It was the overwhelming clamour for my return that has coaxed me back to the keyboard. The voices cried in the binary wilderness. A gossamer guttural groan, pinged from router to router, desperate for my wisdom. It was a deafening, rushing, clawing, consuming unconditional roar!
Return!
Return!
RETURN!
Ahem.
So, right.
Like, house is moved. Christmas was survived. And eventually, broadband was restored. But I must say, I didn't know what to write. I obviously have very high standards for my blog entries. Each one deserves a Nobel-Pulitzer-Booker prize (A NoPuBoo I shall call it...)
I shared my dilemma with hubbie. He suggested I run a Retail Dead Pool. Sounded like fun (I call Harvey Normans!) but a little tenuous for a literary blog like this one ('Literary? Wha'? When?' asks entire readership of this blog.) So, I continued to ponder what to write about. At least it gave my fingers time to heal. (Anyone spot me looking like a 3 year old with a fat crayon on Saturday at group?)
So anyway. There I was this morning pottering about The Mill shopping centre in Clondalkin. I had sampled the delights of Dunne's cafe - Time Piece - really a culinary delight. When delight is a special code word for 'Only went there as its the only place to eat in the shopping centre, no McDonalds does not count, it is outside of the building, and while the sandwich and cup of tea were palatable, quite frankly it has the atmosphere of a smelly odd sock'.
Baby had spent the time staring at an odd old bloke, while I ate and read a mag. I felt the need to talk to her every now and then so the crazy old guy didn't think I was a neglectful parent. Cause that's important. Just in case in there, inbetween channeling the aliens trying to make contact and the voices telling him to kill us all, he might have thought 'Goodness, that mother should be paying more attention to her delightful little girl. Where is social services number?'
Fed and watered we made our way into Book Station, the book shop. Eason, Waterstones don't loose too much sleep over them... but what Book Station does have, is the odd little gem. Hubbie found The Know It All - AJ Jacobs here... It is one of the most interesting and entertaining books I've ever read.
So, I browsed the shelves. There were a couple of Colm McCanns, but I had them already. Then I spotted the magic little circle sticker. There on the cover of 'The Promise of Happiness' by Justin Cartwright was the (drum roll please) yes, the Richard and Judy Book Club recommendation sticker!! No, don't all scoff at once.It all started a year or so ago.
For some reason I was watching telly at 5 in the afternoon - typically busy busy time in our chaotic household where I am usually beating the children for not doing their homework fast enough and wondering how long is it since I fed them waffles for their dinner and is it too soon to feed them to them again.
Perhaps I'd locked them in their rooms.
But for whatever the reason the telly was on and I was watching. There were Punch and Judy talking books on their plush pastel couch. I will even listen to Ryan Tubridy if he is talking books, so I left the programme on. They were reviewing a book called 'The Girls' by Lori Lansen. Its a fun tale of a pair of craniopagus twins. When I saw the book in Chapters bookshop, a few months later, I picked it up, bought it. Read it. Really, really enjoyed it.
Over Christmas I gave my aunt another book with the sticker, she loved it. Gave it to me to read. I loved it.
Spotting a pattern?
Its hard to respect these tv book clubs. There is something objectionable about vacuous tv idiots imposing their opinions about what we, the ignorant great unwashed should read. Oprah being the originator and chief culprit in this case. But yet, yet, not a dud yet from R&J. (And as a side note, the author Jonathan Frazens book, The Corrections, which he 'famously' refused Oprah permission to include in her book club - is a wonderful read too!)
Back to sunny Clondalkin...
The book, as is Book Stations way, was only 4 euro. I bought it immediately. Its getting late now, but I think I'll dip into it tonight before I go to sleep. I'm a little excited by the prospect. And a little nervous. What if it disappoints? What if Richard and Judy's magic touch is misjudged?
Its enough to make one quiver.
Goodnight.
