A non-list book! The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Since coming back from the UK I have been a little more lenient with myself and though I continue to read books from the list I am also reading books that aren't on the list. This is a result of wanting to slow down for the Goodreads group I have and also to make sure I am being well rounded and reading the ever growing list of non-list (lol) books I want to read.

My coworker asked if i would like to read The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime and I always have since I discovered that it was written from the point of view of someone with Aspergers. I have a friend who has Aspergers and she had told me that the book is a fairly accurate representation of what happens for her in her brain. I have always loved the way her brain works and thus, I love the main character Chistopher Boone as well.

There were so many great quotes that I just loved including these ones:

"Prime numbers are what is left over if you take all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them"

"If you don't take decisions you would never do anything because you would spend all your time choosing between things you could do"

"And because people always think there is something special about what they can't see"

The book is full of pictures, diagrams and drawings so it made it such a fun read! I was particularly amused by a picture of what the fabric on the Tube looked like. Having just recently been to London I remembered it well! Although the picture was black and white I knew exactly what colours the fabric was!

Actually the whole book filled me with giddy glee because it started in Swindon a train station that I quickly had to get off of to transfer and go somewhere my friend and I were travelling. It was either Cardiff of Glasgow I don't remember which. I could easily follow Christopher's journey on the train to london having just done it myself. I was also happy to see his description of the Paddington station signs (which screamed at him because his brain sees absolutely everything down to the smallest detail). As annoying as it is I am the queen of the phrase, "I've been there" while watching movies and reading books. That is one of my favorite parts of travel, that it expands your points of reference and allows you to make connections withan increased number of people, and stories because you have experienced them for yourself.

The mystery part of the story was actually really engaging as well. As a child I always wanted to be a detective and solve mysteries. I used to sit on my roof and record various things that passed by my on the street below. (This was after reading Harriet the Spy and wanting to record things in a book just like she did). Christopher had the same inclination as he tried to solve the mystery of who killed his neighbours dog.

The story has all the great elements of a good story, humour, sadness, mystery and suspense. I quickly read it in a weekend. I would recommend this book to anybody.

Returning Home

So I was just about to type up a blog on Great Expectations which I finished yesterday (the day after I returned home) but I decided I should do my traditional last blog which typically consists of a grouping of lists summarizing the trip. First I wanted to describe our flight home briefly. We arrived at the airport quite early, because I am never calm until I have checked in and made my way through security. There was a huge area after security which went so fast and Lynette and I ate breakfast and sat amongst the throng of people.I found a bagel that came with REAL bacon instead of back bacon (aka Canadian bacon)...I dislike Canadian bacon and I am assuming we most have gotten this food from our British ancestors. Boo. The flight was mostly on time and ran smoothly. We got bribed with really good food. Our two snacks were vanilla bean icecream and a thai vegetable wrap. Yum. I am not sure if this is normal for international flights or not, since I have only been on domestic flights but I was impressed. I read almost the entire 8 hours trying to finish Great Expectations before I got home. We passed over Iceland and Greenland which was so cool. I was very impressed by all of the ice in the water and the beautiful scenery on land. Customs was a breeze as they now have automated machines that take your card and give you a score. If you are given a low risk a single man checks your card and waves you through. We were low risk. Our luggage took forever to come through which left us in a bit of a panic, thankfully it made it safe and sound, though my bag has a ton of rips and tears on it making it completely unusable for another trip. We had an hour wait for the ferry, but made it on just fine. I went to bed at 8 beign extremely jet lagged and slept for 11 hours. It was glorious.

Now for the summary lists:

Types of food sampled:

British pub food
Welsh food
Thai
Lebanese
Indian
Italian

Drinks sampled:

London Pride
London Glory
Brains Beer
Pimms

Major sights seen:

Stonehenge
Big Ben
Parliment
Westminster Abbey
Dickens London
Portobello Market
Fortnum and Mason's high tea
Tower of London
Various bridges
Chichester
Watership Down
Covent Garden/Seven Dials
Sherlock Holmes Museum
Scottish afternoon tea at the Willows Tearoom.
Millenium Centre Cardiff
Mermaid quay Cardiff
Cardiff Castle
Thames River cruise
Cardiff bay cruise

Hotels stayed at:

Premier Inn, Glasgow
Regency Hotel, London
The Big Sleep, Cardiff
Stylotel, London
The George and Dragon, Chichester
EasyHotel, London

Souvenirs bought for me (not others don't want to spoil the surprise)

4 magnets
1 Welsh lovespoon
1 lovespoon necklace
10 new kinds of tea
100 vintage book cover postcards
3 new reusable bags
2 locket watch necklaces
1 ruffled umbrella
1 new wallet

Thats all I can think of to itemize at the moment. Hope you enjoyed the adventure. Now on to the book review!

Day 12-Chichester/ London shopping.

Today was a super fast day. Lynette and I got up and had breakfast at the Geroge and Dragon conservatory across from our room in the barn behind the pub. This hotel is so fantastic. The food was good too although I only ate breakfast and wolfed down a bowl of soup prior to the wedding. We headed to the train and had no problems whatsoever. I enjoyed reading Great Expectations the whole way (particularly after visiting some of the sights that Pip visited). We arrived at our hotel near Paddington and rejoiced that we never had to haul our luggage through the underground again. Tomorrow we get to hop on the Heathrow express from Paddington Train station. I will be sad to leave the underground but not when dragging a close to 50 pound bag behind me. I am getting huge muscles though! Guess I'll have to try to keep up with it when I get home!!!

Lynette and I gave up on trying to site see today and ended up doing some last minute shopping for souvenirs four both ourselves and others. My one purchase of note was a box of 100 postcards of vintage penguin book covers. I bought it Hatchards because I had seen it and walked away, but still wanted it. The bookstore has been in existence since 1791.Soo cool.

Lynette and I had coffee at this cool place called Picadilly Institute. Coffee house by day and high end pub/coffee place by night. There are 6 themed rooms but most are only open at night. We sat in the foyer which was equally as cool. We were sooo tired.

Lastly we met Sarah at Oxford Circus (can I just say that I HATE circus' my brain can just not compute directions off them. I have yet to get the right road the first time off of a circus (meeting of 6-8 streets) Lynette and I wanted to have a traditional Sunday dinner of roast beef and yorkshires. We found a pub by the circus and ordered the dinner. It was pretty good. I also found breaded pickles and HAD to order them and try them...deep fried pickles folks! Suprisingly good. I also ordered my final ale....most likely ever London Glory. It was not as good as the others as it was pretty watery tasting.

Tomorrow we leave London. I am sad, but know I am starting to get a bit punchy. Today I started following Londoners out into the street prior to the light changing (a very odd quirk we see daily here) and my directional ability has left me a sure sign I need to go home and catch up on sleep and eat regular food. We leave at 10 and arrive at 11 (about an horu later our time...but really 9 hours later for us). I hope I am not too jet lagged as I have to return to work after only 1 day off.

Book 15- Tom Jones

I just finished book 15 which is Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. I liked this book, but it wasn't my all time favorite. I am beginning to see a pattern here with the books that Mr. Daniel S. Burt adds to his list. The majority of them seem to be about infidelity. Dude, seems to have a bit of thing with it!!!

The one thing that I liked about this book is that the writer is a part of the book. He frequently stops his story and directly speaks to the reader. This makes them feel like an active part of the story as well. One of the funny quotes like this was a discussion where he talked about the view from the top of a hill and he concluded by saying, "how to get thee down without breaking my neck I do not know" as though both the author and the reader where actually standing on the hill. Each chapter had headings and some of them were quite comical including these,

"containing such grave matter that the reader cannot laugh once through the whole chapter".

"Most dreadful chapter indeed; in which few readers ought to venture upon in an evening, especially when alone"

Tom Jones is a lovable character. He is full of character flaws, but the reader can tell that he is not a bad person inside. His predominant flaw is a penchant for being easily swayed by the temptation of a beautiful lady. Despite this, he never hides his flaw and is completely open with the world about it (much to his frequent distress). Here are a few quotes about him:

"Though he did not always act rightly he never did otherwise without feeling and suffering for it"

"A single bad act no more constitutes a villain in life than a single bad part on the stage"

A man who commits evil is not totally bad and corrupt in his heart"

Another interesting thing about this book, is that it reminded me a great deal of Don Quixote. Although I hated that book at the time I read it I am now very glad that I have read it because it appears to be an often quoted or used piece of literature. Tom Jones is similar to Don Quixote in that the main characters both go on quests with a completely ridiculous scaredy-cat side kick willing to sacrifice everything in hopes of furthering the hero. There was infact several references to Don Quixote including this one, Tom Jones had a "gallant disposition which inclines men to knight-errantry, that is to be the champions of ladies in distress.

Being a book about infidelity it is also a book about love. Tom Jones is on a road to personal discovery as he travels to London to make his fortune in the world. On the way he is prepared to eventually be worthy of the women he loves. Here are some quotes about love.

The disease of the mind do in almost every particular imitate those of the body...in the affair of love...this proneness to relapse is no less conspicious"

(This is at least the second book to refer to love as a disease!)

Love, I believe, is the child of love only"

"To love the creature who we are assured hates us is not in human nature"

The main point of the book seems to be about the fact that the author is using Tom Jones as a teachable moment so we can learn from his mistakes. Here are a few things that point to this:

"when we find such vices attended with their evil consequences to our favorite characters, we are not onlly taught to shun them for our own sake, but to hate them for the mischief they have already brought on those we love"

"I discern follies and vices too sufficient to repent and to be ashamed of, follies which have been attended with dreadful consequences to myself.

There were a lot of other things to say about this book, but I will leave it at that. I do have a tendency to ramble on. The next posting I post will likely be from the UK! If you have been following my book blog please also join me as I daily check in from my trip. I tend to do a daily log of my crazy shenanigans. i will also, while in London, be reading book 16 which is Great Expectations. As it is partially set in London and I hope to go to the Charles Dickens museum this is very exciting!!! I will leave you with one last quote from Tom Jones on London:

"London...here you have the advantage of solitude without its disadvantage, since you may be alone and in company at the same time."