Catching up

Gosh, has it really been five days since my previous post?

Usual excuses: work, work, family, work, family . . . oh, and I've even been reading books!

Yes, it happened yesterday:

while SD#1 and her father were in the European City of Culture, videoing and photographing, respectively, their favourite band at the most famous club in the world;

while SD#2 recovered quietly from his birthday party at Mersea Outdoors, a picnic, an afternoon and evening walking from East to West Mersea and playing on the beach, staying up to watch the Eurovision Song Contest, a sleepover with a couple of friends and playing all morning in the garden despite the pouring rain (their idea, not mine);

while SD#3 watched back-to-back classic musicals (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Oliver and Annie) while simultaneously trying out some new ‘blending chalks’, completing half a Ratatouille colouring book, and making ‘rubbings’ of every textured surface in the house;

while the washing machine chuntered patiently through several loads of muddy clothes and the wind and rain lashed the windows (hard to believe after such a glorious Saturday) . . .

I sat in a chair and I read a book.

And then I read another one.

It is hard to describe quite how luxurious this felt. A rare treat. I could get used to it.

Anyway, what with one thing and another, I’ve had time for only the briefest skim across the blogosphere but here are some bits and bobs I’ve landed on:

* Are there simply Too Many Books out there?

* If so, maybe Amazon’s swingeing new rules on selling Print on Demand titles will help . . .

* Is there ever anything new in Crime Fiction?

* Hooray (as always) for Mick Inkpen. But which Kipper character are you? (And why couldn’t I find a copy my favourite Inkpen title in any local bookshops last weekend?)

* A comment on marginalia on one of my favourite blogs leads to an enquiry into the implications of Green Ink.

* Further ripples in the Sea Glass pond.

* And Leonard Cohen is back.

Hallelujah!