Vision In Blue

A busy few weeks have ended with my best friend's hen do in Bournemouth. Although there were some times when I hadn't been looking forward to it we really did have a good time. We didn't even go into the centre of town, but everything we saw and everywhere we went was really good. Our hotel, The Mayfair, was fine. Not good, but fine. There is pretty much no way to have a good nights sleep there as everything makes noise... from doors to extractor fans... in this heat it was nearly unbearable to sleep. The bar was a bit rubbish but then it is only a small non-chain hotel. Some of the rooms we're very spacious, out of five my friend and I really did get the short end of the stick. You might want to make a map if you're in any room over number 18, as the place is a maze. It looks like they added another building on to the back but for some reason built them at different heights and just added steps everywhere! The location was really good though, ten minutes from the

Hot Key Books have a great little thing on their blog... "Top Ten Tuesday". The one that brought it to my attention was "Things In Books You Wish Were Real." Well... you know how I like a list! So where to start? You may remember though, that when I spoke about "The Grimm Legacy", this topic caused me trouble... but I'm going to try harder. Has to be The New York Circulation Material Repository from "The Grimm Legacy". A wonderful place that stores all the magical items [and not so] in its library. By adding this one I'm sort of making the other nine things pointless as I could borrow them from here! But just because I go to the library doesn't mean I stop buying books! Anyway, not only would it be great to borrow things but I'd love to sit and watch the stained glass windows. Dodos , courtesy of Thursday Next and Jasper Fforde. I know they were real but I think I'm allowed to have them on the list as they're clo

" Don't shy away from tough issues " by Jabari Asim, in The New York Times. I read the above article and was struck by its simplicity. Just basic observations and instincts from a parent, grandparent and teacher. It's lovely that someone is willing to be totally honest with their children. Some of the comments left me sighing in my chair but others were refreshingly different. A user called Bob Kanegis put up a lovely comment that just shows you how much some youngsters can process. Others said... "Children's books have always been about injustices in the world." "The time to help children learn to be compassionate and understanding and aware is when they are young - and great picture books that promote diversity and that provide, an albeit, hopeful perspective of the world are much needed." "None of the books I read as a child were politically correct. As a young child I didn't care. I wanted to read. I wanted to get lost in

...but in this instance they're going to drive me to Bristol. All my life I've lived in the same area. It may not be a perfect but it's a good place to live. I have never had the desire to live anywhere else. But life changes, situations change and at some point you have to move on. I have never been this "bold" with my life, putting myself first isn't something I've ever done before... and at this moment I'm still not sure how I'm going to cope with it. I stepped out of my comfort zone when I moved out of home but since then it's been fairly confined. I'm happy where I've been with everything, but recently with things changing at work and issues running through my head it has given me the opportunity to widen my horizons. I'll be making Bristol my new home. I will be starting a new job that I have always wanted to do... and that's all really scary. But I'm trying to think of things to do when I get there... things t

"What I hope readers understand is that it is not the tangible book that they love, but the story itself." - Hannah Black, "How Will We Read" winning essay for The Bookseller. I'd have to say that's a very sweeping statement, which makes a lot of assumptions about readers. But it's one I might expect from someone who works for a digital publishing company. Yes, the story is obviously key, I don't go to the shelf and think "I'll read that one because it's a paperback." I pick my reading to suit my mood. To say that readers are going for a "real book" [or as I like to call them... books] out of nostalgia is a very narrow view. My book never runs out of battery. It never crashes and loses data. I never have to worry about it getting infected, it's only concern is people with sticky fingers... they don't have my permission for loans... I like my books food free. It is compatible with all users, with the right langu

I will start by saying that this is a review of the first episode of Extant (CBS and Amazon Instant Video series) that premiers in the UK on Thursday 10th July. There will be spoilers so please don't read this if you're waiting for it on Amazon. Remember... SPOILERS! I saw the trailer for Extant on Amazon a couple of days ago and thought, from that, and the description it had the makings of a good series. I marked it in my calendar so I wouldn't miss it! Then yesterday I saw a tweet from Amazon offering the chance to win tickets to the preview. So one retweet and a few hours later I was the proud owner of two tickets to a reception and screening at BAFTA. Super excited, plans were changed, and my friend and I were all set. I can't just do a review of the show... It's not the same if I don't waffle... So this paragraph is about the reception. I've been to BAFTA before for the Carnegie book awards and it's a lovely venue and well organised. It

So my Cornwall holiday is over for this year. It certainly wont be my last visit. There's hardly any of the hassle that you experience in the London area on a regular basis, and that is well worth the trip. Less chain pubs [well, different chain pubs so there kind of seems like a bigger selection] and the locals are lovely, and I specify locals because some of the human race left me very disappointed. One of our days out was spent at Eden. I had never been there before and it really is a spectacular sight. I did show my "townie" side, I couldn't help but notice the similarities of when you see the whole Eden site for the first time with when you see the Bluewater site for the first time as you drive over the hill. I did hang my head at that, after all one is a fantastic ecosystem and the other is a money ecosystem. It was immense to see so many different people there. A lot of effort has been put in to make is accessible to everyone. I saw the elderly with walking

So, I was going to blog about all the wonderful sights to see in Cornwall, of which there are many. Here's a list of the things we've done since Saturday... with a few pictures... but I'm afraid what I saw this morning overshadows the other tales a bit just for its randomness, this randomness will follow below. Quay Fair Day Trengwainton The Meadery, Newlyn Eden Project Breakfast at Kegen Teg, St Just Chocolate Factory, Mullion The Lizard Kynance Cove, dog in a cow pat Tolcarne Inn for dinner St Michael's Mount Amusements Lamorna Pottery for a cream tea So there's a meadow in Eden, selfie with St Michael's Mount, paddling back from St Michael's Mount as the causeway wasn't quite above sea level, some artistic steps in Eden, some smart Alec putting a fire extinguisher next to the hottest chillies in Eden, Kynance Cove and Oliver before rolling in the cow pat... he was paddling in the stream at this point, it might h