After a joyous week in the sun with the nutters (aka my family) – we come back to rain.

Not lovely big puddly rain that you can run through with your wellies on but that ‘fine rain that soaks you right through’ as Mr P Kay often says. Didn’t think it was raining at all this morning until I caught a glimpse of my reflection on the way to school – a drowned rat would have looked more appealing!

I read some fantastic books while I was away – some work related, others just plain old exquisite escapism while lying by the pool.

I completed ‘Still Alice’ by Lisa Genova just before I left but if you get the chance to read it then do. Amazing. I keep thinking about it, which doesn’t happen very often when I read books as I usually just start on the next one. It’s based on a story of a Professor at Harvard who has to resign from her position as she is diagnosed with Alzheimers. It gives a fantastic insight into how the brain works especially with this disease.  It is centred around her families reaction to the news and how it affects their lives going forward. And no I didn’t bubble at all, I smiled and laughed quite a lot and hugged my mad boys even tighter each night.

I am a huge fan of Nicola Morgan, a long term Edinburgh author and sadly missed out on attending any of her slots at the Edinburgh Book Festival this year, so I took a couple of her books away with me. One is about publishing which a lot of you won’t be interested in, however the other was ‘Monday’s are Red’.  This book is used in English classes up and down the country and is the story of a boy who is slightly delusional after contracting Meningitis. Once he wakes up from an induced coma he sees everything in colours and smells which is called Synaesthesia, very cleverly written.

To top off my weird and  wonderful taste in literature – I also finished a fantastic book called ‘All She Wants’ by Jonathan Harvey. It’s based around a town in Liverpool near the set of the soap ‘Acaicia Avenue’. One of those books that you eat your lunch while still reading and end up wearing half of it down your front because it is so good you can’t take your eyes away from it. Yip, tomato sauce everywhere that day!

Thursdays In The Park by Hilary Boyd – was a nice story, but I felt myself getting annoyed with the main character and her lack of gumption. However the story makes me care about what she becomes. Which means it was well written – if you see what I mean?

And to throw it all in the mix The Stranger’s Child by Alan Hollinghurst is a period drama involving the brood of a widow and how relationships can be easily mis-construed between siblings. A bit hard going but I will persevere – not a Mr Darcy in sight though!

Now then, off out now for some more drizzle rat-drowning impressions.