BooksPlease

Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

Published on May 12, 2020 by Margaret18 Comments

I’ve been having pain and pins and needles in my right hand – in my little and ring fingers and down the side of my hand and arm up to my elbow. I contacted my GP. The surgery is not offering routine appointments and offered me a telephone conversation. It wasn’t easy to describe in detail and three phone calls later from a trainee doctor, who kept going to consult his supervisor, he said my ulnar nerve is damaged.

I looked it up online and it is called Ulnar neuritis or Cubital Tunnel Syndrome and it is very common – I had heard of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome but not Cubital. The ulnar nerve runs around the inner side of the elbow in a groove just behind a bony prominence (medial epicondyle). The nerve, where it lies in the groove, is covered by a tough layer of tissue which forms a tunnel (cubital tunnel). It is important as it controls the small muscles in the hand which are particularly important for fine movements such as doing up buttons and it is also responsible for normal feeling in the little and ring fingers.

Most often Cubital Tunnel Syndrome occurs because of leaning on or sleeping with a bent elbow for long periods. In my case it’s caused by sitting at the computer in a carver chair leaning my arm on the hard chair arm with my wrist on the hard edge of my desk. It began a while ago and has gradually been getting worse, until I couldn’t bear to type any more.

So, as well as wearing the wrist strap and taking anti-inflammatory tablets I’m trying to adjust my position and also learning how to write on my husband’s iPad using voice control, so I’m hoping to be back blogging properly soon.

Wrist Problem

Published on May 5, 2020 by Margaret20 Comments

wrist support

I have a problem with my right hand and arm at the moment and am finding it painful to type etc, so I’m not going to be around much on the blogs until it improves.

Be back soon, I hope!

Six Degrees of Separation: from The Road to The Dogs of Riga

Published on May 2, 2020 by Margaret12 Comments

It’s time again for Six Degrees of Separation, a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. Each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the other books on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.

The Road film tie-in

This month the chain begins with The Road by Cormac McCarthy. This is one of my TBRs. It’s one of those books that I’m wary of reading and maybe now is not the right time – it’s a post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son walking alone through burned America, heading through the ravaged landscape to the coast.

So I’m beginning my chain by linking to the word ‘road’ in the title – Where Three Roads Meet by Salley Vickers. It’s one of the Canongate Myths series, modern versions of myths told by a number of different authors. It’s the Oedipus myth as told to Sigmund Freud during his last years when he was suffering from cancer of the mouth.

Another book that retells ancient myths is The Labours of Hercules by Agatha Christie. These were set for the Hercules by King Eurystheus of Tiryns as a penance. On completing them he was rewarded with immortality. Hercule Poirot sees himself as a superior modern day version of Hercules.

Also by Agatha Christie is Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie. The main character is Bobby Jones who is playing golf with Dr Thomas on a golf course on a misty day by the sea. They find a dying man, who had fallen off a cliff. He has no identification on him so Bobby has to discover the dead man’s true identity, with the help of Inspector Williams.

There is also a character called Bobby in Saving Missy by Beth Morrey – this Bobby is a dog, a splendid companion to Missy, a lonely old lady. But can Missy let go of the past and the guilt that is crippling her emotions?

Another book that looks at loneliness is After the Fire is Henning Mankell’s compelling last novel, set on an isolated island in the an isolated island in the Swedish archipelago. Fredrik, a retired doctor, is devastated by the fire which destroyed the house he had inherited from his grandparents. The main focus is not on crime but on Fredrik’s reflections on life, death, ageing, and loneliness.

Henning Mankell brings me to the last link in my chain – and to a more traditional crime fiction novel – The Dogs of Riga It’s an Inspector Wallander book. A little raft is washed ashore on a beach in Sweden. It contains two men, shot dead. They’re identified as criminals, victims of a gangland hit. Wallander’s investigation takes him to Latvia.

~~~

My chain began with a dystopian novel and moved to books retelling ancient myths to crime fiction and books about loneliness.

Next month (June 6, 2020), the chain begins with Sally Rooney’s best seller (and now a TV series), Normal People.

Bookshelf Travelling for Insane Times

Published on May 1, 2020 by Margaret7 Comments

Judith at Reader in the Wilderness hosts this meme – Bookshelf Travelling for Insane Times. I am enjoying this meme, looking round my actual bookshelves and re-discovering books I’ve read or am looking forward to reading. The idea is to share your bookshelves with other bloggers. Any aspect you like:

1. Home.
2. Books in the home.
3. Touring books in the home.
4. Books organized or not organized on shelves, in bookcases, in stacks, or heaped in a helter-skelter fashion on any surface, including the floor, the top of the piano, etc.
5. Talking about books and reading experiences from the past, present, or future.

Whatever you fancy as long as you have fun basically.

I’ve been collecting cookery books for years. I have all sorts – Italian, Chinese, Thai, Indian, French, Vegetarian, Diet, Low Fat, Freezer, and Microwave cookbooks to name but a few. These days I try to be selective and only buy books that look as though there are some new recipes that I haven’t tried.

These are some of my latest additions.

Cookbooks

Green & Black’s Ultimate Chocolate Recipes New Collection is such a tempting book for chocoholics. There are recipes for cakes, cookies, cupcakes and cheesecakes, tarts and souffles, puddings and pies, desserts, treats and sweets all using Green & Blacks delicious organic chocolate. It’s a celebration of chocolate.

Home Baking Cookbook, 140 recipes for making cakes, biscuits and bread, muffins, meringues, pizzas and pastries. It’s described as ‘an indispensable guide to sweet and savoury baking’ with step by step descriptions of the fundamentals of cake baking, the rules for making pastry and ‘all there is to know about yeast‘. In these days of lockdown I have been baking cakes and and puddings which we don’t normally have!

Lorraine Pascale’s book, How to be a Better Cook, is a book ‘for complete beginners to more experienced cooks just looking for some new inspiration.’ I’ve watched her TV programmes, awed by her presentation – she is so calm, her food is so perfect and she is such a clean cook – me, the kitchen looks like a bomb has hit it when I’m cooking, all the work surfaces cluttered with ingredients, and mess everywhere.

Tom Kerridge, a Michelin star chef is one of my favourite chefs. I love his TV programmes and his food. I’ve eaten in his pub, The Hand & Flowers in Marlow – great food! His book, Tom Kerridge’s Best Ever Dishes is inspirational, although I can’t see myself cooking some of them, such as Forty-cloves-of-garlic brined chicken, but he does include a recipe for Ham and Cheese Toastie that I fancy.

And then there are The Hairy Bikers, Si King and Dave Myers! Perfect Pies is as the title announces about pies! They write that ‘Pies are our passion’ and ‘pastry is our passion’. This is a gorgeous book for pie lovers – from steak pie, fish pie and apple pie to roasted vegetable tart and spicy bean hotpot pie, not forgetting banoffee pie. And they are such fun to watch!

The Last Protector by Andrew Taylor

Published on April 29, 2020 by Margaret8 Comments

London, 1668 – A dangerous secret lies beneath Whitehall Palace…

HarperCollins|2 April 2020|419 pages|ebook |Review copy via NetGalley|4* The Last Protector is the fourth book in Andrew Taylor’s series featuring James Marwood, a government agent and Cat (Catherine) Lovett, set in Restoration England. The year is 1668 and the exiled Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver, heavily in debt, has returned in disguise to England. Charles’ extravagant life style and licentious behaviour has now lost him the support of the people and many are hankering after the old days under Oliver Cromwell and then his son, Richard as Lord Protectors. He needs Parliament to vote him the funds to pay off his debts, maintain his court and fund the expansion of the navy and is relying on the Duke of Buckingham for support. However Marwood’s masters suspect that Buckingham is secretly conspiring against the King and assign him to spy on him. Cat, a regicide’s daughter, is married to Simon Hakesby, an elderly and ailing surveyor and architect. She knew Richard’s daughter Elizabeth as a child and finds herself drawn into the Cromwells’ plan to recover a package Richard’s mother had hidden in the Cockpit in the gardens of the Palace of Whitehall just before her death; a package Richard hopes would be sufficient to clear his debts. He turns to the Duke of Buckingham for support in gaining access to the Cockpit. Buckingham is keen to use Richard in his plans to gain power. Cat, who now is unhappy in her marriage, resentful of Simon’s demands on her, is reluctant to get involved but unfortunately for her Simon is eager to help, and they soon find themselves in great danger. She is reluctant to ask for Marwood’s help fearing they could be charged with treason. Like the earlier books in the series this is a gripping story, full of historical detail, complications, intrigue and danger. The characterisation is brilliant with memorable characters such as Ferrus, a mazer-scourer’s labourer, who lives a terrible life, forced to sleep in a kennel with Windy, a vicious dog that guards the kitchen yard at the Cockpit. Treated brutally by his master, Ezra Reeves, his job is to clean the sewers. He is starved so he can squeeze himself down unto the foul stinking mess of the sewers, bending his long thin arms and legs. The stench of London comes across very vividly in this novel. Then there is Chloris, the kind-hearted prostitute, who helps Marwood. This is a book full of action too, with a swiftly moving plot and a climatic ending. It is full of suspense and surprises. Andrew Taylor is a supreme storyteller, combining fact and fiction – his novels are full of historical details that slot seamlessly into his stories. I’ve read all the earlier books and loved them too – The Ashes of London (set in 1666, six years after Charles II was reinstated as King) and The Fire Court (set in 1667, eight months after the Great Fire of London), and The King’s Evil (set seven months later). It is not necessary to read the earlier books as I think they all work well as standalones, but I think it really helps if you do. Many thanks to the publishers, HarperCollins for my review copy.

A Lockdown Jigsaw – Bamburgh Castle

Published on April 28, 2020 by Margaret16 Comments

I’m still finding hard to settle down to write a book review. So here is a post about something else. As well as word puzzles I also love doing jigsaw puzzles. I don’t normally do one at this time of year but I just fancied doing one during the lockdown. It’s of Bamburgh Castle, a castle on the northeast coast of England, by the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland – one of my favourite castles.

Sorting the pieces:

Bamburgh Castle pieces

I started off doing the outside pieces and then the horizon line right across the middle. Then Heidi decided to look at what I was doing and plonked herself down on it and went to sleep for a little while.

Bamburgh Castle Heidi