Sunday 30 October 2016

Webs

“Is that white sheen on the grass dew or frost?” I asked when we were walking on the field with Dusty this morning. We were surrounded by it. My phone can only take selfies as there is a fault with the camera, but I managed to get a photo. I should have known it was too warm for frost. And I should have realised that the dew was clinging to webs.



How many spiders must have spun those webs? And where were they all?

It’s amazing to think that every day we walk on the fields completely oblivious to all the webs beneath our feet. We trod a lot more carefully today, mindful of all the little creatures that had worked so hard to spin their webs.

I’m still reading the Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell. I watched a question and answer session with him and was delighted to learn that book 10 is not to be the last and that not only is the second television series scheduled for next spring, but a further two series have been optioned.

One of the many interesting things that he said was that he never plans his books. If you want to watch the Q&A session with him and his editor, you can find it at the top of his Facebook page here.


Wednesday 5 October 2016

Can't stop...

I can’t stop reading, that’s what. My eldest son has been on at me for years to read Bernard Cornwell’s books and I have read a couple of his stand alone novels, Azincourt and The Gallows Thief, both excellent books.

A while back I watched The Last Kingdom on TV (based on the first two books in The Last Kingdom series). I liked it a lot and decided to start reading the books. The 10th in the series, The Flame Bearer, is out today.

I have never done this before (usually I like to vary my reading as much as possible), but I have read the first three books one after another and I’m well into the fourth. Can’t put them down! I’ve also read the first of the Sharpe books and I’m likely to get hooked on those too.

It’s a wonderful feeling to discover you like an author and know you have plenty of reading ahead! I am absolutely in awe of Bernard Cornwell and thanks to him I am reading about twice as much as normal. 

You can find his website here and on the home page it features a video about the making of The Last Kingdom which is interesting to watch.


I have mentioned the Fantastic Fiction website before, but it’s worth mentioning again. Just search for the author you are interested in and it will come up with a list of all their books which can be very useful. The page often includes a piece about the author and sometimes books that the author recommends. You can find it here.