[Sundae]

Reading I, Lucifer - a Modesty Blaise book by Peter O'Donnell.
It's corking - recent enough to be racy (late sixties) but dated enough to offer a glimpse into another world.

I remember Dad telling me he read Ian Fleming's books for the sex and fast paced lifestyle when he was took young and shy to have a hope of either himself. I'll have to ask him if he read any of these too.

Read Prey by Michael Crighton last night instead of packing my bag. Meh. Should've saved it for the train here. The literary equivilant of the peanuts they give you on flights (except unlikely to be fatal).

Lent my Mum Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson when I was last here - she loved it. Talking to her (Mum) about it reminded me why I enjoy Atkinson's books so much - her wonderful portrayal of women. So many female characters are described purely by their looks and/ or their relationship to another character. They are the love interest, the mother, the daughter. Atkinson writes about the "ordinary" women who muddle through, the ones who suddenly realise they aren't the heroine after all, that there won't be an exciting plot twist which brings them happiness. They can't work out where their life has gone, wonder why they squandered the years when they were lissome. And yet she's funny with it.

Sorry, I am contractually obliged to sing her praises at regular intervals.