Betty Blythe tearooms

We've been to Betty Blythe tearooms before and had such a fabulous time, we decided to go again. The tearooms are located inbetween Kensington Olympia and Shepard's Bush train stations, they can be slightly tricky to find, so make sure you bring a map.

More pictures under the cut:-

Laila Ibrahim, Yellow Crocus

I borrowed this book from the library, but after I finished reading it I wished I owed it, because I can already see it's the kind of novel I'll want to read again and lend out to other people.  

The Plot: Mattie, a slave living on a Virginian plantation, is taken from her baby son and forced to be a wet-nurse to her newly born mistress. Mattie comes to care for Lisbeth, though she never forgets her son. As Lisbeth grows she is forced to confront her position in society, and her complicity in a system that dehumanises and brutalises her surrogate mother. 

Rating: 4/5

*Spoiler Alert*

Wimpole Estate & Farm at Easter

Spring has well and truly sprung at Wimpole Estate and Farm, we spent the day there on the Easter Monday, the house was all done up with Easter eggs, lambs and goats were gambolling and the daffodils were turning their faces to the sun.

Penguin, Little Black Classics

I'm at little bit late to the party on this one - as they were published back in March, but thought I'd still do a quick post to bring these marvellous little books to other people's attention:-

picture source

Penguin Little Black Classics are  80 slim snippets of novels, collections of short stories, essays or poems all newly packaged and on sale for a mere 80p each. They have been released to celebrate the imprints 80th Birthday.  Authors include Karl Marx (who is currently selling the best), Jane Austin, Edgar Allen Poe and Samuel Pepys. As they are 64 pages long,  authors that some people might find intimating are made manageable.

As they're from Penguin they are beautifully, and simply designed. I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on them.

picture source

My top choices would be:

1. A Pair of Silk Stockings, Kate Chopin
2. Circles of Hell, Dante
3. The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman
4. Woman Much Missed, Thomas Hardy
5. The Fall of Icarus, Ovid 
6. Anthem for Doomed Youth, Wilfred Owen
7. Gobin Market, Christina Rossetti
8. Come Close, Sappho
9. The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent Tongue
10. Wailing Ghosts, Pu Songling   

*hint hint* it's my birthday next month

Charlaine Harris, Dead Ever After

I have a friend how is obsessed with True Blood and The Southern Vampire Mysteries the tv programme is based on, she was so enthusiastic about it, I thought I should give it a go as well. A couple of years ago I binge watched the programme and binge read the books.

However, after we'd moved further away from each other, and she wasn't there to remind me when a new book/programme was out I gave up on the whole thing.  Until I spotted the final book in my big library visit and thought I might as well see how the story ends.

The Plot: Telepathic waitress, Sookie Stackhouse has had a fair share of drama; she's discovered she's part fairy, her brother has become a were-panther, her boss is a shape-shifter, she's had relationships with 2 vampires and a were-tiger, survived Hurricane Katrina and made a ton of supernatural and human enemies. This is the last book of a 12 part series, will Sookie get her happy ending?

Rating: 2/5

Irvine Welsh, The Sex Lives of the Siamese Twins

I'm a fan of Irvine Walsh (see my reviews of Filth and Skagboys) but if I ever got the opportunity to meet him I think I'd be a bit scared, his novels are so dark and violent that I'd be worried that he'd be a bit of a bruiser. His author photo in he inside cover doesn't hep, he looks tough.

Anyway...

 The Plot: Lucy Brennan is a personal trainer in Miami, she has no patience for obesity or laziness and is obsessed with her own calorie count. When she disarms a gunman, she is touted as a have-a-go-hero by the media, and the publicity attracts offers of a tv show. Lena Sorensen witnessed Lucy's heroism and in a bid to emulate Lucy and improve her own life, the overweight and reclusive artist becomes her client.

Rating: 3.5/5

Wimpole

I've blogged about Wimpole estate and it's library before, but it's such a beautiful place one more post isn't going to do any harm.

Paula Hawkins, The Girl on the Train

If you haven't already ready read this (after all it's had a fair bit of hype) your summer holiday, beach book is totally sorted.

I read this last month, but I thought it worth me still reviewing it.

rather annoyingly I've had to start watermarking my pictures
as I've noticed a couple of websites/blogs stealing them and not giving me credit 

The Plot: Rachel commutes past her old house every morning, the house where her ex-husband now lives wife his new wife and baby. As her train waits at stop signal she is able to peer into the garden of two strangers, who she nicknames 'Jason and Jess', she fantasies about their lives and she starts to feel like she knows them. One day she sees something shocking out of the window, and feels the need to intervene, soon she is embroiled in missing person's investigation, and is no longer just a passive observer.

Rating: 4.5/5  

library haul

I usually go to my local library, and although it is fanatically convenient it is also rather small, so I've found the shelves rather inspiring recently. So whilst I was in the town centre I was in town I popped into the main library and got a little bit carried away.......

1. Stephen Gallagher, The Kingdom of Bones 
2. Chris Abani, Song for the Night 
3. Irvine Welsh, The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins 
4. Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive 
5. Lucinda Riley, The Seven Sisters 
6. Charlaine Harris, Dead Ever After  
7. Khaled Khalifa, In Praise of Hatred 

Bank Holiday plans sorted! I'm going to eat those Easter egg and read, read, read.