Good out of Bad

We were discussing the review comments you see on the front of books the other day. Someone had read something that they felt didn't fit with any off the comments on the cover and was wondering why it should be.

And so we started talking about how these comments could really be taken out of context. Maybe "I was blown away..." really came from a comment that said "I was blown away by how awful this book is."

So we thought we'd play a little game - find a really bad review of something and extract a few choice phrases that make it sound like a good review!

It turned out to be rather fun!

So if you ever get a bad review - why not try this - and turn it into a good one!

Sunsets

Last month the skies were filled with darting swallows, the breeze carried their cries and the air hung sweet with the smells of summer.

But the day came when I looked up and the sky was empty. The swallows had gone.

The leaves curl brown. The days shorten and the sunset creeps ever westward along the ridge.

The seasons turn.

Booker Debate 2011

Last night I took part in the Booker debate at the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil. Interesting because I was the only person on the panel who loved their allocated book. So will the Booker judges feel the same? We'll have to wait until next week to find out!

But if you haven't yet read "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes then I can't recommend it strongly enough!