Welcome to the unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum - for discussing everything CH/Old Blue related. All pupils, parents, families, staff, Old Blues and anyone else related to CH are welcome to browse the boards, register and contribute.
I have just finished Testimony - Anita Shreve. eek. I certainly HOPE such stuff doesnt go on at CH. In preparation i have let my daughter try wine (the strongest most icky type) and beer (i think it was stella!) both of which she hated. She knows that if she got drunk i would very likely jump on her laptop in front of her. Not that i'm a strict parent or anything.... As for the other stuff, i think seeing me pregnant, fat and foul twice in quick succession over the past few years has put her off anything to do with boys!
Next up is a book on sewing for children.
oh and Mrs Average... i think it would be really good book for older kids to read. There is obviously some nookie in it but its short and to the point. Its the ripples on the pond from that initial stone that are so very well written. if you know what i mean!
Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo by Michael McCarthy. A gift from an editor I have been writing for, and very well-chosen I'm pleased to say. I've only read two chapters so far as there's so much information about bird migration to absorb; but the general thrust is that all the "bringers of spring" we've become accustomed to are starting not to arrive, and time's running out to do anything about it.
Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson, a follow up to Three Cups of Tea by him. I cannot recommend these too highly, he is an American inspiring people by building schools, particularly for girls, in remote parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Apparently he was one of the many nominated for Nobel Peace Prize last year when Obama won, IMHO Greg Mortenson would have been a worthier winner!
Katharine wrote:Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson, a follow up to Three Cups of Tea by him. I cannot recommend these too highly, he is an American inspiring people by building schools, particularly for girls, in remote parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Apparently he was one of the many nominated for Nobel Peace Prize last year when Obama won, IMHO Greg Mortenson would have been a worthier winner!
Noted, Katharine, and thank you for the info., it's another subject that's right up my street!
Annie - I have just read a chapter that recounts how so many more girls than boys in Kashmir were killed in the earthquake in 2005. The girls did not have desks to shelter them because their education was low priority, also girls naturally huddle together boys would be prepared to leap out of the windows. The point about the desks made my blood boil!
Katharine wrote:Annie - I have just read a chapter that recounts how so many more girls than boys in Kashmir were killed in the earthquake in 2005. The girls did not have desks to shelter them because their education was low priority, also girls naturally huddle together boys would be prepared to leap out of the windows. The point about the desks made my blood boil!
It's infuriating, isn't it, that girls out there aren't valued for anything more basic than childbearing. What else can you expect though from a region dominated by uneducated religious bigots? I don't know how Mortenson managed to persuade them to allow schools to be built for girls, but all credit to him for succeeding where governments have failed.
Annie - see my post here viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1300&start=390 The Three Cups of Tea explain the concept that the first cup is drunk as a stranger, the second as a friend, the third you join the family. Mortenson does nothing without the support of the local people.
Just finished Richard Davenport-Hines' fine biography of W.H.Auden. Before that I read Rupert Thomson's "This Party's Got to Stop" a hilarious and moving account of parts of the writers life. And also recently I read Per Petterson's fine novel "Out Stealing Horses"
NOT my normal reading matter but-----
Before visiting the Somme, to find out where my Grandfather was "Running away", I read "The Somme" and I have now started "D Day" by Antony Beevor.
Neither of these are to be recommended, unless you have a penchant for being terrified out of your tiny mind, but they are both an instruction on the idiocy of some of the people, who are put in charge, when conducting a War
There is a popular saying -- "Carry on regardless" ----------nobody finishes, as the original "Of casualties" !!!
OK so I am biased -- and likely to remain so.
My preferred reading is "The small Garden" by C.E. Lucas Phillips (Brigadier!) a mine of information and my "Bible" on growing things.
However, I suspect his "Small Garden" was abot 3 Acres !!!
I read Anthony Beevor's Berlin which was good for learning the history of the end of WW11. Now reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, which is brilliant!