I’ve just finished re-reading Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann. This is one of the books that I discovered in the boxes of stuff reclaimed from my parents over the last few months. I first read it when I was about nineteen and remember really enjoying it. That’s about all I can remember though as this was just like I was reading it for the first time. Nothing even vaguely rang a bell. I do worry about my memory sometimes.

One thing that I can say with certainty is that I’m not nineteen any more. What I enjoyed then is unfortunately coming across as pretentious twaddle now. Not that I didn’t enjoy the book. It was quite compulsive reading and I did care enough to find out how it all turned out (pretty depressingly actually). However, it’s not real-world stuff. It’s about a girl who at the beginning of the book is round about eighteen and her dealings with a group of young people who on and off stayed in the house next door. I found her annoying because she lived too much in her own head and dreamt up how things should be rather than enjoying life for what it was. Probably exactly what I did at that age…

An enjoyable read but not one to read too many times. In fact it’s already gone down the road to our local second hand bookshop.

I’ve just come to the end of a mammoth fantasy trilogy (I think it’s technically a trilogy although it’s actually in four volumes - the final book was split into two). Memory, Sorrow & Thorn by Tad Williams. Four hefty volumes. It was a bit of an odd experience. To be honest I didn’t enjoy the first book that much but was interested enough to keep going. The second book was much the same but having got that far it was a matter of principle to keep going. However, about halfway through the third I really started to get into it, so much so that I went straight on to volume four, which I’ve just finished. It’s a great feeling to have got to the end!

Memory, Sorrow & Thorn is a pretty bog-standard fantasy, which draws its material from various sources - mythology and other fantasy books. It’s about Simon, a kitchen boy, who of course is destined for great things. When things start going wrong in the castle where he grew up he makes a spectacular escape and goes off on adventures, meeting other characters along the way. It’s a nice change that there was also a strong female, adventuring character as well, even if their relationship had me irritated at times.

Here are the four volumes:

1. The Dragonbone Chair
2. Stone of Farewell
3. To Green Angel Tower: Siege
4. To Green Angel Tower: Storm

Yesterday I started re-reading the excellent How to Be Brilliant by Michael Heppell. This means that when I have followed the 90-day plan I will officially be brilliant. Causes Mik great amusement when I say ‘brilliant!’ every time he asks me how I am.

One of the things that I’m particularly keen to be brilliant at is running our business. I want to find the time to follow through on all the plans we have to develop the business as well as keeping on top of our client projects - something that I can see will need quite a bit of work over the coming weeks as we have a lot on at the moment. It’s not all about being brilliant at the business stuff though, it’s also about having a more balanced life - so I’m going to be amazingly brilliant at running the business but also find time to have a life outside of that. Sounds great doesn’t it?

Over the last few years I’ve had several unsuccessful attempts at learning PHP. I usually get part way through a book and lose momentum, which results in several books on my shelf with bookmarks sticking out about halfway through. I’m therefore feeling very smug that I’ve just finished a book - the very snapplily titled Build Your Own Database Drive Website Using PHP and MySQL by Kevin Yank.

It was an excellent introduction to PHP and MySQL, getting straight into using practical examples. Just the right level for me so, even though I don’t think I’m going to immediately throw together my own WordPress equivalent, I do feel like I understood what was going on and stand a fighting chance of being able to use some of it. Have set myself a small project to see what I can do.

OK, I caved in and started reading The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. It’s another one that I read a good few years ago and am revisiting. I’m pleased to say that so far it’s just as good as I remembered. It’s the story of a woman living in a repressive society who is only valued for her ability to bear children. One of the things that I find particularly interesting about it is that she remembers what it was like before which emphasises her complete loss of control over her life.

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What I’m reading: The Handmaid’s Tale, The Perfect Store: Inside Ebay, latest edition of .net magazine
What I’m watching: 28 Days Later (brilliant!)
Websites I regularly visit: Facebook, Shelfari, Flying Startups