OneGuyFromBarlick

I shall finish it today and give it to Susan tomorrow, she is a fan of Sansom and Shardlake.

Now I have to decide on Xmas reading! I am fancying Diarmid McCullough on Christianity..... That will be worth another read!

I started on Christianity yesterday. A good choice!

I was sat there in a perfectly quiet house, Jack Asleep at my side and reading Diarmid on Christianity when it dawned on me that in terms of what is good for mental well-being that must be very high up the list. Modern life doesn't give much opportunity for activities like this. There are many advantages in living on your own!

Don't know whether it will be judged as a good book or not yet. I got the GCHQ Puzzle Book Vol. II for Christmas. It's 350 pages + of puzzles (probably about 1500 of them) set by the best in code and cypher, including historical entrance papers given for recruits to Bletchley Park in 1940. To quote Captain Oats partially, "I may be some time".

Each to his own Ian. That would be purgatory for me!

The first section are said to be training puzzles to get you into the mindsets of the creators. If you see a number think of a letter, if you see a letter think numbers. To be successful you have to think outside the box, nothing is literal, or it could be, all angles have to be covered. I have got to number 10 with a couple of gaps where the penny hasn't dropped yet. They get harder and harder as you progress. Each section they introduce new techniques, got to be good for the brain.

I'll pop an odd one in the puzzles thread, ones I have done, ones I havn't would be cheating

Go for it. I'll settle for the knotty problems of things like Gnosticism v. Marcionism. It would probably bore you to tears!

Called in on my Samaritan's book stall to look some Steven Potter books. Why they put humour / satire on bottoms shelves is a bit perverse but it must be their sense of humour. While I was down there on my knees I spotted a a 2017 Private Eye manual. Well I though I may as well get something for my pains, so I bought it. Another gent who was buying a History of Colne said " I have all the manuals from 1995 onwards that is the only one I haven't got. It being Christmas and feeling rather generous I gave him a smile rather than the usual growl and kept the book. We then discussed old Colne buildings for a few minutes but after he corrected me on the date of the Colne Town Hall I did a bit of Oneupmanship and told him about the foundation stones on the Montague Burton building. He shot off at the double to have a look.

Nice one !
Childish I know but a bit of gentle fun like that is great. That's why I enjoyed re-orienting the glacial heave deniers in public! It is allowed in my book.

This is interesting to those of us who buy books online. I'm just a bit disappointed to find that Abebooks is owned by Amazon.

Second hand books

Didn't know that but not surprised. I always go in through Bookfinder.....

Diarmid is a daily delight. Re-reading him was a good choice. I think I need to read his biography of Thomas Cromwell in preparation for Hilary Mantel's third novel which is due out this year.

I have ordered Tomas Cromwell, must stop buying books!
Diarmid excited me yesterday with his account of the rise of monasticism in the West and it has triggered me into thoughts of a further look at the Cistercians in Barlick. He reinforced some linkages between Monarchy and the Church which I knew about but have never given enough emphasis to. Not everyone's cup of tea I know but there you are......

Diarmid's biography of Thomas Cromwell arrived yesterday. Looking forward to it, 600 pages of Christianity to go..... I do like thick books!

Half way though Christianity. Fascinating stuff......

I finished Christianity this morning. The second time of reading. Slogging your way through 1016 pages of theological history may not be everyone's cup of tea and it's hard work no matter how well it's written but it is rewarding and makes you a better student of more popular history. One thing is certain, if you do it you will learn many things that are news to you and see reasons for things that have perhaps puzzled you.
Next for shaving is another book by Diarmid, his new biography of Thomas Cromwell.

Thomas Cromwell is going to be good..... An excellent start.

Oscar Wilde, Biography by Richard Ellmann. Very detailed but a bit heavy going for a casual read. I'm only part way through but it shows what a complex character Wilde was.

P, I've often wondered how his life would have gone if he hadn't had such a privileged start. He would probably have escaped going to Reading Gaol!
I shall be caning Thomas Cromwell as I pursue my aim of doing as little as possible very slowly!

Cromwell is going well and it's a fascinating and well written read.

The Bleak Midwinter. A John Grey novel by L. C. Tyler. If you haven't read these historical murder mystery novels before, just try one. John Grey is the chief protagonist and has a special air of self importance. Fun reading between heavier tomes.

Never heard of them Julie......
On another matter..... I have just sent an email to Penguin-Random House informing them that the pages in my new hardback of Thomas Cromwell are parting from the spine from p 107 onwards. Unlike A History of Christianity it is not bound in signatures and sewn, it is the modern 'perfect binding' like a paper back......I am not happy and have told them so!

My attempts to get a replacement copy of Cromwell hit a bit of a glitch yesterday when they reported that as it was a UK publication I had to approach their London office. I did that and was told to return it to the bookseller. I replied that this wasn't possible, sent them the evidence again and so far it hasn't bounced back at me. I shall leave it at that, I either get a replacement or I don't. I am still enjoying reading it! Interesting though that the US response was far more personal and positive.

Cromwell is going down well and yesterday threw up something that I wasn't aware of. The first stirrings of trouble presaging the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1537 was two years earlier in Craven and local names like Tempest are involved. I chased the footnotes and among Diarmid's sources is a book published by the Chetham Society in 1969 on 'The last days of the Lancashire Monasteries and the Pilgrimage of Grace'. I've found a cheap copy on Bookfinder, only £15 when the others are £50+, and have ordered it. I don't want a mint copy just good enough to read.
So watch this space!