Race for Life Training Week 2!

Well hello there :)

This week marks the second week of my training for the Race for Life in aid of Cancer Research UK.
I'll be running the 10K with my friend Rebecca, and as I've never run a proper race before I'm slightly pooping myself.

I've decided to alternate my training weeks from intense to milder training, as I'm not used to running and have been having some joint pains (old lady problems). I've also started taking Omega 3 fish oils as these are really good for protecting the joint cartilage when doing high impact exercise.

As it's the Easter weekend and I've had loads to prepare for, I've not had as much time as I would have like to train this week. Next week I'll be fully back on the wagon (and will probs need to be after all those Easter eggs! Mmmmm fattening....)

So here's what this week's admittedly meagre training looked like:

Monday: 11.6km cycle in 20 mins on Cardio settings, followed by an hour's Zumba class and 10 minutes on the Cross Trainer

Tuesday: 11.5km cycle in 20 mins on Fat Burn settings followed by one hour's Yoga session

Weds, Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun: Rest Days/Easter/Gorging myself on as much chocolate as is possible for one human being to consume....naughty naughty!

Happy Easter everyone!

Bye for now :)

Ten Books On My To-Read List

Well hello there!

As I'm fairly new to blogging and even newer to writing book reviews, I've only just discovered The Broke and the Bookish. I decided it would be really fun to take part in their weekly Top Ten Tuesday book blog challenge.

So, here goes!

This week's theme is to name 10 books currently on your 'to-read' list. Now, I always have about six books on the go at any given time, so it takes me several millennia to finish one book. (Moses was still around when I began Wolf Hall).

This doesn't stop me from collecting books that I really really want to read. They just pile up until my bedroom resembles a corner of Hogwarts library. (Not a bad look, if you ask me!)

Here are ten books gathering dust awaiting their turn to be in my five-a-day (the struggle is real.)

1) Wild by Cheryl Strayed

LOVED the film...soul food

2) Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks

3) Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Wolf Hall was amazing!

4) The King's Grave: The Search for Richard III by Philippa Langley

I'm a bit of a Ricardian...

5) Sex, Power and Consent by Anastasia Powell

6) A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Big fan of the TV series

7) Northern Lights: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

8) The Sound of Laughter Peter Kay

I like comedians' autobiographies

9) Revelation by C.J. Sansom

Loved Dissolution by the same author

10) The Arrow of Sherwood by Lauren Johnson

Recommended to me!

So that's it! Hopefully I'll not have grown a beard by the time I get stuck into these!

Bye for now!

Little Robin Read: Wolf Hall

Well hello there!

Today I'll be reviewing the hugely popular historical novel Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.

Now, I'd already watched the BBC dramatisation of this and had massively enjoyed it so I expected a lot from the book. It didn't disappoint.

My colleague lent me her copy, as we're both über-geeks when it comes to history. It's actually taken me ages to finish as:

a) I always have about 5 books on the go at any one time and...

b) this tome is very large and I often couldn't be bothered to lug it around on the bus! Thank goodness the paperback has been released!

The length of the novel isn't an issue when it's so well written. Dipping into this before bedtime felt like returning to an old friend.

The book follows the rise of the Tudor courtier Thomas Cromwell. Along with him we witness the downfall of Cardinal Wolsey, the Boleyn struggle for power, Henry VIII battling against the pope to claim supremacy over the Church in England,  and the resulting political and religious turbulence.

Mantel's narrator takes on an omniscient role, which means that we are treated to flashbacks from Cromwell's traumatic childhood as well as tantalising snippets from his years spent abroad.

We also see a very human and personal side to Cromwell which hasn't really been seen before. We see some of his losses,  his motives and his strategies for building his own power base. This gives us an intimacy with Cromwell.

We are allowed into his inner thoughts and so can see the human being behind the tough political facade.

The most powerful instance of this is Cromwell's struggle with Thomas More. On the surface we see Cromwell pushing More to admit the supremacy of Henry VIII. Below this we see Cromwell buying time for More to give him every opportunity to save his own life.

Mantel obviously knows her stuff as a historical novelist. I was impressed with how subtly interwoven her historical,  socio-political and religious references were. If you didn't get the references it didn't matter too much, but if you did you could see how clever she'd been. I think this gave a real touch of authenticity as life in the tudor period was indeed a tight weave of politics, history and religion.

I found this also changed some of my viewpoints or at least gave me food for thought. I was a great admirer of More, but found Mantel's depiction quite unsympathetic. I never liked Cromwell,  I now feel more of an affiliation with him.

So Mantel has an ability to change minds. That's the mark of a powerful and gifted writer.

The novel takes us up to the point of Henry being about to notice Jane Seymour. The sequel 'Bring Up the Bodies' follows what happens next. Can't  wait to read that!

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel,  Fourth Estate:London, 2009