"Reading this book may result in your reminiscing with friends till it gets absolutely "sick making". It could make you look at yourself in the mirror and wonder where that other person has gone. It could make you remember what you did forty five years ago - for instance your first day at school - but not remember what it was you decided to cook for dinner this evening."

A lovely book with 89 pages about funny things that happens to most middle-aged ladies and touching memories of the golden childhood. Written by my dear friend Linda Beattie from Hertfordshire, England.

I wish that you all write your opinions about this book, I'd love to pass them on to Linda - I bet she is waiting for them impatiently!

Bookring.

This will be a bookring-book, please join!

I'm starting the bookring now,here is the list of people who joined so far:


ruzena
em64
Piiku
seethroughfaith
lukutuoli

And of course I'll add more if anyone wants to join!
After the last reader, please I can I have it back so that I can offer it abroad too! :)

The book arrived today. Beautiful! The knickers, I mean.

The small book was pleasant and easy to read. The fifty-something "rider" looks back on her life and writes with warmth and humour. Most interesting for me were the memories from the post-war childhood; the means to get along in everyday life in those times of shortage seemed to be very alike in Finland.
The book has no special theme nor plot other than the writer herself, and is quite correctly subtitled "an anthology": it consists of small cosy pieces of text and nice poems between the main thread of rather funny memories. Linda writes with ease. A compact fictive work of prose, e.g. a novel, would be worth trying, if not yet done?

-ruzena

The book arrived yesterday. The timing was just perfect as finished the ring book I was reading just the previous night. Will read it soon.

It was an entertaining reading. I liked the childhood memories best. There has been so many British TV-series just from the post-war years that I could almost picture Linda's stories adapted as a TV series. Poems are not my cup of tea but I liked the High Tech Gran. I agree with ruzena, she could write more about her childhood, I would be interested to read that book.

I'll have piiku's address so will post the book to her later this week.

The little book is here, thank you em64 and Chania.

I completely agree with em64. I also liked the childhood memories best, some of theme were very familiar to me even though I'm a couple of years younger and of course lived in Finland.

Next week I'll have a class reunion, it's 30 years since we left junior high school (not sure if this is the right word for Finnish "yläaste"?). So I think there will be lots of memories like in this book =)

I will send the book to stf today. Thank you for sharing, Chania.

This arrived here this morning - Maundy (Easter) Thursday - I have a great (big) book set aside to read this weekend (the sequel to Pillars of the Earth - also a bookring (from Sobergirl) but this one looks a lot of fun - and I look forward to reading it too :)

I showed the book to my teenage daughter who laughed at the title and proclaimed that when she's 50+ she'll be wearing thongs!* (made me laugh anyway!!!)

Happy Easter reading all :)

*she used a different word for these - stringit (Finnish/English) - which maybe also emphasises that I am a different generation from her!

A Child of the "50's" begins: Are you a child of the 50's? I have to admit I spent most of my childhood in the 50's but started life in the late forties.

I could so identify with this - though a decade later -and I really thought that I was going to enjoy this book. After all I'm at the stage of sensible shoes - and dare I say it - big knickers myself. But truth be told I really didn't like this book much.

I'm English. I'm soon to be 50 - and for me the trip down memory lane Do you remember? was perhaps the most enjoyable. You see I do remember Jamboree Bags, and (frozen) Jubblies, Haliborange (and cod liver oil, Syrup of figs (though not as a weekly ritual) and ghastly malt! These memories bring the awful taste right back into my mouth - yuck.

I too remember school milk (and Margaret Thatcher being labelled "the milk snatcher" and stopping free school milk (1970)and the fun of going to the Saturday Morning Pictures and the old phone boxes with the A and B buttons - and those beautiful huge old pennies (and ha'pennies too)And yes we had a mincing machine - but instead of using it every week for shepherd's pie on Mondays - we often had cold cuts with bubble 'n squeak instead. (Funnily enough I caught Jamie Oliver trying to teach people how to make that on TV just this week!)

But this book didn't work for me.

It was too rambling and - I'm sad to say - not particularly well written. Linda really needs a good editor and proofreader. Piers? (p 3) surely you mean peers! There are a lot of split infinitives -which were really a no-no when Ms Beattie was at school-and are still not recommended!

There are some great ideas in the book - and fabulous facts! What's more there are loads of fun comparisions with life not in the 50s- but life in your 50s - and like Em (above)said they could be successful used in a sit com. But the book as a whole doesn't work - at least for me.

It could.

If these ideas for example were re-worked into a grandmother sitting reading to her grandchild - finding that she couldn't read - because of the failing light (or because her glasses were 'elsewhere'!) - and instead tells the little one stories of times gone by - it might succeed.

But I repeat I feel that Ms Beattie needs an editor / proof reader - in order to tighten up her style and make the texts (and poems) work for her.

I also think that there could and should be a lot more sketches throughout the book. It would make it more fun. It would liven it up. It would give younger readers -those born in the 80s,and after - a chance to see what the author is talking about. (This would be especially good for non- British readers.) What did the Esso Tiger's tail look like? The RAC badge on the shiny chrome bumper? And we could all laugh (and sympathise with) the granny trying to stretch her arms another 30 cm (sorry I mean foot!) so she can read the menu!

I loved the use of idioms - *lost my marbles* etc ... they are an authentic and integral part of the text - and I only wish I'd enjoyed the book more.


Has potential.

Posting this out to Lukutuoli now.

The book has arrived to Tampere, although it's snowy and stormy here! I made the record of my bookcrossing career today - there were 6 books waiting in my postbox, poor postman ;) I always try to put the bookrings on the top of my TBR-pile, so this will be read soon, I hope. Thanks!

This book was fast and easy to read! Unfortunately I had difficulties in identifying with Linda, although I'm "almost 50", born in the early 60's. Perhaps it has to do with my different life situation, my sons being 10 and 12, I don't feel 'the empty nest' being here yet, and of course I don't know anything about being a grandparent :) Somehow I started to feel very young when reading this book, although the difficulties to read a menu with small texts are so familiar to me, too ;)
I suppose these texts could work better in the same cultural backgrounds, being Finnish made it difficult to share the childhood memories of the author. Anyway, it arouse thoughts of my own childhood-TV-programs etc., I even started to think about, what my own anthology would contain!

Thanks for sharing, Chania, I'll post the book to you soon!

Thanks, this book is back home. I suppse I will offer it abroad next.