Bubbity

Enjoyed My Fix!, 28 May 2013

A sizzler of a book which moves at a cracking pace. If I'd not been introduced to the writer I wouldn't have picked it up on the cover alone as guns and bullets don't normally do it for me. But this is more than crime fiction, it is crime literary fiction. It reinforces what I've always found - it's not what you write so much as the way you write it. The sort of book where you look forward to every invigorating sentence. For instance I loved this line: `It's said that everyone's good at something, which implies that we're terrible at lots of things.'

The chapters are in small bite-sized appetizing chunks which drive the pace. One of the book's greatest strength are its… Read more

A Tour de Force!, 4 Mar 2013

A fascinating account of Melanie Neale's childhood and adolesence growing up on the family boat Chez Nous with her parents and younger sister. In the winters they head off for the Bahamas and summers they return to the east coast of the United States. Melanie's parents have always been unconventional and wish to broaden the horizons of their children. Melanie and her sister are home-schooled and as children get shunned by small-town America for their unconventional lifestyle. Learning the lore of boat-life, Melanie makes life-long `liveaboard' friends. At the age of eleven, she goes diving with her father and other men and has adventures with reef sharks and other formidable creatures. We… Read more

Nifty Fifty!, 31 Jan 2013

For me, fifty was a much bigger milestone than thirty or forty - cue all those Saga magazines and over 50s insurance policies, and I was fascinated to learn that the States equivalent is American Association for Retired Persons, AARP for short! I was keen to read on. Written in an approachable, humorous and autobiographical style, Randi tells it like it is: which bits are creaking, which bits aren't quite working as they once did. After all, you have to have some battle scars for reaching this grand age, though she offers practical tips to help with these. Though I have to say I'm of the growing old disgracefully school and we parted company when it came to the fashion tips! For me, age… Read more