Tracy Thomas

#Booktube: What I read in March 2025

Single Spies by Alan Bennett

With world events sweeping over us in a tidal wave, I haven't done much in the way of reading either in a physical bok or audio book apart from a couple of short plays that make up the audio book about two of the spy ring known as the 'Cambridge Five' (this article is a useful guide for the basics -www.historicmysteries.com/history/cambridge).

The first play is "An English Man Abroad", and is set in 1950's Moscow, Russia where Guy Burgess has fled to to escape the authorities in the UK. Enter a British actress called Carole Browne, whom is on your with an acting company behind the Iron Curtain, whom Guy persuades her to visit him in his very humble abode, to give him the gossip from London and measure him up for a new suit from his London tailor.

" A Question of Attribution " is about another of the Cambridge spy, Sir Anthony Blunt, and is set in 1956 as he works for the late Queen Elizabeth as the Surveyor of the Queens Pictures. This play centres on one art work, a Titan, which is actually a fake and with a conversation with Her Majesty, is Sir Anthony who he actually says is is, or his is life similar to the stacking Russian Matryoshka dolls, with many layers behind his facade?

Alan Bennett ( most famous for the play "The History Boys") is the master of taking something most ordinary and twisting it to make interesting, and most often than not, wickedly dark, which I love. I recommend you seek out either the audio or television version of his "Talking Heads" , especially the ones with the late Thora Hird, Julie Walters and Patricia Routledge, who is most famous for the TV series "Keeping Up Apperances".

My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 (no surprise there!)


#AlanBennett #SingleSpies #AnEnglishManAbroad #AQuestionofAttribution #plays #audiobook #CDs #ColdWar #CambridgeFiveSpyRing

1 week ago | [YT] | 0

Tracy Thomas

A Picture Says a Thousand Words

In a week where the global stock markets have fallen, I found this photo on Yahoo! Finance that sums it up.

Thursday 10th April 2025

#stockmarkets #global #trade #tariffs #USA #America

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 0

Tracy Thomas

#Booktube : What I read in February 2025

Big Red by Jerome Charyn

I bought this book many months ago from a local department store for only £2.99, and recently picked it up as I had a bad cold and couldn’t do much else while convalescing.

The story is set in the mid 1940s to 1950s in the Golden Era of Hollywood, centred in and around Los Angeles, and tells the story of Rita Hayworth’s relationship with Orson Wells. Told from the point of a fictional character involved with the pair, it weaves many real characters and events into the story, that I had to look them up online, such as Tom Mix, whom was a big star of the early Western films (he also appears on the cover of The Beatles "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"), the great studio owners like Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures, and the gossip columnists of the time, Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper.

The story goes at break neck pace, and in my opinion, cramming in too much detail, as the author seems to be frightened to miss someone and something. The other thing which the book would have benefited from is a glossary of who's who, as it's a bit off putting have to do internet searches for them. Overall, a nice and easy read, which I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in old Hollywood.

My rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

#books #fiction #paperback #BigRed #RitaHeyworth #OrsonWells #Hollywood #films #movies #JeromeCharyn

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Tracy Thomas

You Know When You Are An Adult When…

…you get excited about your new washing line your husband put up and you send him a picture to show that you are using it, complete with photo bombing dog!😁

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Tracy Thomas

Happy 2nd Birthday Teddy!🎉🎂🥳

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Tracy Thomas

#BookTube: February 2025 (Part 2)

Medea by Nancy Pena and Blandine Le Callet
(Translated by Montana Kane)

I was very happy to discover that my library was now part of Libby app, and my joy was doubled when they had a digital copy of the graphic novel "Medea". I had seen this on the online bookshops while I was looking for a reasonably priced copy of the Peter Green translation of the "Argonautica", which I didn't find.

I need to admit that I am not a big fan of digital books and magazines, as I like to hold a physical item; as for graphic novels, I find hard to read, preferring to use my imagination, but the loan was free and I had nothing to lose.

The story covers Medea's life from her childhood in Colchis and her relationship with her father, King Aeëtes and the rest of her family, her meeting with Jason and the other Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece, her elopement and subsequent life with him, taking inspiration from the play "Medea" by Euripides. Her involvement with Aegeus, the Athenian king is also covered, so there is a lot of ground covered in this book, and even a postscript on the making of the book.

The artwork was beautiful and incredibly detailed, which I had to go back and look at just as pictures, though I will point out that they are a lot of adult themes depicted, so in my opinion, not suited for children. Also if you expect it to be full of the Ancient Greek gods and goddesses, they are not here, as the authors wanted to keep the story grounded in as much realism as possible. Despite my initial reservations about reading a graphic novel, I really enjoyed this so much, I went and ordered the actual physical book!

My Rating-
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

#books #fiction #Libby #graphicnovel #Medea #AncientGreece #myths #mythology #NancyPena #BlandineLeCallet

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Tracy Thomas

#Booktube : February 2025


Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

This novel is about the life of the wife of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra and starts at her childhood in Sparta, weaving through her family life, up to the return of her husband from Troy. We learn about her relationships with her half sister Helen (whom will become the most famous of the two), her brothers Castor and Pollux, and her parents Tyndareus and Leda.

The story of her first marriage is mentioned in the story, before she is was married to Agamemnon and her life to the King of Mycenae, and her children by him.

I did enjoy this audiobook, but I felt it could have been better on a few points- that there was a few contradictions on how long it took to travel to places throughout the book; also I wanted her story to go to the point of the end of Aeschylus’ “The Libation Bearers”, rather than to Agamemnons return, but maybe I want too much of a good thing!

My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

#audiobook #Audible #fiction #history #historicalnovel #AncientGreece #myths #mythology #Clytemnestra #CostanzaCasati

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Tracy Thomas

#Booktube: January 2025

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Last month was a case of tying up loose ends in reading from 2024, and after a break for Christmas and New Year, I finally got around to finishing this.

I listened to Madelines’ other book “Circe” last year and was so impressed, I bought this, her previous book with high expectations.

It tells the story of Achilles told through the eyes of Patroclus, his companion from boyhood, while interweaving the origins of the Trojan war and beyond, though a lot of the book covers the ground of The Iliad. Personally don't buy the theory of a homosexual relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, seeing the close bond as any between those in the armed services in a conflict, that is, like a sibling.

There are plenty of appearances from the Ancient Greek gods and goddesses, including Achilles' mother, Thetis, which I think was unfairly portrayed as a villian, as I empathise with her protective nature as a mother myself, I would also shield my child from harm as much as I could.

I would recommend before reading this to watch or read a summary of The Iliad if you aren't familiar with the story, as it make it so much better, but saying that, liberties have been taken with the story line, but it is this same with all historical novels.

I was left a little bit disappointed in comparison to Madelines' "Circe", but it was also the brilliant narrator that made that, so I will definitely listen to the audio version next time.

My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

#TheSongofAchilles #MadelineMiller #Achilles #Patroclus #Troy #TrojanWar #AncientGreece #GreekMythologhy #mythology #books #reading #paperback

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Tracy Thomas

#BookTube: December 2024

Fashionably late to the BookTube party, but I’ll start with a curiosity that I discovered early in December while looking for information on Homers “The Iliad”, called “The Battle of the Frogs and Mice”. A take on “The Iliad”, this 22 minute audiobook on Audible tells the tale of the bloody battle between a group of frogs and mice over a day. Originally attributed to Homer, many experts believe it to have been written 300 years later. Many translations of the poem are available on Wikipedia, dating from 1613 until 1920 (en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Batrachomyomachia) but this is a 1962 version not on that list, if you wish to compare them.

Additional Notes: In the Stephen Mitchell translation of “The Iliad” (2011, Phoenix Books), line 39, he notes that the Greeks linked mice with epidemic illness, and Apollo could ward them off, then he could do the reverse. So is the intention of however wrote it to portray the pontikia (Greek for mice, as the Latin doesn’t seem appropriate!) as the enemy?

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

***************************************

My second Audible audiobook is the Naxos version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, narrated by Anton Lesser. There are many versions of this festive tale of ghostly redemption, from single narrator to a cast of many, but this is my favourite because of the appropriate ghostly and festive music interspersed with the dialogue. Since this is one of favourite tales of all time, it will come as no surprise that I’m going to give it a
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

#reading #books #audiobook #Audible #TheIliad #Homer #Homeric #TheBattleoftheFrogsandMice #AncientGreece #CharlesDickens #AChristmasCarol #Naxos #AntonLesser #poem #poetry #mythology

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3 months ago | [YT] | 0

Tracy Thomas

#Booktube: November 2024 -Part 2

Thrilling Cities by Ian Fleming

I had no idea that Ian Fleming had wrote non-fiction books, so when this came up as an Audible Plus read, I decided there was nothing to lose, as it could be returned and no credit wasted.

This is a collection of what Fleming called “mood pieces “ written for the Sunday Times of his travels firstly to the Far East and travelling in an eastern direction to New York, stopping off at the major cities, starting in Hong Kong, at the end of 1959. He then travels to cities in Europe in the spring of 1960, partially accompanied by his wife and meeting Noel Coward ( for those younger than 50, he was a renowned Actor), Charlie Chaplin and the mobster Charles “Lucky” Luciano.

Viewing this over 60 years after its publication in the Sunday Times, it is more a snapshot of the Golden Age of travel, when you had to have money to go abroad and the package holiday was years in the future. The recommendations at the end of each chapter reflect this, and reads like an episode of ‘Madmen’. Of course, some of the language is dated, but it was of its time and shouldn’t be omitted.

I was very pleasantly surprised with this audio book, I purchased the the paperback, which I was glad was in still print and selling well.

My rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#books #nonfiction #Audible #travel #IanFleming #ThrillingCities #SundayTimes #reading #vintage

4 months ago | [YT] | 0