'Delicious' swamp cakes

Ok, they're not pretty, it's gotta be said. Mind you, they were tasty!

#50books2013 - Midnighters Series by Scott Westerfeld

Despite my less than glowing review of 'Extras' earlier this year, I couldn't resist downloading this series onto my Kindle. It's great to have a light read to hand on my Kindle and the Kindle app on my phone for those times when I'm stuck on the sofa nursing Archie or the boys are sleeping in the car and I'm stuck on the driveway (mums, we've all done that, right?!) I also like to claim that reading books intended for teens is some kind of research for work so I can recommend books to reluctant readers (yeah right).

The series starts in a familiar way - think Harry Potter, Twilight, The Wizard of Oz - what child hasn't fantasised about being transported to a new world when they have untold power and influence? What misunderstood teen has never dreamt that they are just *different* from their parents, their family... In Midnighters, Jessica Day wakes in a strange and beautiful dreamscape of sparkling diamonds - but soon discovers it's not as idyllic as it first appears.

It soon falls to a small band of misfits to save the world (of course, what would such a book be without mortal peril?!)

I am being a bit flippant here though - Midnighters reminded me of what I liked about the Uglies series. Despite feeling disappointed by Extras, I do think Westerfeld is a skilled writer for teens and      the world and characters of The Midnighters series are well crafted; the narrative is gripping. I would certainly recommend this as a good young adult read and also a great series for those who have enjoyed 'crossover' novels between YA and Adult Fiction such as The Hunger Games, Matched and Twilight.

#50books2013 A Commonplace Killing - Sian Busby

There are no winners in this book - each narrator has a sad story to tell and Sian Busby's evocative style will draw you right into their lives. Set in bleak, grey post-war London, the characters are all doing their best to navigate themselves through the depressing, mutilated landscape of both London and their own emotions.

Lillian Frobisher lived a life of freedom during the war, only to be brought crashingly back to earth when her husband returned into a life of drudgery, struggling to make ends meet on meagre rations - always hankering after the forbidden luxuries denied to her whilst trying to remain respectable. In post-war Britain she is described by some as a scarlet woman, yet what she yearns for is what a modern woman would take for granted. The character of Policewoman Tring is perhaps a little more hopeful - although she is usually reduced to driving around the men of the force and, like Lillian, is expected to magic up sustenance (in the form of tea and sandwiches) from nowhere.

Busby also explores the scorn towards those men who did not go to war - who played a different part and the damage sustained by those who did. An unlikely parallel is drawn between Dennis, a criminal, and Cooper, the principal detective on the case. Two men both permanently damaged by their experiences of war, neither with any hope for the future. Rather like London itself, suffering under the weight of a crime wave as ordinary people struggle to gain some sense of self by turning to the black market for items advertised on billboards, unobtainable by legal means.

Although the novel liberally draws on the traditions of detective fiction - the lone detective figure, Cooper and some real noir elements - really  the novel is less about solving the mystery and more about communicating the bleak nature of post war London - and this is something Busby does expertly. It doesn't make for an uplifting read, it's got to be said, but if you want to really feel what it was like to long for something other than spam, powdered egg and stale bread - whislt fielding propaganda telling you that you should be happy to be at peace, eating the healthiest way you ever had then this is the place to start.

Archie Antics - Tesco

In Archie's mind, Tesco only exists to provide him with plenty of people to say hello to!

Archie Antics - Coaster

Archie Antics - Andrex

To Andrex (v) - to playfully toy with toilet paper, esp. small animals and children. Examples: Archie was andrexing in the en suite earlier. Archie andrexed the spare toilet rolls into the bath as it was running last night.

Bobchat - Flamingo

'Look! A flamingo!'