More of wot I have read…

The Accidental - by Ali Smith

I found this a very unusual book that doesn’t have an obvious plot narrative but investigates how a stranger affects the lives of a family that is drifting aimlessly when she turns up at their door by accident.

It is a very well written and engaging story the spends most of it’s time exploring the different ways people react to external forces and does a good job of getting you inside the head of the characters.


"Winner of the Whitbread Award for best novel and a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, The Accidental is the virtuoso new novel by the singularly gifted Ali Smith. Jonathan Safran Foer has called her writing “thrilling.” Jeanette Winterson has praised her for her “style, ideas, and punch.” Here, in a novel at once profound, playful, and exhilaratingly inventive, she transfixes us with a portrait of a family unraveled by a mysterious visitor.

Amber—thirtysomething and barefoot—shows up at the door of the Norfolk cottage that the Smarts are renting for the summer. She talks her way in. She tells nothing but lies. She stays for dinner.

Eve Smart, the author of a best-selling series of biographical reconstructions, thinks Amber is a student with whom her husband, Michael, is sleeping. Michael, an English professor, knows only that her car broke down. Daughter Astrid, age twelve, thinks she’s her mother’s friend. Son Magnus, age seventeen, thinks she’s an angel.

As Amber insinuates herself into the family, the questions of who she is and how she’s come to be there drop away. Instead, dazzled by her seeming exoticism, the Smarts begin to examine the accidents of their lives through the searing lens of Amber’s perceptions. When Eve finally banishes her from the cottage, Amber disappears from their sight, but not—they discover when they return home to London—from their profoundly altered lives.

Fearlessly intelligent and written with an irresistible blend of lyricism and whimsy, The Accidental is a tour de force of literary improvisation that explores the nature of truth, the role of chance, and the transformative power of storytelling.

More of wot I have heard…

Still - by Lily Allen

A (s)punky girl that sings from the heart on subjects that matter to the younger generation. To us she sounds like a female equivalent of the Streets – Mike Skinner. Catchy tunes and pointed lyrics make this a lively album and a good debut.

Veneer - by Jose Gonzalez

This artist has become popular here in the UK for having a track used in a TV commercial. His style of music is quite and gentle with simple arrangements that although they don’t always leave a strong impression, they do give and fine overall feeling to the album.

Late Night Tales - by Flaming Lips
The Late Night Tales series of albums has a different artist select tracks that mean something to them. It is an insight to the influences on them as well as being an eclectic mix of popular and less well known music. We have collected most of the series so far and have enjoyed them all and this is no exception.

Bricks and mortar…

We are slowly getting closer to completing on our house sale and are looking at moving out at the end of the month. We went and had another look at the house we were thinking of buying and now that the owner has moved out it looked different empty. We spent quite a while there measuring and looking at what we wanted to change. It didn’t look as attractive proposition as it did before and so we were up until 2am trying to work out in our minds what we really wanted and eventually decided it wasn’t that house, so we pulled out. Now we are looking for somewhere else again. We will stay with friends and family and rent until we find the right one.

Flowers in your hair…

We spent a long weekend camping in a field beside the river Thames with several thousand other people at the annual Womad Festival. Originally set up by Peter Gabriel, the festival has been going now for many years and celebrates WOrld Music, Arts and Dance. I met Sue and her sister Deb after work on Thursday and together we drove up to reading where we joined Dave who had gone on ahead earlier in the day to set up the tents with his brother Steve. The two tents we had were huge and drew admiring/envious glances from other campers. The main event started on Friday and this was when Blonde-Deb and the boys joined us.

The whole event is very inclusive and friendly with families rubbing shoulders with original Hippies, Rastas, Eco-Warriors, and even the occasional Goth. The music is varied, some of it ethnic some alternative and others just plain odd. The music started well with a band from New York called Yerba Buena (Afro-Cuban funk). We also liked Sasla Celtica (Salsa-Scottish folk), the Gotan Project (French electronica), Batucada Sound Machine from New Zealand (a mix of rhythm based music with Afro-Latino feel), Ska Cubano (Jamaican-Cuban crossover), Sunshiners from Vanuatu (giving modern classics a reggae makeover) and Laura Veirs from Seattle (a folksy singer-song writer).

The whole place was a riot of colour, sounds, smells and tastes. All sorts of flags flew with images as varied as red, green and gold marijuana leaves, Che Guevara, rainbow flags and classic peace emblems to pirate Jolly Roger’s. Smoke from incense burners and ‘herbal’ cigarettes drifted out from tepees and coffee tents. We were spoilt for choice with the variety of interesting and tasty food stalls that surrounded the site. If all this was too much you could wander around the multitude of stalls that were sell all manner of interesting items. I was persuaded to buy an acoustic guitar that was particularly cheap (now I only need to learn how to play it).

Apart from a few showers one evening the weather remained very good, in fact it turned that it has been the hottest July on record.