I thought it was time for another adventure update. I was on half term last week which meant more adventures as I had no teaching.
Bath
We spent a few days in Bath which obviously meant lots of book shopping but we also went to a few nice places for cocktails. We also visited the Jane Austen museum which we haven’t been to for quite a few years. I really like the Jane Austen museum as I find it really interesting and the gift shop has some beautiful items for sale. The Jane Austen tea room is also very nice.
We had a champagne afternoon tea at the Pump Rooms which was really yummy and in the evening we went to the theatre to watch and listen to the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell which my husband very kindly got me for my birthday. I studied part of the Dido and Aeneas opera at university and I have always wanted to see it live so I was really pleased to get the chance to see it.
On our last day we went to see the Rodin and Degas exhibition at the Holburne Museum. I love the Holburne Museum and it has become a tradition to always visit when we are in Bath and see the latest exhibition.
Wimpole Hall
I also went to Wimpole Hall and Farm to meet my best friend who I haven’t seen for ages. Wimpole Hall has one of my favourite libraries in the National Trust. The library is huge and has a book room attached, I would just love to spend all day in there reading and drinking tea. We also went to the farm and saw the latest arrivals of the piglets which were very cute and had lots of fuss off a very handsome shire horse called Stanley.
We are hoping to go on some Christmas related adventures very soon as you can’t beat a nice festive adventure.
The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker
Blurb
This complete collection of Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies features a brand-new enchanting cover.
Perfect for fans of all ages, this wonderful collection includes all the original Flower Fairy poems and illustrations by Cicely Mary Barker from the classic books.
Since the publication of Cicely Mary Barker’s first book in 1923, the Flower Fairies have been ethereal companions to generations of readers around the world. Her charming poetry and delicate illustrations have sparked the imaginations of children for over ninety years and continue to inspire a life-long love for fairies and all things magical.
Review
This beautiful book was my birthday present off my parents and a book that has been on my wishlist for ages. I was so excited I started reading it straight away.
This fantastic book is just stunning as the illustrations are beautiful. Each fairy is unique and all match the flower or plant that they are with perfectly matched with. Barker was clearly a very talented artist because the flowers and plants are so well drawn I could easily recognise all the plants (well the ones I am familiar with). I can imagine Barker studying each plant in detail to get the very best illustration.
Each fairy is accompanied by a beautifully written poem by Barker which is also associated with each plant and clearly shows that Barker really knew her plants. I also loved how certain poems had little facts attached to them about the plants, for example whether the plant was poisonous or known by another name. I really learned a lot from these attached facts and discovered that plants I know are also known by other names.
I had so many favourite illustrations and poems but my absolute favourite was the Christmas Tree fairy and I plan on rereading this poem when it is closer to Christmas. I would also love some prints of certain illustrations because they would look stunning on display rather than hidden in a book.
Barker in my opinion was an extremely talented artist and really knowledgable about plants. I loved this book and fully intend to dip into this book from time to time and remind myself of these beautiful illustrations and poems throughout the year. I give this book a massive 5 out of 5 Dragons.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Cicely Mary Barker (1895-1973) was the illustrator who created the famous Flower Fairies; those ethereal smiling children with butterfly wings. As a child she was influenced by the works of the illustrator Kate Greenaway, whom she assiduously copied in her formative years. Her principal influence, however, was the artwork of the Pre-Raphaelites.
Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It is all about sharing the books that you have recently added to your bookshelves. These books can be physical books, ebooks and of course audiobooks.
Hello and welcome to my first ever Stacking the Shelves post.
This week I spent a few days in my favourite place, Bath. This also meant I visited my favourite bookshops and went a little crazy on my book buying.
So here are the books and the bookshops I bought them from.
Persephone Books
I always love how Persephone Books have little descriptions of each book on the bookshelves so you can immediately see what the book is generally about. This also means that I found a lot of books I wanted to buy and read. I actually started to read The Victorian Chaise-Longue as soon as I got back to the hotel so that has already been read and reviewed.
Mr B’s Emporium Bookshop
I really want to see the film of this but I always love to read the book first so hopefully I will get reading this soon. I would have liked to have spent longer in this bookshop but unfortunately there was rather a nasty smell in the shop that rather put me off my book browsing.
Toppings and Company Booksellers of Bath
Now I will be honest I went a little crazy in Toppings and Company. Once I had filled my arms up with books I passed the books to my husband so when I went to the checkout the nice lady on the checkout had a bit of a shock. In fact she thought I had started Christmas shopping so she was even more surprised when I said they were all for me. In all honesty I am so excited to start reading all these lovely books I am not sure what to read first. What do you think I should read next?
So there are all my new books! I am returning to Bath in December so I really must be careful I don’t go book shopping crazy again.
Have you added any new books to your bookshelves recently?
It will soon be Halloween so I have chosen a poem from Roald Dahl’s book The Witches.
Down Vith Children!
Down vith children! Do them in!
Boil their bones and fry their skin!
Bish them, sqvish them, bash them, mash them!
Brrreak them, shake them, slash them, smash them!
Offer chocs vith magic powder!
Say, 'Eat up!' then say it louder.
Crrram them full of sticky eats,
Send them home still guzzling sveets.
And in the morning little fools
Go marching off to separate schools.
A girl feels sick and goes all pale.
She yells, 'Hey look! I've grrrown a tail!'
A boy who's standing next to her
Screams, 'Help! I think I'm grrrowing fur!'
Another shouts, 'Vee look like frrreaks!
There's viskers growing on our cheeks!'
A boy who vos extremely tall
Cries out, 'Vot's wrong? I'm grrrowing small!'
Four tiny legs begin to sprrrout
From everybody rrround about,
And all at vunce, all in a trrrice,
There are no children! Only MICE!
In every school is mice galore
All rrruning rrround the school-rrrom floor!
And all the poor demented teachers
Is yelling, 'Hey, who are these crrreatures?'
They stand upon the desks and shout,
'Get out, you filthy mice! Get out!
Vill someone fetch some mouse-trrraps, please!
And don't forrrget to bring the cheese!'
Now mouse-trrraps come and every trrrap
Goes snippy-snipp and snappy-snap.
The mouse-trrraps have a powerful spring,
The springs go crack and snap and ping!
Is lovely noise for us to hear!
Is music to a vitch's ear!
Dead mice is every place arrround,
Piled two feet deep upon the grrround,
Vith teachers searching left and rrright,
But not a single child in sight!
The teachers cry, 'Vot's going on?
Oh vhere have all the children gone?
Is half-past nine and as a rrrule
They're never late as this for school!'
Poor teachers don't know vot to do.
Some sit and rrread, and just a few
Amuse themselves throughout the day
By sveeping all the mice avay.
AND ALL US VITCHES SHOUT 'HOORAY!'
Roald Dahl
Tells the story of a young married woman who lies down on a chaise-longue and wakes to find herself imprisoned in the body of her alter ego ninety years before.
Review
A couple of days ago I went book shopping at one of my favourite bookshops Persephone Books in Bath and I came away with quite a few books. When I saw this book in the shop it really intrigued me so as soon as I got back to the hotel I started reading it and I was hooked.
Melanie is a young wife and recent mother in the 1950’s but sadly she is confined to her bed with TB. She has a rather patronising doctor and an equally patronising husband who both treat her like a small child. Her husband thinks she is silly and even tells her this and because she is petted and spoiled and told she is silly she acts like an over privileged spoiled brat.
Things soon turn rather sinister for Melanie after she dozes off on the chaise-longue. Melanie wakes up in a different room and the only constant is the chaise-longue, even her clothes and body are different but she is Melanie inside, on the outside however she is somebody else who is called Milly and Milly is from the Victorian period.
As the story develops it soon becomes clear that Milly is also a very sick woman but because of the lack of medical knowledge in the Victorian period Milly is not doing as well as Melanie was. It also becomes clear that Milly has a dark secret and something sinister happened in her past.
The trapped Melanie soon realises that this new world she finds herself in is the polar opposite to the one she comes from. Melanie is used to comforts, to being petted and spoiled and never hearing a harsh word. Milly is not used to comforts and is harshly treated and spoken to. Milly’s world is coarse to Melanie’s soft.
I loved the contrasts in this book and how Melanie tries to work out how to escape this body she finds herself in. The book explores themes of mental health, physical health and developments in medical treatments. It also looks at the roles of women in the 1950’s and 1860’s. As the reader I desperately wanted to know more about Milly’s past and find out her story because we get hints of it and some of those hints are rather worrying and scary.
This book is rather creepy and a perfect read for the month of October. I flew through the book and could have happily read it in one sitting if I wasn’t having so much fun on my holiday. I know the not knowing added to the atmosphere of the story but it did leave me frustrated and it is because of this I only give the book 4 out of 5 Dragons. I will definitely be reading more by Marghanita Laski though.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Marghanita Laski (1915-1988) was an English journalist, radio panellist and novelist. She also wrote literary biography, plays and short stories, and contributed about 250,000 additions to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Lady Book Dragon 