Pages and Pages

After acquiring my new glasses this morning I decided to test them out by finishing Regency Buck this afternoon. Georgette Heyer has written over 50 historical novels dealing in particular with the Regency period. I usually love books of this type and was really looking forward to reading it but I have to be honest that it took quite a lot of effort not to abandon it before the end. I think this has more to do with it perhaps just not being the right book for me at the moment and it has not put me off reading other Heyer novels. The book follows the beautiful and wilful Judith Taverner and her brother Peregrine who are left in the care of their guardian Julian St John Audley, the Fifth Earl of Worth after the death of their father. He is what Judith would describe as a 'dandy'- a member of the fashionable Bow-window set and the man that is ultimately in charge of her destiny. The reader follows Judith as she enters the social london scene and its many pitfalls and faux pauxs.

I thought that I should probably introduce Henry Bassett to my blog as he is often either my reading companion or the reason why I have not had time to read during the day. He is nine months old and the sweet, butter would not melt exterior you can see hides the mischevious, stubborn little minx that he truly is! My partner and I often think that he has been sent to well and truly test us. His parents told us that they did not think it the best idea to get a dog but we decided to be spontaneous and a ten hour round trip to Wales resulted in Henry becoming the new member of the family! I absolutely love him, don't get me wrong but he has definitely tested our patience on many an occasion, don't let those sad eyes and long ears fool you!!

I still have 34 days left until Lent is over and I can eat chocolate again! I am absolutely fine; I have not found myself sitting there thinking about chocolate (which is unusual) but I am not fine when other people have chocolate in front of me! Mr S (my other half), unfortunately is waiting for his second year medic exam results this week therefore he has been very stressed and eating copious amounts of chocolate digestives and I have had to simply watch rather than joining in and he thinks he is being ever so funny by offering me the occasional one. Reading wise this week things have been good, obviously I finished The Kite Runner which was excellent and I wanted to read something different so I decided to go for a regency drama in the form of Regency Buck , plus it allows me to knock another one off my TBR challenge. I am really enjoying it; I have always loved this kind of book but had not heard of Georgette Heyer until she was recommended by a friend but I have to say that I am

On a Winter's day in 1975 Amir witnesses an awful act involving his childhood friend Hassan that will have unimaginable bearings on the rest of his life. Amir is the privaleged son of a rich and respected merchant in Afghanistan; Hassan is the son of his father's long-time servant Ali. Although from different ends of the spectrum, the boys share a childhood until the day that changes both of their lives forever. There are so many themes running through Hosseini's book; friendship, childhood, loyalty, trust, cruelty and redemption are just a few. The author manages to vividly evoke the daily horror of Afghanistan under Taliban rule, especially when mirrored with the security of Amir's new life in San Francisco. I had constantly put off reading this book as I was worried that all of the hype surrounding it would be unfounded. However, I have to say that this is one of the best books that I have read in such a long time. The Kite Runner is not a nice book, it explores the

I have made the decision to give up chocolate for Lent, so for 40 days, until March 22nd, no chocolate in any form can pass my lips! I have to explain that this is a big challenge for me, chocolate is definitely one of my main weaknesses next to handbags. I decided that it was impractical to give my handbag up so chocolate is the next option. Wish me luck!

I hardly read this weekend as had people visiting plus been having bad headaches due to needing new contact lenses and having forgotten to visit the opticians since 2005!! This has been remedied though by a visit to the opticians tomorrow plus the arrival of four new books! I have only just realised that they are nearly all off Richard and Judy's Book Club list- not sure if this is a good thing or not. I started The Kite Runner on Saturday afternoon before my friend arrived and was instantly engrossed, I wanted to put the book down even less when she saw what I was reading and said that she had recently finished it and had loved it. I have knocked one book off my TBR 2008 Challenge list and I am going to try and decide this week what to read next from my 11 options, I really want to re-read all the Harry Potter books too so I may have to set myself another challenge for that.

I was given this book by my future mother-in-law to read as she had enjoyed it whilst on holiday. I have never read anything by this author before although I have watched The House of Cards which was originally a novel by Dobbs. The protagonist in the book is Ginny Edge, who at the beginning of the book is quite a normal housewife to the MP Dominic Edge. However upon finding out that her husband has had an affair; Ginny sets out on a path of utter ruthlessness to make her husband the Prime Minister and herself his First Lady. Characters along the way are as you would expect, sleazy politicians and head-line hungry newspaper editors. Ginny's day to day life and struggles run parallel to the character of Ajok Arab, an immigrant from the Sudan struggling to carve out a new life in Britain for herself and her two children. By the end of the book the two women's lived become intertwined as Ginny uses Ajok to score some much needed political points for her husband's election bid