Friday Poetry: Roald Dahl

Happy Friday!

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

Happy Reading

Etsy

The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marghanita Laski (Review)

The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marghanita Laski

Blurb

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.

🐲🐲🐲🐲

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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. 

Etsy

WWW Wednesday: 26/10/2022

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you will read next?

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far. Reading hasn’t been going well recently but I am slowly getting back on track.

What I am Currently Reading

I started this on my birthday but so far I am not entirely sure about it. Parts of it I am really enjoying but other parts I am not so keen on.

What I have Recently Finished Reading

I really enjoyed these two books. The Flower Fairies is such a gorgeously illustrated book I absolutely loved it.

What I Think I will Read Next

As per usual I never really know what to read next but here are some possible options.

Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

Etsy

Goodreads Monday: 17/10/2022

Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club.  All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.

Hello!

So sadly my Blogtober has been ruined because I missed Saturday and Sunday due to feeling too ill to blog. I’m still feeling rather rough but have made the effort to blog today and I hope to manage the rest of the month.

My chosen book for the week is another off my Classics Club list.

So Melville wrote of his masterpiece, one of the greatest works of imagination in literary history. In part, Moby-Dick is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. But more than just a novel of adventure, more than an encyclopaedia of whaling lore and legend, the book can be seen as part of its author’s lifelong meditation on America. Written with wonderfully redemptive humour, Moby-Dick is also a profound inquiry into character, faith, and the nature of perception.

Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

Etsy

Friday Poetry: Anon

Happy Friday!

My chosen poem today is a little different but something that means a lot to me. It is quite often used as a blessing and is a traditional Irish Gaelic prayer.

A Prayer for Travellers

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Anon

Happy Reading

Etsy

WWW Wednesday: 12/10/2022

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you will read next?

Hello!

We are half way through the week and I hope it is going well for everyone so far.

I managed to finish my first book of October yesterday so that pleased me.

What I am Currently Reading

I have started reading this again after taking a little break because I wanted to read some nonfiction. I am really enjoying it so far, I really do enjoy Weir’s writing. It is very rare that I find myself craving nonfiction.

What I have Recently Finished Reading

I picked this back up after a long break but this time I could not put it down. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it really interested.

What I Think I will Read Next

I’m really not sure what I will read next. I am quite tired a lot at the moment due to work so I’m craving easy and comforting reads.

Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

Etsy

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read On Vacation

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For more info please check out Jana’s blog.

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I managed to finish my first book of October today so I am a lot happier.

I love this weeks topic for Top Ten Tuesday because one thing I do when on holiday is read.

  1. Fireside Gothic by Andrew Taylor – I read this on the beach in Maui when we were there in 2019. This was a book my husband had brought with him and one that I picked up once he had read it.
  2. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James – This one was also read in Maui but I really didn’t enjoy it that much and found it rather dull.
  3. Death of Darkness by Dianne Duvall This was another Maui read and one I read because I was taking part in the blog tour for it.
  4. Jaws by Peter Benchley Another Maui read! I read a lot of books in Maui, it was our first resort holiday and we really made the most of the relaxing beach.
  5. The Woolworths Girls by Elaine Everest – This was one of the books I read whilst on holiday in Nice this year. We did some exploring on this holiday but we also did a lot of relaxing by the beach and by the pool because it was our first holiday abroad since 2019 so we decided to have a chill holiday. This also meant I read quite a few books.
  6. The Empty House by Rosamunde Pilcher – Another Nice read. This one was a little disappointing.
  7. All Systems Red by Martha Wells – Another Nice read. Got hooked on this series.
  8. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells – Another Nice read. I’m quite surprised just how many books I did read on this holiday.
  9. Border Lands by Brian McGilloway – I read this whilst in Hay-on-Wye last year. I loved it so much I bought the rest of the books in the series in the Cinema Bookshop in Hay.
  10. Harry Potter and Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling – I’m not sure what year this was but whilst on holiday in Scotland visiting my sister my nephews introduced me to the Harry Potter series. I loved the first book so much I went out and managed to buy the next two books in the local Co-Op. Only four of the books had been released at this point.

So there are the books I can remember reading whilst away on holiday. There are a lot more but I can’t remember which ones I read and where sadly.

If you have taken part in Top Ten Tuesday this week please drop me your link and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Goodreads Monday: 10/10/2022

Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club.  All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone has had a good start to the week. I have had a busy day but I finished it with a lovely walk in the evening.

My chosen book today is another classic that I really want to read and one I have on my Classics Club list.

Cecilia is an heiress, but she can only keep her fortune if her husband will consent to take her surname. Fanny Burney’s unusual love story and deft social satire was much admired on its first publication in 1782 for its subtle interweaving of comedy, humanity, and social analysis. Controversial in its time, this eighteenth-century novel seems entirely fresh in relation to late twentieth-century concerns.

This sounds like a really good read and one that I am quite excited to start.

Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

The Weekly Brief

Hello!

I hope everyone has had a nice weekend. I have been really busy this weekend playing for weddings and church services so I’ve only managed a little bit of reading. However, Blogtober is still on track so fingers crossed I will complete the month.

Posts this Week

Currently Reading

I have almost finished this and so far it has been a really fascinating read.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you