An embarrassment of riches...

Heartfelt congratulations to Julia Blackburn who last night won the PEN/Ackerley Prize for her memoir The Three of Us.
You may remember I was very moved by this book last year and said so here and as luck would have it, just guess who was already lined up for the dovegreyreader asks...armchair next Monday?
Don't miss Julia Blackburn answering our questions and prize draw copies of the book too.
On another matter entirely, I'm not quite sure who decides these things or quite how they happen but suddenly last week the dovegreyreader stats showed visitors from here and, well, who'd have thought it?
We're first, yes that seems to be us and as this couldn't possibly happen without all of you, please all bask in the glory because every one of you contributes by reading and commenting, though of course you can guess <<<< who is taking the credit as usual.
Best not get above ourselves though because there's going to be hot egg-nog posset on my face and I'll be flailing around in vats of syllabub when I share my fledgling Tudor thoughts on Wolf Hall, and I'm going to do that before I hear Hilary Mantel speak about the book on Friday.
It seemed like the honourable thing to do, rather than get all the answers and then cheat and pretend I knew all along.
It really is a truly magnificent book, the scope and scale of the writing has reduced me to a heap of crushed velvet and then, trying to write about it all, I feel like a fingers-and-thumbs court jester juggling with five balls when really I should stick to two; more belated regrets for all that window-gazing during Miss Spencer's history lessons.
Coming up soon my thoughts on Sunday at Dartington, Ted Hughes and Leonard Baskin and Noel Chanan's documentary film about their friendship and artistic collaboration, The Artist and the Poet.