My Thoughts: A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo

I brought this book when it very first was released and was a feature of many reviews, it then sat on the shelves looking lonely since.
The book is a journal of a Chinese student, Z during her year long visit to England. As the book starts she is entering England and is shocked by the things around her - the expense, the food, the lack of friendliness. One night sitting alone in the cinema she is smiled at by a man, by the end of the evening she has falle in love and she has invited herself to live with him. This relationship then adds to her mix of emotions, not only does she have to fit into a new country but also a new relationship in which nothing is certain, for she has fallen in love with a drifter, a man who can make no commitment.
The language starts off in very stark broken English, but as the book progresses her English improves vastly with only a few mistakes popping up. She also has a dictionary definition at the start of each chapter and it becomes apparent how words we use everyday are not clearly defined in a dictionary - they have nuances which cannot or have not been defined.
A great read.
Challenges:
Orbis Terrarum
999 (TBR)
Rescue Challenge

The Sunday Salon: Making Cocoa for Kinsley Amis by Wendy Cope

For my second read in the Twelve Step Poetry Programme I picked up Wendy Cope's 'Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis', this is part of a collection which has languised on my book shelf for many many years.
Unlike The Migraine Hotel by Luke Kennard which I loved this collectio just didn't hit the spot. Many of the poems are a woman's angst about men, she creates a mock The WasteLand (my favourite poem - which didn't go down well), and mixes in silly rhyming poems. I know she is loved, maybe I should select a different collection to read of hers and give her a second go.
Having said that I did enjoy 'Usquesbaugh' and 'E Pericoloso Spordersi' I loved the sound of the words in both.
My next poetry collection is of a very different type and will be reviewed later in the week.

As for today, I was supposed to be really busy working and planning but just not feeling it, will be cramming a little more in then cuddling up with a book and a bit plate of roasted vegetables. I just finished the BBCs adaptation of Dickens Little Dorrit which was fantabulous.

A Saturday Creative Session

After a busy week at work and a busy morning buying pressies for people in town and basking in the September sunshine I come home and relaxed by getting crafty. This is the first time I've sat down and made something since school started back - I think I'm going to need to dedicate one evening to it a week so I have time to learn some more and participate in more swaps and challenges.
I had to make 20 altered gift tags for a swap with different people across the world, and I will end up with 20 back. I had made 8 already, but wasn't happy with all of them so I went into production line mode and knocked out 20 with the same design (it's what most people in the swap do).
Next week I have to finish 15 4x4 Autumn fat pages (chunky collage) and still have no ideas!

My Thoughts: The Migraine Hotel by Luke Kennard

The Twelve Steps Poetry programme started at just the right time for me, I had just been to see some brilliant live poetry all by poets who live in the local area. Luke Kennard was the headline act. When he was selling this poetry collection at the end I grabbed a copy had it signed and popped home. Now, if it hadn't been for the poetry challenge I probably would have popped this on the shelf and forgotten all about it. Instead I've read a few poems an evening and actually read a whole poetry collection - something which rarely happens.

Kennard's poetry is modern and witty, he mixes elements of real life with fictional characters, he plays with words and ideas composing random little thoughts to swim around your head or make you smile. My favourite poem in the collection has to be Wolf Nationalist, who is one part English one part Welsh, one part Scottish and one part Irish. He dedicates one day a week to each part of his geographical make-up, playing out all the old stereotypes. I couldn't find a copy of that online but found this poem from the collection to give you a little taste: And I Saw he is also here on you tube where you can see one of his poems but also his lovely Well-Bred English looks and voice.

My Thoughts: So Many Books, So LittleTime by Sara Nelson

I love hearing and reading about other peoples reading and their opinions on books so during my recent reading slump I picked this up hopig it would inspire me to read again - I am, although not sure if I can say it is down to the book.

This books sets out to be a reading journal of an avid read, Sara Nelson used to be a book reviewer so she knows her stuff. This book turned out to be more about why she read, why she picked the books she did and how those books related to periods in her life. I was pleased to see she loved A Million Little Pieces and The Crimson Petal and the White but she slatted a lot of other books and authors who I enjoy.

A very easy read, but as it was American it featured a great many books I'd never heard of - I guess they weren't such a big hit over here - or I was still in nappies when hey come out so missed the hype about them.

The Sunday Salon: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers bu Loung Ung

I haven't posted a book review on here in ages - I seem to be distracted lately when reading or I'm too busy to actually get to a book. This is the first nook I have finished in a while, but I have a poetry collection and another non-ficion half read so they should be coming up for review shortly.

I picked this book about Cambodia off of the shelves as I'm planning on travelling there next summer (5 weeks to explore Cambodia, Laos and south Vietnam - I've done the north already and loved it) and also my ex is there at the moment and he has been raving about it in his emails.
First The Killed My Father is a memoir, Loung Ung was just 5 years old when the Khmer Rouge stormed Phnom Penh causing thousands to escape from the city in search of safety. Coming from a rich family bacame both a danger but also a blessing as this family went on the run. Escaping first to families homes and then to distant villages they had to be careful at every moment to hide the father's past work with the old government. The Khmer Rouge a Communist Extremist group forced families to live in camps on meager rations, for children to work in rice fields and vegetable patches to help feed the armies. Her brother is forced to face bullying by the generals children as a means of keeping the family alive with a few extra scraps of food each night. As Loung gets older she witness the death of her sister and the disappearance of her father. She then is sent to a Children's Camp where the kids are taught how to attack the 'enemy' with the tools they use in their jobs.
The stories of what the families went through and the seperation of the families is harrowing, the political side of things is very sketchy so I'll be searching out a few non-fiction texts to find out more about the place before I go - the ex has already recommended one, which I'll borrow when he arrives back in the UK.

Challenges:
World Citizen Challenge
A-Z (Author)
In Their Shoes

Just got back from watching some live performance poetry, we arrived late as the restaurant we went to before was packed and way understaffed, but the first poets were fairly old. Then we saw some really quirky young English poets who I thought I'd share with you. Apparently this live poetry event is going to happen once a month in my town to looks like I've got a permanent outing to go to.
Hope you enjoy

Nathan Penlington

Ross Sutherland

Luke Kennard