A Very 90's Wednesday

We had some free tickets to Ascot but unfortunately due to the recent ‘drought’ the ground was waterlogged and the races were cancelled. We’re not the type to let the weather get in our way – oh no! So Mr Ball decided to have the day off anyway. I suggested Ice Skating, this was because I thought during the day there would be no teenagers messing around – ice spraying puts me off and makes me think I might fall over. Anyway we went and it was great – we stayed on the ice for almost 2 hours and left just as a large group of teenagers resembling One Direction appeared. Afterwards, we went to see American Reunion at the cinema. It’s surprising how many people aren’t working at 3:05 on a Wednesday and it appeared One Direction had given up on the Ice Skating and were now sitting next to me having a silent farting competition. The film however made up for the lack of comfort and the use of so many familiar characters reminded us both of funny bits from the other films we had long forgotten. It suddenly dawned on me that we only had bowling to go and we would find a time portal to the 90’s. It was good fun to enjoy some of our teenage past times but I have to admit that I had a lot more energy back then meaning bowling will have to wait for another droughty day.

A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry

When I embarked on my hundred books in one year challenge, I should have made sure the ones I included weren’t too long! I have worked out that I need to read between three and four a week to meet my target. A Fine Balance is six hundred pages long and took me three days to finish. Set in India during the 1970’s, four unlikely relationships emerge as the characters struggle to survive in a country that rejects and persecutes its own people. With every page comes fresh despair but hope shines throughout with the knowledge that there are good people out there. This is the current front runner for my favourite book of the year! My next book should by rights be considerably shorter but I haven’t learnt my lesson – I’ve decided to finish my John Cheever Short Story Book – it’s only 800 pages long!