Beaulieu

A few weeks ago me and my boyfriend decided to take a trip to the south coast. I had never been before other than to hop on a ferry so I was a bit excited. We packed up the weekend car very early one sunday morning and hit the road heading for Bournemouth. 

We hadn't made set plans for things to do while we visited but knew we would like to do a couple of things if the weather was good, so when we arrived and had an afternoon to kill before we could check into the B and B we decided to tackle one of them. 

My other half is a bit of a car nut, I wont go into how much, but I have to admit I too am fond of a shiny car or two. As we were only a few miles away we popped to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu.



Now if you aren't into cars don't disregard Beaulieu as a place to visit as there is a lot to see, the motor museum not only has the history of the motorised vehicle including land speed record cars, F1 cars and more. The museum also currently holds the Bond in Motion exhibition featuring many of the vehicles from the films including Skyfall, and the World of Top Gear, my favourite bit.  

All of the challenge vehicles were there to see in their often destroyed states, including my favourite the OAP car, and the recently on air Hovervan.

Also there was the Leana, the reasonably priced car which is still used for F1 lap times, and one of my favourites of the most ridiculous challenges, the Quaint My Ride projects. I always chuckle when the chairs in this car slide around the floor.
There is also a Stig driving experience simulator if you are so inclined.

After getting the cars out of the way we headed back for the evening, and decided to cover the rest the next day as Beaulieu kindly allows you to enter the estate again for free within six days of your visit.

On the way we stopped at a very posh garage for a chat about a car my boyfriend looks after at work which was purchased there, but found the proprietor to be very rude, so just had a look at the cars.


The next day we headed back to the estate, and explored everything else.

If you aren't into cars it is the Palace House gardens that would make this a must see. They are wonderful, and I am so glad we went back the second day to see them.

Beautiful fountains full of waterlilies and sculptures nestled amongst bushes. It felt like being in Alice in Wonderland, as I stepped through a hedge I half expected to hear "Off with their heads!"

You could wander around the gardens themselves for hours admiring all the plant varieties and pretty flowers, but it was the vegetable garden that had me fascinated.





Tunnels formed by fruit trees heavy with apples and pears, intertwined with broad beans to form a canopy overhead. And then actually in the vegetable patches pumpkins, squash, cabbages and all sorts growing well to good sizes, all labelled for when you are only used to seeing them in the supermarket.




These ginormous things (they were much taller than me) are a variety of artichoke, to me they resembled thistles.

Once in the house it felt a bit like being in Downton Abbey. As you wander around the rooms admiring the artefacts there is a very homely feel, and all of the note cards are written by Lord Montagu himself so you get a real feel for his attachment to the objects.



There was faint music playing as you move into what was originally the arches for the gatehouse that house was built around, there was a gentleman playing the piano for us to enjoy.



In the kitchen the board of bells really did remind of the opening sequence for Downton, none of them were ringing though!



All throughout our visit we spotted this car zipping around the estate giving rides to lucky visitors, reminding us of Mr Toad from Wind in the Willows every time, "Poop Poop!"



After a spot of New Forest Ice Cream it was time to head on for the rest of the day. I couldn't resist snapping a picture of this little fellow as we drove back through the New Forest itself though! They are free to roam wherever they please within the forest itself, which I found wonderful, and a real sight to see.

Book Review: Death comes to Pemberley ★

As you can see from the title of this post, I didn't particularly like this book. Let me make it clear though that I am not an Austen purist, I like her work but I can see its flaws and I welcome adaptations/sequels etc (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a great book if you want to get more from your Austen) but I am a bit of a murder mystery purist, I like a decent crime with a good solid conclusion. This just didn't give me that.

This novel is set several years after the end of Pride and Prejudice, and while Elizabeth and Mr Darcy are preparing for the annual Autumn Ball, Lydia careens onto the scene wailing about her husband Wickham being murdered in the woods by their friend Denny after having an argument. Obviously, chaos ensues as the characters try to solve the mystery.

Now for my issues with the story, the main one being that it didn't really feel much like a murder mystery story to me at all, more like a story with a mystery tacked on. There was too much other stuff going on, I didn't feel like there were many revelations or clues to the solution nor even much detecting throughout the story, and the solution felt very rushed. I have never read any of P.D. James's crime novels, so that may just be her writing style, but it felt entirely unsatisfactory.

The writing I am afraid to say could not carry the non-plot either. I almost abandoned this book, I found it that difficult to read. I appreciate that it is probably difficult to write in a way which mimics the nineteenth century, but it did not have the flow that true writers of the period had, and James attempts to match Austen's wit but falls slightly short of the mark, which sort of left those passages of the novel floundering for a reaction. She also managed to shoehorn in some foreshadowing of things to come which just made me groan with disappointment, even mentioning characters from Austen's other novels as additional characters. It was as if James was determined to make you feel as if you were reading a parody, not a serious attempt to write a novel which is a dedication to her favourite author.

I ploughed on to finish the novel because I knew I would want to know who at least had committed the crime so that I didn't wonder in a few years time and try and read it again. But believe me when I say that I really did have to actually work towards finishing this book. It was not enjoyable for me at all.

Now that is not to say that you may not enjoy it, because I know readers in my library that have enjoyed it as well as ones that share my opinion. I recommend that if you are curious, give it a go, but I wouldn't spend money on it just in case as this does seem to be a real love/hate novel.

I am afraid only ★

Book Review: Deadlocked ★★★

I was a bit reluctant to pick this one up. If you have been a long time reader of my blog you will know that when I first discovered the Southern Vampire Mysteries I absolutely loved them, and I marginally enjoyed True Blood. But as the television show went on the books began to cater to the show's audience rather than the books, and the author seemed to enjoy winding up her loyal readers.

I stopped watching the show a few seasons ago and although I have continued to read the books I have set aside how disappointed I can get by them and try to just read them as an interesting story, not as a fan.

Sookie's twelfth and penultimate mystery to solve involves a young fangbanger winding up dead only a couple of hours after Eric has taken a sip. Naturally he is the chief suspect, so Sookie has to start investigating, even if it is reluctantly. She doubts that the murder was entirely coincidental as her own arrival while Eric was having his dinner seemed to be planned to cause problems between the couple. Other suspicious circumstances cast doubt upon Eric's guilt and Sookie gets embroiled in yet another dangerous enquiry in the night hours while her Fae family cause her all manner of problems during the day time.

Deadlocked felt less chaotic than either Dead Reckoning or Dead in the Family, there seemed to be a more unified plot line, which may be because Harris is leading the series to its conclusion. I found it interesting how Harris had Sookie use the Cluviel Dor, and I know a lot of readers hated it and what it probably means for the conclusion (I have actually read book 13 now, so I know that it does) but I am actually looking forward to the repercussions of that decision. Harris is well known for creating an ending for her characters that is not the norm, and I don't think Sookie will be much different.

Although this was an easier read than the last couple of books to come out of the series, it still felt that this was merely a means to an end. It has felt like Harris has been bored of this series for a while now, and as the longest series she has written so far I am not surprised. If you have invested a lot of time reading all the other books and want to complete the series I encourage you to do so, but if you have never read any of the Sookie Stackhouse stories I would recommend you stick to the first half of the series while they were still good.

★★★

The Librarian

Hello all!

Just in case you pop over here and notice it is a bit all over the place, I am in the middle of merging my two blogs together and setting up a new name and domain.

There are so many things I want to discuss on the net, and as I struggle to post in lots of separate areas I decided I am going to bring everything together under a new name and pretty much have my blog as just a bit of everything to do with me, so it will be called The Librarian.
As regular readers will know my training and profession is a big part of who I am, and my reading habits have made up a large part of the posts on this blog, so I feel I identify with the title a bit more under its new guise. Both Bamboo Needles and Ink Stains and The Cosmetics Library are tied to that profession, but they don't really identify themselves as such. For a while I have been looking to change the name of Bamboo Needles because I simply don't do as much knitting at the moment, and I sometimes think Ink Stains are a negative way to present the reading side of things, so I have felt this blog needed a more neutral name for a while, and the Cosmetics Library just isn't getting as much love as it should do, the shelves are definitely looking bare!

There will definitely still be reading updates, and when I get round to doing some, knitting and crafting, but also beauty and lifestyle stuff too here.

Already I have migrated all my posts from The Cosmetics Library over, so you will see those, they have a different colour scheme which currently will look out of place, but I am going to be changing the colour scheme for the new site as I go anyway.

Thanks for bearing with me while I do this, hopefully the redirect for the domain will be up and running soon, and this little blog of mine will officially be The Librarian and will be found at www.thelibrarian.co.uk

This is very exciting for me, so I hope to see you there!

P.S. Normal posts will still be going up, don't worry, i'm on a roll with catching up on my reviews!

Book Review: The Lost Symbol ★★★

I am a bit of a fan of Dan Brown, I know lots of people like to comment on the simplicity of the stories and how far fetched they are and basically sound off about them being not good literature, but I enjoy to read them, especially the Robert Langdon stories, so I was excited when the Lost Symbol was released.

It took me a while to get round to reading the book because although you can't see it in the picture above, it is a beast. The UK hardback comes in at just over 500 pages, and it is quite large in width and height too. Lots of words! So when I got my Kobo I had an inspired moment and decided it would be best to read it on a device, for convenience and to save my poor shoulder from carrying it around.

The Lost Symbol is the third Robert Langdon adventure to issue from Brown's pen, and sees Langdon chasing around Washington D.C. after his mentor has been kidnapped. As always the novel revolves around a secretive group which has real life conspiracies attached to it, in this case the Freemasons and the mythical pyramid which supposedly reveals an all important secret, it is the secrets in this story that allows the reader to be drawn in. There are so many conspiracies surrounding the Freemasons that the reader does not know whether some of Brown's plot devices are real or not.

I enjoyed this book, but no where near as much as Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code, it took a long time to get into, which is a problem I had not previously had, and I think that was mainly due to the antagonist simply not interesting me enough. His mystery which is supposed to make you want to read from the get-go didn't create the compulsion to read that the main body of the story created for me.

The story has many twists and turns, some which are easy to guess some which are cleverer, and the resolution to the action is satisfying. However I felt the story dragged on a little bit too long, the tying up of loose ends felt long winded and like it should have ended many pages before it did so.

The story hasn't put me off the Langdon series of novels, but it hasn't kept the buzz alive for me to be truly excited about the next one. It was an interesting read but not the best of the bunch.

★★★

Book Review: Divergent ★★★1/2

If you like the hunger games, you will enjoy this. Divergent is a dystopian novel set in Chicago in the future. In this world the society takes a test at the age of sixteen to determine which faction out of five based upon moral tendencies they are most akin to. The five factions represent selflessness, peace, honesty, bravery and intelligence. Upon being told which you should be in you then have to choose either to stay with your family in their faction or move to the one you are suited to, and be separated from the other groups. Being divergent is when you are suited to more than one group and are required to choose which faction you wish to be in. 

The main character Tris is one such divergent, and being so puts her in grave danger as by nature she doesn't conform. In a world where they are trying to create the illusion of peace by putting like groups together, and therefore forcing "natural" conformity and making them easier to control, she poses a threat to the system.

I really liked the concept behind this dystopian world, the idea of segregation is one that has occurred frequently throughout history, and segregation according to your virtues is simply a new form of this, one which these novels show is unsuccessful. it is made more plausible by being set in a currently existing city, and that landscape means you can picture it in more detail as there are recognisable landmarks. 

The plot keeps you reading because there is always something going on, always a new part of life in the factions to discover. It is however a little predictable, especially when moving into the second novel, because you know that there must be more than meets the eye to this world so are just waiting for the reveal.

This, like the hunger game is now being made into a film. I think this will be worth watching purely because the story is set in a current city so you do not have to extend your disbelief as much in order to feel like it is real. This is a really quick YA read, and I imagine lots of young readers will discover it even more with the film release, but it may still appeal to adults because the concept is so interesting. The series has three parts and is almost complete, with Insurgent already released (review to come) and Allegiant being released later this year.

A fun and interesting read.

★★★1/2

Book Review: The Help ★★★★★

I will start by saying how much I loved this book, this is going to be a very positive review. This book has quickly snuck onto my "favourite books" bookshelf.

The story is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960's, during the civil rights movement when there are still high racial tensions, and black workers are mainly seen as "the Help" and nothing more. The story follows Skeeter, a young white girl who has ideas to the contrary and wants to give the black women of Jackson a voice by writing their stories down for them.
Skeeter focusses her attentions upon Aibileen and Minny, two maids with extraordinary experiences, secrets and heart breaking stories to reveal about their employers, and while it takes a while for them to open up, the stories they tell are what makes this book so great.

This story is mainly about the characters, it has an interesting plot that is inspiring and invokes feelings of warmth upon completion, but the main purpose of the story is to tell you about the wonderful characters, it is their story that keeps you gripped.
Aibileen, the quiet woman devoted to the children she raises for her employers, Minny the best cook in town but who has a loud mouth, and Skeeter the white girl who goes to college and comes home without a job so by society's standards should make husband hunting her sole occupation.
The voices are very stereotypical, they have the inflections of a southern drawl and added tones which society has come to expect from that time period, and while this may offend some as it takes a little bit of getting used to, it adds to the atmosphere Stockett creates. The balance between telling us about the women's work lives and their home lives is what really keeps you hooked, how different they are, yet how similar they become when they club together to produce their side of the story. Stockett describes both the people and the scenery beautifully, and you can picture each Jackson home perfectly. The real strength of this book is its realism, you almost feel as if you can remember the events yourself.

The book also has been adapted into a film, and is well worth watching. It is as hilarious as the book and a very faithful adaptation. If you have seen the film that stemmed from this book, you may be put off reading knowing that you will already know about some of the funniest parts (especially Minny's "terrible awful") but I actually watched the film first and equally enjoyed the book. The book provides depth to the story that a 2 hour film simply cannot manage, and I would actually recommend watching the film first because it allows you to appreciate it on its own without being annoyed that wonderful scenes were cut.

The only negative that I have found with The Help, is the controversy behind it. The author, Kathryn Stockett, admits in the last few pages of the book that some of the events depicted were taken from her own experiences, and upon researching I discovered she was taken to court by the real Aibileen who had worked for Stockett's brother. The case was thrown out because of the time frame, but when I first heard of this I was a little upset, I don't doubt that she could very well have been inspiration for the novel, so to use her life experiences evidently without her permission seems to hark back to the very behaviour Stockett is dissuading in the novel.
This aside, the novel really is beautifully written, and I imagine it is these remembrances of actual occurrences that makes it feel so real to read.

★★★★★

Book Review: Shakespeare's Champion Detective ★★★

Another of Charlaine Harris's non-supernatural crime series, the Lily Bard mysteries are set in the town of Shakespeare, and over the course of five novels we meet Lily, a woman with many secrets who is always wary and on guard but who also knows how to stick her nose into other people's business. 

I am reluctant to class these stories as straight up mysteries, because often they feel more like an adventure. The stories begin the same, Lily goes about her job as the town cleaner and encounters useful nuggets of information that get called into use when some crime is committed, the main focus of the story though is Lily's development and how she goes about her life.

We learn very quickly that Lily is a tough nut, she is very good at kickboxing, and is known as the town recluse, she has good reason to be so wary as is revealed early on. Lily has had a bad past. To readers who aren't fans of Harris the reveal may seem surprising, even gruesome and distasteful, but Harris writes from some level of experience when it comes to characterising Lily. Her character can appear cold and hard at the beginning, but she develops nicely throughout the five novels and towards the end we see her develop in a way that seems natural, as she realises trusting in others isn't a weakness, and she have to be the way she is to survive.

Because the main focus is Lily herself the crimes are often either fairly simple to solve as a reader or complex enough that you don't guess them while you are too busy wondering about Lily herself. This may seem a bit pointless, after all what is a story without an important plot, but the story arc is really about character growth rather than plot progression with these.

I enjoyed this series, though not as much as I enjoyed the Aurora Teagarden mysteries, I think they make a well rounded tale which would make for an enjoyable read.

★★★

Book Review: Oxford, the Epicentre for Supernatural Activity ★★★

I initially picked up this story because I had heard glowing recommendations on YouTube and on Goodreads. So many readers were enamoured with the world within that I had to have a peek at a synopsis, the words Bodleian and Oxford had me suckered in straight away, how can I turn away a book set in a library?! 

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness follows Diana Bishop, an academic who is currently based at Oxford university, and who requests a manuscript from the Bodleian's stacks which turns out to be an important historical document that the supernatural community have been attempting to get their hands on for centuries. Diana is from magical witch stock and had been attempting to keep her ties to that world hidden, however she is unwittingly drawn into a battle for control over the manuscript and her own life. She is not alone in the adventure however, as she receives the assistance of Oxford's resident vampire Matthew Clairmont, a creature of great power but who keeps a lot of secrets from his new love.

While reading this book I noted that it felt different to read than other books of its genre, it is a debut novel and the author had withheld quite a bit of explanation throughout, presumably because the information is going to be imparted in later novels. While reading I found this frustrating, and not in a way that made me intrigued or sucked in enough to want to keep going, it was simply annoying. The plot often felt like it was moving around too much without enough actually going on, but at other times had me gripped with the action. The main love interest in the story was also strange, the relationship felt both stilted and exaggerated at times, and Diana often didn't read as if she was the age we are told she is. 

The book is a bunch of contradictions, but it had potential which did lead me to read the next story, on finishing I wasn't sure I would though!

★★★

The Library

Hello all!
Today I want to have a little chat about my library books. As you know I am a librarian, I am actually a full time librarian now (more or less) and so i spend even more time than before surrounded by books, and I get to take lots of them home!

Lately though I have had to be strict with myself, in our county you can borrow 30 books at a time, and previously I have been borrowing pretty much to my limit, there are so many that I just can't wait to read, and I might forget about them if I just don't take it home right there and then, that I scan my card and into my bag it goes. This behaviour is not good for my reading corner.

I have a small corner on top of my bookcases where my library books live, and I like to keep it tidy, bringing lots of books home doesn't keep it tidy because there simply isn't room for that many.
As you can see I currently have one too many on loan, but I really really really want to read Steve Jobs' biography, so I am letting that slide, I absolutely cannot take any more out though. I had to take back quite a few to get my selection back to a suitable size, and I really had to think carefully about which ones I definitely would pick up and read.

So why have I elected to keep these ones until they are finished?

The Well of Lost Plots is the third in a series of Jasper Fforde books about Thursday Next, she lives in an alternate universe where literature is the most valuable commodity of all. Nuff said.

The Night Rainbow I picked up from one of the displays at work quite randomly because it has a pretty cover, the synopsis hints at darker contents touching on depression and loss of innocence, the juxtaposition here really intrigued me. I can't wait to crack open the cover of this one.

Before I go to Sleep has had a lot of press coverage and is going to be made into a film with Nicole Kidman, you wouldn't believe the amount of times I have picked tis up and nearly brought it home and instead passed it onto a borrower I thought might like it, the other day there were three copies on the shelf though, so I decided it was time for it to come home. the synopsis hints at a woman who loses her memory every night and has to write herself a diary of the days events. Something fishy is going on though, and I love a mystery or thriller.

The Five People you Meet in Heaven is another book which has had a lot of attention. It is one of those books you feel like you should have read years ago but never did. It is about a man who dies and discovers that when you to heaven you actually have your life explained to you by five people who appeared throughout it. I love concepts of a different afterlife, one which defies the norm, and I think this will be an interesting and thought provoking read.

Vanished Kingdoms is a history book, but not your standard this war happened during so and so time period history book. This book is about fallen dynasties, royalty that has fallen out of favour, empires and republics that have been overthrown. I find history that is completely missing from the modern day fascinating, especially if there is a bit of doubt over what happened. I think this one will teach me a lot.

Company of Liars is a book that I have had a lot of recommendations for. Since I started reading historical fiction I have had various works suggested to me but Karen Maitland's works have always cropped up. Some of her books can apparently be quite gruesome, so I am starting with this one which is set during the plague. Lets hope i can stomach it!

I picked up The Yard shortly after i watched a BBC television show called Ripper Street. The show is set in victorian london after Jack the Ripper has had his day and the police are encountering a surge in murder and crime. The Yard appears to be along a similar vein, set one year after Jack the Ripper a new killer is on the prowl and the newly formed Scotland Yard murder team is on the case. It sounds gripping.

Another Non-Fiction title, From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg is a bit of a social history of the Internet. Another one spotted while browsing the shelves, and another one that I think might just expand my knowledge a little bit. I already have quite a knowledge of the Internet because of my profession but I always like to read new takes and opinions, you never know what nuggets of information you may have missed.

What I Did has an interesting synopsis and I predict it will get my brain whirring. It is about the repercussions that our actions can have on the order of things. A child runs across a busy road and his world changes completely, his father punishes him, a passer by sees this and reports him and the child's life and his family's begins to spin out of control. I like that this one reminds the reader that split second decisions can have a huge impact. Another one I can't wait to pick up.

Old Filth was a recommendation from a colleague, she assured me it would have me chuckling while also being in awe of the writers descriptive skill. this book follows a character throughout his life from being a child to being an old man, from being an orphan in the Raj through the British Empire and the Second World War. This one sounds like a fun journey.

Lastly Steve Jobs, I have wanted this book ever since it was released, but it wasn't cheap so I lumped for borrowing it. Once I have read it I will probably buy a copy anyway because Steve Jobs has had a huge effect on my life. At 15 I decided to go against the grain and convince my dad that I wanted an iBook, not a windows laptop, and since then I have been an absolute Apple convert. I know that the biography also tells us some of the negative points from Steve's life, but he was an inspiration to me so I want to read anyway.

So there you have it, the books I currently have on loan from the library.
if you use your library what do you currently have on loan and why?