Radio Silence

I've not posted in a few days as I've been out and about in that there London, watching bike races (kind of work related I guess), attending the boyfriend's "book launch" (definitely work related for him), and drinking a lot with friends (definitely not work related, in fact very naughty and not to be advised.)

I've also not been reading as much as I need to do for this blog, but that's because I haven't yet found a way to make reading sociable, and I literally haven't had a minute to myself. There have been a couple of chapters of Georgette Heyer snatched here and there, in the bath, on the Tube.

Death In The Stocks is proving to be classic Golden Era fare. Posh people who talk very quickly are joking with the police about how guilty they look, whilst placing bets on whether their siblings could have carried out the murder. There are sensible dowdy girls in love with their male best friends who are completely obsessing over that character that only seems to exist in the 1920's/1930's - the conniving blonde bombshell, who is totally and utterly direct and honest about everything she wants (and that everything is a huge engagement ring and access to the boyfriend's inheritance) and how devoid of feeling she is, and yet whom everyone loves.

In continuation of my "whodunnit" guesses, I'm now leaning more towards Giles Carrington - cousin to the two main suspects, and their affable lawyer. He reads like a recurring character, and, as I don't think he is, there has to be some reason he's being this nice.

Matt (the aforementioned boyfriend - mine, not Violet's in Death in the Stocks) is reading The Luminaries, which I've had my eye on for a while now, and thoroughly enjoying it so far so hopefully that means we can incorporate reading into our "spending quality time together"....

 

As I say, Matt and I went to his "book launch" on Monday night in London. I use air quotes here as whilst there is a book, it's a collection of essays of which he is one. The Cycling Anthology is a biannual publication which started off life as a collaboration between writers Lionel Birnie and Ellis Bacon, and was published by Lionel's "Peleton Punlishing". Yellow Jersey Press have taken up publication of Volume 4 and re-released all the previous editions in gorgeous retro covers.

 

 

 

Matt features in Volume 4, having written a chapter on his experience in the Giro d'Italia in 2000 and the agony he endured after crashing early on, and fighting through. I may be biased, but it's well worth a read if you're into cycling, or "kid achieves their dream", or even just into reading about "strength in adversity" type situations.