Memories from my teenage years...1Books (1)

As a 14 year old this was one of the books I studied at school.
I have no memories at all about the plot, characters or setting.
All that I know is it was about aeroplane fatigue in the world of a quantum mechanics!
How utterly inappropriate for a young teenager eh?
A brief synopsis just goes to show what a ridiculous choice it was.
Amazing I was not put off English Language for life!

Plot summary
The anti-hero of the story, Theodore Honey, is engaged in research on the fatigue of aluminium airframes. His current project, overseen by Dr. Dennis Scott, is to investigate possible failure in the high aspect ratio tailplane of a new airliner, the fictional Rutland Reindeer.

Honey, a widower, in addition to his work, must bring up his young daughter, Elspeth. The events are narrated by Scott in the first person.

Honey is unimpressive in appearance and is so intensely focused on his work that his relations with the outside world—never that good to begin with—suffer badly.

Throughout the story, people judge him by that appearance, or by his varied and unconventional outside interests, such as pyramidology -- the study of possible esoteric interpretations of the Pyramids.

Honey has predicted, by a (fictional) theory supposedly related to , that it is possible for an alloy structure to fail long before the design life customarily predicted by design standards. He is using a spare tailplane from a Reindeer aircraft in a fatigue test.

Honey's theory predicts that the metal at the root of the tailplane will fatigue and fail with a crystalline fracture. For Honey this seems merely to be an esoteric and engaging problem in pure science; for Scott it is a concern of the first magnitude, as Reindeers are crossing the North Atlantic daily, carrying hundreds of passengers.

Honey's prediction becomes all the more alarming when Scott links it with the recent crash of a Reindeer carrying the Soviet ambassador, which had total flying hours close to Honey's estimate, and which crashed in northeastern Quebec.

The crash report, including photographs, is inconclusive, and Scott feels that the remains of the aircraft must be physically examined.

Addictive Text!

Having read the entire Rebecca Shaw collection I have now moved on to another series again set in a typical English village. . This is the first of the Lois Meade crime sleuth series. Lois runs a cleaning business and is in an ideal position to observe on what goes on in the village - handy if a murder occurs!

Each book manages to introduce the following one in a way that is quite addictive and very tempting!
The weather continues to be quite naff so with Jon pottering in the shed I am continuing with "Weeping on Wednesday" whilst "Secret's on Saturday" will have to wait until I have read Theft on Thursday and Fear on Friday.

Watch this space!

Escape!

I love holidays! The preparation, anticipation, change of scenery and daily routines! I think my favourite part of our holiday to the Isle of Man must be the Friday we leave. Early start...and a lovely trundle over the yorkshire moors and dales to arrive at the port...Heysham. The ferry crossing - where we ALWAYS are taken in with the breeze, forgetting the sun's rays penetrate.....(so midweek we both have sunburn) the journey to Port Erin and the lovely break we enjoy in the hotel.

We spent a couple of days away from the racing due to bad weather - quite by chance I came across the novels of Rebecca Shaw and I have not been able to put them down since I arrived home. To date I have read about 15!!!!  Yes I am a speed reader and HAVE to finish a book in a day - today however I read 2! Put it down to the weather!

The books are based on village life and I would urge anybody familiar with such a setting to read at least one. The first one to read is the above. This sets the scene!

I have one more to read then I have read the entire collection - a new novel, in the village series is due in August - I will be placing my order with the mobile library tomorrow.

SO- any suggestions for a good read?

Simple Pleasures!

I am pleased to say I am feeling much better . I am fine when at home but once I go anywhere I find myself either shivering or feeling too hot and uncomfortable with headaches - so it is best to stay where I feel comfortable.

The weather has been absolutely dreadful and today, Saturday is no exception - rained through the night and we awoke to yet more rain only stopping now and again. Amazingly we managed a tootle over to Whitby on Thursday and I had a manic weeding session whilst the sun shone. Sufficient time for me to fill the green wheelie bin ready for collection - I found this satisfying. The garden is in need of some serious attention - Jon managed to cut the lawns and I am itching to pot on my tomato plants - which I am doing whenever the rain stops.

I have been spending time reading - Rebecca Shaw is my current favourites. I read one of hers whilst on holiday - part of a series based in a veterinary practice. I am now reading my way through a whole series based around village life - ideal for a few hours amusement!

Life is returning to normal........well normal as it can be in the Nesbitt household!