Beatrice Goes To Brighton by M.C. Beaton

27 January 2012 13:36

I had no idea that M.C. Beaton was a Scot, never mind a fellow Glaswegian until very recently, about five minutes ago actually. I haven’t even seen Hamish McBeth on TV, she wrote those books too. I’ve been meaning to start reading her Agatha Raisin/crime series but I want to start it from the beginning and I haven’t got a hold of the first one yet. So when I saw Beatrice Goes To Brighton in the library I thought I might as well give it a go, even although romance is not my favourite thing.

If you’re looking for holiday/bedtime reading or just something which you don’t have to concentrate on too much then this is the perfect choice. Good light reading and a bit of a laugh now and again. The funniest bits for me were when the characters get all romantic – a la Mills and Boon, it reminded me of when I used to work in a library and to cheer ourselves up in the morning, just before we unlocked the door to let in the public, we used to take turns at opening a Mills and Boon and reading the very last page out loud – in a very plummy voice. Such fun!

In this one Miss Pym, who has had some success as a romantic matchmaker in the past is travelling to Brighton by stage-coach and comes into contact with the 28 year old Lady Beatrice who has recently become a widow, much to her relief. Beatrice had been married off to an older man who was a gambler and boozer, unfortunately it took him 10 years to slowly drink himself to death, by which time he had gone through most of his money.

It wasn’t long before Beatrice’s parents were trying to marry her off again to the ghastly Sir Geoffrey. Can Miss Pym help Beatrice?

Thanks again to Jo at The Book Jotter for pointing me in M.C. Beaton’s direction.

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Library Haul and Scones

19 January 2012 23:44

I had another bash at baking scones today. They’re something that I just can’t get right, usually they could be used as ice hockey pucks. This afternoon’s date scones are edible but they aren’t the lovely light consistency that I’m looking for and they didn’t rise much as usual, I think Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood would say that they’ve been ‘overworked’ – don’t know what else it can be.

Anyway to cheer myself up I went to the library. The main library is going to be closed for a year I think, whilst it’s refurbished so I haven’t been to a library for about six weeks. One of the many empty shops in the high street has been turned into a small library for the duration, it’s better than nothing! Actually I think it’s a good idea as the original library building isn’t exactly central and there are loads of people in the town who have never darkened its door. They just may get some new readers in Kirkcaldy!

I came out with:

The Odd Women by George Gissing. I think it was Anbolyn of gudrun’s tights who read this one recently and it was recommended in the introduction to Patrick Hamilton’s Slaves of Solitude. By the way, in case you don’t know yet, Anbolyn has done another ‘flit’ actually and virtually and her new place is looking spiffing!

Star Gazing by Linda Gillard - I’ve enjoyed her previous books.

Beatrice Goes to Brighton by M.C. Beaton – which I hope is going to be a hoot. I think this is one which Jo at The Book Jotter enjoyed.

Midsummer Night in the Workhouse by Diana Athill. I know nothing about this book and I chose it simply because it’s a Persephone, so it’ll be interesting to see what it’s like.

Now why did I borrow four books when I have loads of books of my own which I should be reading?! Oh yes, it was to cheer myself up after yet another scone failure. Does anybody have a foolproof scone recipe?

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Library Haul

14 November 2011 22:43

I freely admit that I’m a real coward when it comes to reading new authors and that’s just one of the reasons why I read Jo @ The Book Jotter. Jo definitely comes under the category of brave reader because she’s happy to try out unknown quantities.

So when I saw a Carola Dunn book in my library called Manna From Hades I was happy to borrow it in the knowledge that Jo is quite keen on her books. This one is set in Cornwall and that’s always a plus for me too.

I also chose a book by M.C. Beaton called The Skeleton in the Closet for the same reason. I hadn’t realised that Beaton wrote the Hamish Macbeth series, mind you, I didn’t even watch that when it was on TV.

The Skeleton in the Closet cover

Then I got to the reason why I was at the library at all – Alexander McCall Smith, he’s writing his books too damn fast as far as I’m concerned, with the result that I have some catching up to do in the Scotland Street series. I borrowed the two which I haven’t got around to yet – The Importance of Being Seven and Bertie Plays the Blues. So I’m going to be busy with library books when I should be making inroads on my book piles at home. I’m looking forward to them though.

It seems that there are a few libraries around which are being refurbished at the moment. I spotted a small notice on the library door which said that it is going to be closed for more than a year!

You know what it’s like when a favourite tasty-bite has that dreaded slogan on it New Improved Recipe – well my heart always sinks when I read that because it’s almost always a change for the worse, probably because they’re using inferior and cheaper ingredients. I bet something similar happens to my library, it’ll be gutted and modernised and what is left of its original Victorian character will be scrubbed out, and all at great cost. I thought that local councils were supposed to be trying to save money in these dire economic times!

It has occurred to me that I might not have to see the effects of the modernisation because if everything goes to plan we’ll be living in another part of Scotland by then. Meantime a couple of the many empty shops in the High Street are going to be turned into a library for the duration of the refurbishment, I suppose it has the advantage that it will be central.

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