

Lots of good chat, including comparing notes on Glasgow with Pakasanelly, same uni! We have both read and enjoyed Atkinson's Emotionally Weird , as we were familiar with the setting. marmite has also read a few of her books. rainbow1054 took away A Spot of Bother, quite a few members of the group had read it. I enjoyed it a lot, recognising many people in the book. It is very different to A Curious Incident ..., but no worse for it.

Somehow the discussion turned to ways of boosting your energy at work, KenseyRiver recommended copy toner, apparently one of the costliest substances on Earth by the mg. Semioticghost replied that a nice handful of markers did the trick! MrsDanvers brought us up to death on the new workplace manslaughter rules and helped me persuade KenseyRiver to take away the Wasp Factory, a great, if not disturbing, book.

samwiseuk was the only bloke there this month, but was right to point out he was no token male! He has chosen next month's read for the splinter bookgroup - Northanger Abbey.

Bathippo was unable to attend, but sent a text. Last but not least, there was bertietheBCbear, who picked up a suitably mini book, The Life and Times of Einstein .

The Big Book Swap

This afternoon, I met up with fellow bookcrosser, Pakasanelly, and went to The Big Book Swap, part of the Essex Book Festival. The event took place in the Colchester Arts Centre, a church near the Mercury Theatre, and was in conjunction with BBC RaW website, a literacy campaign. The idea was to bring a book and swap it for another, then swap it on again afterwards.
BBC Radio Essex was there and we were asked to answer a few Qs on air, so managed to plug BC.

I took a good bunch of books with, all registered with bookcrossing. Would be lovely to get a catch from there.

Red Card (Team Mates)
Pelagia and the White Bulldog: The First Sister Pelagia Mystery
Penguin Lost
A Risk Worth Taking (diff. cover)
The Broker (different cover)
The Gnole
Dragon

Picked up a few interesting ones:
A signed hardback copy of Black Swan Green, the new David Mitchell book.
The Weekenders: Adventures in Calcutta
Coastliners by Joanne Harris, one I haven't read yet.
They had a pile of Quick Reads, check out http://www.worldbookday.com/ for more details. I took Star Sullivan by Maeve Binchey for my sister, a big fan.
Tales of the Unexpected: Volume 1 from Roald Dahl.
The House at Riverton - a Richard and Judy book that I haven't read
The Great Hedge of India, still collecting Asia-themed books.

Beneath The Deluge - Catherine M Brennan

I was invited by the poet's flatmate to her booklaunch. I had been slightly worried about as have never really been much of a poetry fan, but it was really good. Catherine read a selection of the poems in the book, introducing them in a way that made them very accessible. Click on the link for some extracts. The book is available from cinnamon press.

Colchester Meetup

Managed to make the February meetup at the The Purple Dog, Eld Lane, a good gaggle of Bookcrossers filling the table leaving no room for the pub grub.
Various topics were discussed, almost inevitably with a female-only group, the talk moved to men - Seadbed and karen07814 getting especially animated in the discussion. Seadbed told us of another Essex meetup, The Layer Fox, with the added incentive of a good-looking barman, verified by another attendee who shall not be named ;) Difficult bosses and work also featured, congrats to turquoisefloyd on her new job! Good to catch up with Pakasanelly, who told us about her new hobby of speed reading. Sounds like a great skill, though she mentioned that to learn how to do it, you almost have to un-learn "normal" reading practices that we all learned at school. Speed is favoured over comprehension. joto-uk brought along a great selection of books, of which I snaffled a couple, nice to put a face to the BC name.

The Books:
Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam (Agatha Raisin 10) - I have been trying to pick up the books in the series from 11 onwards, so grabbed this one at the charity shop. It was only when I got home that I realised it was number 10. Annoyingly, the inside list of books in the series didn't include this one, so wasn't sure where it came in.
The Interpretation of Murder, a RABCK I had received, had already been read and enjoyed by many of those present, so it is waiting to be picked up by someone else.
The Dark Bride, which I recommended to turquoisefloyd as a fellow Isabel Allende fan, who brought along Paula, a book on my wishlist. Thanks :)
The Great American Bus Ride written by a Cosmo contributer.
Queen of the Big Time , I have been recommended the author before, and Barry Noodles and DaKillerBs, a fun looking kiddie's book.
Pakasanelly is to read a book a day, starting with slimmer volumes, so she took away Connections (Excerpt), which arrived in Soffitta1's 1st UK Bookbox.