Room by Emma Donoghue

I put off buying this book for months because I was afraid it would be too disturbing for me as the front of the book read: Jack is five. He lives with his Ma. They live in a single, locked room. They don't have the key. Jack and Ma are prisoners.
I couldn't have been more wrong. I started the book at 3:00 in the afternoon and by 11:00 that night, I had 90 pages (of the 336) to go - that's with stopping to do the dinner, bath time & bedtime routines with my 2 year old.
This is one of the most thought-provoking and beautiful books I've ever read. The first half of the book was almost difficult to read due to the images and visions it provokes, but written from Jack's point of view it was innocent and much more bearable. I have never read a book that made me feel so much - the gamut of emotions from sadness to elation, just a wonderful and revelatory novel. I did not find the second half to be as compelling as the first, but overall it was five stars.
Check it out on Amazon.com by clicking the title above or on Amazon.co.uk by clicking here

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Top 20 Lists

Recently, a magazine here in the UK issued their list of their Top 100 women in show business. This sparked conversation between Wayne and I and one rainy weekend when we had nothing to do, we compiled our own Top 20 lists. The rules were we had to judge on looks alone (not their physique) and only one token model was allowed.
For fun, I thought I'd add our lists here for you to view and enjoy. Maybe it will even spark conversation between you and a friend or loved one.
Wayne and I actually had a really good time creating our lists together - judging each other's taste in the opposite sex and laughing over how long it took for us to prioritize our selections. We still change the order every time we look at it! (although our top five have remained the same)
Enjoy and feel free to comment!

Fight Club for Five Year Olds - Part 2

The other mother and I went into the school to meet with the teacher and the assistant head. We both let them know how upset we were that we were not informed that our children were sent to the office and how much we were against the children being allowed to play fighting games on the playground. I told them I wouldn't allow it at home and I'm really unhappy that it's being allowed at school. They admitted it was a problem and explained that they are planning to introduce a a scheme to teach the children to play in a safe way. They will be calling it 'Super Hero Training'. They plan to give out capes & masks out to children who behave well as rewards at playtime. They will have assemblies where they will teach the children to play fighting games without making contact. I find this to be absurd. The problem has gone on to long and I doubt they will be able to teach little children to change their games when they have sixty other children to look after o…

Feeling the rain

After I worked out today, I went into the kitchen for a bottle of water and saw the pouring rain out my patio door. There are few times I can think of wanting to feel the rain more. Without a thought, I went out and stood in the rain. English rain is cold, but today it felt incredible. I live in a very public place, but in that kind of weather there was wasn't a soul in sight. I thought about twirling, but the grown up in me squashed the notion. What I did do though was close my eyes and raise my chin toward the sky to let the rain fall on my face. In my mind I slowed it all down and took it in. I swear in those few moments I felt every drop. I've always loved the rain. I love the sound of it and like to open the windows and listen to it while drifting off to sleep on stormy nights. Even as a child I would love to go out and play in. When I got older, I found it sensual and and dreamed of romantic moments that would play out under dark clouds, surrounded by grey tone…

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