'I, Mona Lisa' by Natasha Solomons

Like many people, I'm a sucker for a story with a great concept.  When Natasha Solomons visited my area recently to talk about 'I, Mona Lisa', I looked up the book and was immediately intrigued.  

Billy Connolly's Greatest Hits

'Tall Tales and Wee Stories' by Billy Connolly (Two Roads, 2019)

Billy Connolly is one of Scotland's greatest exports.  Now well into his 70s, the musician, actor, artist and stand up no longer performs live, but you can relive some of his best bits through 'Tall Tales and Wee Stories'. 

'Tall Tales and Wee Stories' is a collection of Connolly's classic monologues, drawn from sixty years of sell out performances across the globe.  The ex-welder first found fame as a folk singer, but discovered a talent for public storytelling when he forgot a song's lyrics while on stage.  He filled the gap with a story and it was so well received that it became part of the act.  Eventually, storytelling routines took over from the music altogether.  This book includes favourites such as a Cardinal's school visit, a children's countryside outing, a working class Scottish house party, the workings of airplane toilets, how a cat caused trouble for a film armourer, the infamous Crucifixion sketch and many, many more.  These 'Tall Tales and Wee Stories' are silly, sweary and surreal, in short everything you'd expect from the Big Yin.

Help Yourself!

Now, you may have noticed that I have rather an eclectic taste in books.  Pretty much every genre is represented on my shelves and I love non-fiction as much as fiction.  There are a couple of weak spots, however.  Self-help is one of them, so I never expected to be reviewing a book like this.

When a notice was sent around my workplace about a compulsory workshop called 'The Art of Being Brilliant' that made it sound patronising in the extreme, however, I decided to go to the horse's mouth and find out what it was really all about.  Of course, the fact that the horse's mouth was book-shaped and had pages had absolutely no influence on me at all.  Ahem.

'The Art of Being Brilliant' by Andy Cope and Andy Whittaker draws together a range of tried and
tested theories and ideas which they hope will help readers lead more positive lives.  They introduce the concepts of Mood Hoovers, people who bring themselves and others down by only ever seeing the negative, and 2%ers, who have a natural tendency to think and act in a way which sees them happier and more likely to feel great about life.  Most people hover between these two extremes.  In this book, Cope and Whittaker identify the key traits of 2%ers and open the door for readers to consciously adopt them.

'The Art of Being Brilliant'
by Andy Cope and Andy Whittaker
(Capstone, 2012)

Since my first encounter with 'The Art of Being Brilliant' left me feeling patronised, I honestly expected to hate this book, especially when I saw it was full of oft repeated quotes and cutesy cartoons.  Not being a regular reader of this sort of thing, I'll admit to feeling sceptical for the first couple of chapters.  My eyebrows remained raised for a while to start with, so anyone watching me must've wondered what on Earth I was reading.  Anyway, I eventually relaxed into it and took the book in the slightly mischievous spirit in which it was written.  It's got the charming style of the classic 2%er and, once I stopped taking it too seriously, it made me laugh out loud on several occasions, so if nothing else it should cheer you up.

In the end, I was sad to be turning over the last page, but took away a number of common sense ideas which  seem obvious but can easily get lost in busy, everyday life.  I was relieved to discover I err towards being a 2%er and already have a HUGG (Huge Unbelievably Great Goal*) in the form of my mission to read all my unread books and keep up this blog.  If that leads to a reviewing job, that would be the icing on the cake, but it's not the reason I'm doing it.

I genuinely feel that everyone should be given a free copy of this book.  I always feel so sorry for mood hoovers - it must be horrible seeing life through a lens which makes it look so awful that the glass is not only half empty, it's dirty and got some unspecified creature living in it that will inevitably bite them.

'The Art of Being Brilliant' is accessible and cheeky, but firm and supportive, reminding readers that it's still up to them whether they decide to use what they've learned to become brilliant, positive, happier people.  As such, it's very much a middle class, midlife crisis sort of a book, but while it won't solve poverty or oppression or war, it can help people who really have nothing to be depressed about put things in perspective and make the bigger problems look possible to tackle together.

So, if you look around you and can't work out why you're not happier, this will probably give you a shove in the right direction.  Read it.  Read it now.

*Accidentally wrote 'Huge Unbelievably Great Goat' 

there then, but fortunately no one will ever know. 

Oh, Mr Darcy!

As you may have noticed, I'm a bit of a collector of book related silliness.  I tweeted recently about a massive statue of a soggy Mr Darcy erected to promote a new TV channel.  I'm guessing the 1995 BBC version of 'Pride and Prejudice' in which Colin Firth takes his now legendary dip will be a feature in its schedules.  Anyway, you have no idea how pleased I was when I had a day trip to the National Trust's Lyme Park recently and saw it for myself!  Not what I expected, for sure!

Lyme Park is well worth a wonder round if you like that kind of thing, with some lovely but manageable grounds and very friendly guides in the rooms.  Don't forget to return your leaflets, though, they're quite strict about that sort of thing!

The Art of Reading

I had a lovely visit to the city of Chichester in West Sussex recently and was delighted to find an exhibition of Philip Jackson's imposing sculptures on display in the cathedral precincts.  Reading is such a personal experience that I'm always fascinated when artists use their talents to express it visually, so I was particularly drawn to a number of Mr Jackson's amazing creations:

'Reading Chaucer'

'Guided Missal'

'Guided Missal' in close up.

'Chanting Cimaosa' (I know it's not strictly reading, but I couldn't resist!)

'Chanting Cimarosa' in close up.

'Mr Bennet's Daughter'.  Can't imagine what that's a reference to!

The exhibition is on from 25 June 2012 to 28 July 2012 in the cloisters of Chichester Cathedral.  Don't miss out on this wonderful collection of work!

For more images of Mr Jackson's sculpture, visit his website:  http://www.philipjacksonsculptures.co.uk/ .

First Impressions (or Pride and Prejudice)

Now, I like to believe that I'm not a typical girly girl, that I'm pretty level-headed and interested in most books regardless of whether they're aimed at men or women.  I'm happy reading the odd bit of chick lit or a blood thirsty adventure story and that is reflected in the 479.  I've been known to sneer at a anything that looks a bit soppy and have told myself that I'm reading historical fiction because it's a way of learning about the past.  Looking at my shelves though it's pretty clear that I've been both proud and prejudiced and am really just a sucker for big, fat historical romances with posh frocks on the cover.

'Murder Most Royal' by Jean Plaidy
Published by Arrow Books (an imprint of
Random House) in 2006.  RRP. £8.99

One such book is the gargantuan 'Murder Most Royal' by Jean Plaidy, one of the three books I'm currently reading.  It's so massive, I'm sure that I've strained my hand trying to hold it up.  I've been working my way through the book's 646 pages for a few weeks now and, like the other Plaidy novels I've read, it's completely absorbed me without my noticing.  I love it when you get so engulfed in a book that it takes you a few moments to realise where you are when you finally look up from it.  'Murder Most Royal' tells the story of Henry VIII's second and fifth wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, their rise and downfall.  I'll let you know if I manage to finish it without further personal injury!