A Bookish Wednesday

I'm finding it a bit difficult to get back into the swing of blogging after such a lovely, relaxing few weeks off. So you'll have to put up with this bit of stream of consciousness. Sorry!

I'm usually a one-book girl, but this week, I've gone crazy and started reading FOUR books all at once. I'd started reading The Brightest Star In the Sky by Marian Keyes earlier in the week, but the unusual narrator put me off just the teensiest bit. I adore Marian Keyes, but I just didn't get what this weird thing floating through the apartment spying on the occupants is all about.

So I picked up Nation by Terry Pratchett, which I'm already in love with. Who knew I'd become such a Terry Pratchett fan? And after only reading one other book of his? I've been trying to read Nation in bits throughout the day as I'm sort of anxious to get back to it. It's funny and wise and it has such a wonderful main character who has such strength about him. In fact all of the characters are done so well. I applaud you, Terry Pratchett.

But! My copy of Nation has about 400 pages, The Brightest Star in the Sky has about 600 and lengthy books always scare me slightly, so I picked up Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx and I figured I could read a short story here and there to feel like I'm making some sort of progress. I've already finished the first story about an old man returning to his home after many years and it swept me away like I hadn't been expecting. The thing that I had forgotten is that my paternal grandmother lived a great deal of her life in Wyoming. I visited her at least once there before she died. As I was reading that first short story I felt like there was this fragile little connection between me and my grandma. Or possibly that I'm losing my mind. Either is likely.

Also, in a wonderful turn of events, N bought me some books for Christmas, one of which is Dear Me: A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self and one lazy afternoon, I started flicking through it and couldn't stop. I think all of this talk about the end of the decade has made me more prone to nostalgia. Granted, it's been 12 years since I was 16, but 16 is such a big year for most people, isn't it? It was for me. So many major events. When I do finally getting around to reviewing this book, expect to find my own letter to my 16 year old self. I'm writing it in my head already.

If only there were more hours in the day so that I could read all the books I'd like... Wouldn't that be great? Which books are you spending your time with?

Books Read in 2009

Here is a list of the books I read in 2009 and some brief totals.

Total books read: 145
Books read from library: 75
Own books read: 70
Books written by female authors (more than one book by same author counted as one): 82
Books written by male authors: 21
Books read by new-to-me authors: 72
YA/children's books read: 70
Re-reads: 12

Most read authors this year:

Charlaine Harris - 9 titles (Sookie Stackhouse)
Sarah Dessen - 7 titles (a new discovery for me this year!)
Neil Gaiman/Meg Cabot - 4 titles each (yay for favourite authors!)

Instead of creating a list of top reads in 2009, I've gone through the year and chosen my favourite reads of each month. It's different looking at each month and choosing my favourites at the end of the year then it is choosing a favourite of the month after each month. Some books stayed with me longer than I realised.

January

1. Princess Diaries: Ten Out of Ten by Meg Cabot
2. A Mercy by Toni Morrison
3. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
4. Affinity by Sarah Waters
5. The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
6. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
7. Airhead by Meg Cabot
8. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
9 Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah
10. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Favourite book of the month? The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

February

11. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
12. What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
13. Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay
14. Regeneration by Pat Barker
15. The Chocolate Run by Dorothy Koomson
16. M Is For Magic by Neil Gaiman
17. The War Poems by Wilfred Owen
18. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
19. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Favourite book of the month? Tie between Fingersmith by Sarah Waters and What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
March

20. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
21. The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan
22. Rumour Has It by Jill Mansell
23. Goodnight, Beautiful by Dorothy Koomson
24. The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker
25. Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella
26. Looking For Alaska by John Green

Favourite book of the month? Looking For Alaska by John Green

April

27. Marshmallows For Breakfast by Dorothy Koomson
28. Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway
29. After The Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings, and Flew Away by Joyce Carol Oates
30. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
31. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
32. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
33. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
34. Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
35. The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
36. Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Favourite book of the month? Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde

May

37. Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
38. Small Island by Andrea Levy
39. Savvy by Ingrid Law
40. Falling Man by Don DeLillo
41. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
42. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
43. Tithe by Holly Black
44. Baby Bonanza by Maureen Child
45. Slow Hands by Leslie Kelly
46. Price of Passion by Susan Napier
47. Irresistable Forces by Brenda Jackson
48. Hide in Plain Sight by Marta Perry
49. Stranded with a Spy by Merline Lovelace
50. Once a Cowboy by Linda Warren
51. Dancing in the Moonlight by Raeanne Thayne
52. Snowbound by Janice Kay Johnson
53. The Bride's Baby by Liz Fielding
54. A Very Special Delivery by Linda Goodnight
55. Speed Dating by Nancy Warren
56. His Lady Mistress by Elizabeth Rolls
57. Homespun Bride by Jillian Hart
58. The Rebel Doctor's Bride by Sarah Morgan

Favourite book of the month? Small Island by Andrea Levy

June

59. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
60. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
61. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
62. Suddenly Single by Sheila O'Flanagan
63. Take Two by Danielle Bronson
64. Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
65. Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier (reread)
66. Unsticky by Sarra Manning
67. Let's Get Lost by Sarra Manning
68. Unsticky by Sarra Manning (reread)
69. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (reread)
70. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer (reread)
71. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer (reread)
72. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer (reread)
73. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
74. The Girlfriend Curse by Valerie Frankel
75. This Charming Man by Marian Keyes

Favourite of the month? Hard to choose. If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Unsticky by Sarra Manning and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

July

76. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
77. The Lottery by Beth Goobie
78. What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
79. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? by Louise Rennison
80. The Savage by David Almond
81. Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers
82. Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot
83. Are We There Yet? By David Levithan
84. Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers
85. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
86. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
87. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
88. Ways To Live Forever by Sally Nicholls
89. Jake's Tower by Elizabeth Laird
90. Stop Pretending by Sonya Sones
91. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
92. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
93. Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton

Favourite of the month? Nothing jumps out at me when deciding this at the end of the year. All good books though!

August

94. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
95. City of Ember by Jeanne duPrau
96. Last Chance by Sarah Dessen
97. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
98. Memoirs of A Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
99. Cyrano by Geraldine McCaughrean
100. The Valley of the Horses by Jean Auel (re-read)
101. The Mammoth Hunters by Jean Auel (re-read)
102. Unsticky by Sarra Manning (re-read)
103. Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham
104. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B Cooney (re-read)
105. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows

Favourite of the month? Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows

September

106. Airhead: Being Nikki by Meg Cabot
107. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
108. The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
109. Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro
110. Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City by Holly Denham
111. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
112. One Day by David Nicholls

Favourite of the month? One Day by David Nicholls and A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

October

113. Charlotte's Web by EB White (re-read)
114. The Outsiders by SE Hinton (re-read)
115. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
116. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
117. I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder
118. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
119. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
120. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
121. Dead To the World by Charlaine Harris
122. Dead As A Doornail by Charlaine Harris
123. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris

Favourite of the month? Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

November

124. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
125. The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff
126. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
127. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
128. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
129. The Enemy by Charlie Higson
130. Generation A by Douglas Coupland
131. The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks
132. Heaven Can Wait by Cally Taylor
133. The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
134. Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto
135. Evermore by Alyson Noel
136. Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
137. The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
138. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

Favourite of the month? Heaven Can Wait by Cally Taylor and Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

December

139. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
140. The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by LJ Smith
141. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
142. What I Was by Meg Rosoff
143. Mort by Terry Pratchett
144. Jackdaw Summer by David Almond
145. An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiiguro

Favourite of the month? Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

And because I haven't written about my December totals, I'll write that briefly here. Two books by Neil Gaiman. Definitely one of my favourite ever authors. I was very disappointed in The Vampire Diaries. I decided against writing a review of it as it would be almost entirely negative. What I Was and Jackdaw Summer were beautifully written. I probably didn't understand the subtleties and layers of An Artist of the Floating World but I certainly enjoyed it very much and Kazuo Ishiguro finds a place on my list of favourite authors. Mort by Terry Pratchett was the big surprise of the month. I did NOT expect to love Mort as much as I did. I found the lack of chapter breaks a little tedious but it will not be the last book I read by Terry Pratchett. I now cringe at all the times I've said that Terry Pratchett is 'not my sort of thing' - in fact, he should be everyone's 'thing'!

Anyway, happy reading in 2010!

Library Books!

I had to really brave the elements to make it to the library this morning. It was -4.5 degrees as I was scraping the ice off my car and the road was really frosty. It even had a light dusting of snow as I was driving. But I'd read all my other library books and a slight desperation had set in. Off we went. And here is what I picked up:


Nation by Terry Pratchett - I was quite excited to pick this one up. In fact, Terry Pratchett excites me at the moment. I read Mort in December and LOVED it.
Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie - I've never read anything by Rushdie before. To be honest, it was the cover that attracted me to this book.
The Fire-Eaters by David Almond - David Almond is quickly becoming one of my favourite children's authors. I've only read Jackdaw Summer (review coming soon) and The Savage, but they've both been wonderful!


Close Range by Annie Proulx - I'm slowly getting into short stories. The first book finished in 2010 was a collection of short stories and I quite enjoyed it. So I was on a bit of a hunt for short story collections today. Any you'd like to recommend?
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker - I can't remember where I've seen this, but this was picked up by a collective book bloggers' influence.
Black Juice by Margo Lanagan - I'd checked this book of short stories out before but hadn't the time to get to them properly.
A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif - I kind of liked the title.
Secret Heart by David Almond - another David Almond! I was going to take out more of his books, but thought I might overdose on them too soon.
The Rings of Saturn by W. G. Sebald - I was vaguely aware of this book possibly being on the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die list and I still have 4 more titles to read to finish the 1% well-read challenge!
Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman - YAY! I was going to buy this book as my library hadn't had it in since forever, but just as I was going to give up hope, here it is!

Books read in 2010

Another year, another list of books read. This is here mostly for my own purposes, but feel free to peek, as it will be updated regularly with links to reviews (hopefully!)


January

1. The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2.

Happy New Year

I hope every one of my readers has had a relaxed and happy Christmas and New Year. I am currently behind on everything. Reviews, emails, blog-reading, blog-updating, laundry and my coursework. But I've had a wonderful few weeks of rest and time with family. And that's what counts, right? (apart from my coursework, EEEP! which I'm still trying to avoid thinking about) I just wanted to send this out there, take that first step back into blogging again.

Hello, I am still here. I've missed you all. I will return shortly!

Christmas Spirit

Three things happened this week that have given me the Christmas spirit. First, Oldest played Joseph in his nursery's nativity. He was absolutely adorable and I loved seeing how much confidence he has that he was able to do that on his own, and jump in with extra bits when the teacher was reading out the story of baby Jesus. I am such a proud mom.


Then, this morning it started to snow. First it was just itty bitty amounts, then quite big snowflakes. I hope it sticks so the boys and I can make snowmen later on. I love snow. Oldest and I ran around a bit in a nearby field before I had to drop him off. Littlest is at his Nana's today, I hope he's enjoying it just as much!



And finally, almost instead of lunch, we made gingerbread cookies. I'm not the biggest fan of ginger at all, but I heart gingerbread cookies. They almost epitomise Christmas. And they were easy and fun to make. I've included the recipe.

Gingerbread cookies

To make about 20 biscuits, you will need:

350g (12oz) plain flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
100g (4oz) butter or margarine, cut into chunks
175g (6oz) soft light brown sugar
1 medium egg
4 tablespoons golden syrup
cookie cutters, whatever shaped you'd like
2 greased baking trays

Heat the oven to 190 degrees C/375 degrees F/gas mark 5 before you start.

1. Sift the flour, ground ginger and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Add the butter or margarine chunks.

2. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until it is like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

3. Break the egg into a small bowl, then add the syrup. Beat well with a fork, then stir the egg mixture into the flour.

4. Mix with a metal spoon until you make a dough. Sprinkle flour onto a work surface, then put the dough on it.

5. Stretch the dough by pushing it away from you. Fold it in half and repeat. Carry on doing this until it is smooth.

6. Sprinkle more flour onto the work surface. Cut the dough in half. Then, roll out one half until it is 5mm (1/4 in) thick.

7. Use a cookie cutter to cut lots of shapes. Then, lift all the hearts onto the greased baking trays with a fish slice.

8. Roll out the rest of the dough and cut out more shapes. Put them on the baking trays, then put the trays into the oven.

9. Bake biscuits for 12-15 minutes. They will turn golden brown. Carefully lift the baking trays from the oven.

10. Leave the biscuits on the trays for about 5 minutes. Then, lift them onto a wire rack. Leave to cool. When biscuits are cool, decorate as desired!

How do you get into the Christmas spirit? What epitomises Christmas for you?

Books to tide me over!

It's been a slow reading month so far. Nearly half way through December and only two books read! Despite having almost no time to read and having some books already checked out, I still need variety, so first thing this morning, I headed off to the library. This is what I picked up.

1. Shrimp by Rachel Cohn - I don't really like the cover of this one, and I'm not entirely sure why I picked this one up, but I did. There we go.

2. Finding Grace by Alyssa Brugman - This title was displayed on the recommended shelf. It looks kind of pretty so I thought I'd give it a chance!

3. Prom Nights From Hell by Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer etc - I figured I'd need quick and light things to read over Christmas. This sounds just right.

Next, we have:

4. What I Was by Meg Rosoff - Another Meg Rosoff for me. I think I started this before but it wasn't the right timing. Hopefully it will be this time!

5. Empress Orchid by Anchee Min - This book was at the front of the library on display. I'm not sure I've heard anything about it, pure impulse borrowing!

6. The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - More with the short stories. I generally don't like short stories at all, but I've been finding that as I get older and my concentration levels decrease, I'm enjoying short stories more and more...

Here are the books that scare me and are really not my normal thing:

7. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. - I had no idea what this was about. But the title is familiar. I thought, why not?

8. Mort by Terry Pratchett - Having Joined the Pratchett reading challenge, I'm really pushing myself to read something of his. The books about Death were recommended, so I picked this one up, which I hope is the right place to start?

9. The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett - here's another Terry Pratchett. This time, a YA novel. I think I tried this once before, but I think when I tried it, my mind-set was 'I'll hate this, I'm not sure why I'm bothering' and now I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

10. Dune by Frank Herbert - why did I pick this one up? I was in the sci-fi/fantasy section, this one caught my eye and without thinking I put it in my bag. I'm really surprising myself here. We'll see how it goes.

And no trip to the library would be complete without a trip to the charity shops. Today I picked up Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka and The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney.

I really hope that these books will keep me busy throughout the Christmas period! What will you be reading?

Children's Christmas Baking

I have this problem every year. We put up the Christmas tree, we decorate the house, we write out our Christmas cards, we play the Christmas music. We get everything ready and out, prepared and bought. We make plans about food and where to go and what to see. And I never feel Christmassy. Not until the very end usually.

So I'm doing all I can to speed up that process. I actually have a little to-do list which includes making our own Christmas cards and wrapping paper. Making Christmas decorations and so on, which I've not yet had time to do. But one of the ways I have made time for is by baking Christmassy things with the children.

I have a 4 year old and a not quite 2 year old. So things have to pretty simple for them to help out. To be fair, there isn't much my Littlest can do. But Oldest likes measuring and stirring and especially those little cutters. Here are some of the things we've 'baked' in our house this week in preparation for Christmas. It's kept the boys busy for a few hours anyway.


Creamy chocolate fudge

To make 36 squares of fudge, you will need:

75g (3oz) full-fat cream cheese
350g (12oz) icing sugar
1 level teaspoon of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of oil, for wiping
75g (3oz) plain chocolate chips
40g (1 1/2oz) butter
a shallow 15cm (6in) square cake tin
greaseproof paper

1. Put the cream cheese into a bowl. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa through a sieve into the bowl too. Mix them together well.

2. Put the cake tin onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and draw around it. Cut out the shape, just inside the line.

3. Use a paper towel to wipe oil onto the sides and base of the tin. Press in the paper square and wipe it too.

4. To melt the chocolate, pour water into a pan, until it is about 3cm (1in) deep. Heat it until it bubbles, then remove the pan from the heat.

5. Put the chocolate chips and the butter into a heatproof bowl. Put on oven gloves and gently put the bowl into the pan.

6. Stir the chocolate until they have melted. Using oven gloves, carefully lift the bowl out of the water. Stir in a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture

7. Pour the chocolate into the cheese mixture in the bowl. Beat them together with a spoon until creamy.

8. Spoon the mixture into the tin, and push it into the corners. Make the top of the fudge as flat as you can.

9. Put the tin in the fridge for two hours, or until the fudge is firm.

10. Use a blunt knife to loose the edges of the fudge, then turn it out onto a large plate. Remove the paper, cut the fudge into lots of squares. Put fudge back in fridge for two hours, or until hard. Enjoy.

My thoughts: I'd never melted chocolate before. It was a new experience and I quite enjoyed it. I always thought I'd have to faff around doing that, but it was quite simple. I couldn't find my sifter though, and I think the icing sugar really needed that. The taste was wonderful, everyone seemed to enjoy it. I think I've started a Christmas tradition with this one :) Next year I might buy some pretty cellophane and wrap them up to give as gifts or in goody bags or something.

Peppermint creams

To make about 25 peppermint creams, you will need:

250g (9oz) icing sugar
half the white of a small egg, mixed from dried egg white (mix as directed on packet)
1 teaspoon peppermint flavouring
2 teaspoons lemon juice
green food dye
a rolling pin
small cutters
a baking sheet covered in plastic foodwrap

1. Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl. Make a hole in the middle of the sugar with a spoon.

2. Mix the egg white, peppermint flavouring and lemon juice in a small bowl. Pour the mixture into the sugar.

3. Use a blunt knife to stir the mixture. Then, squeeze it between your fingers until it is smooth, like a dough.

4. Cut the mixture into two pieces. Put each piece into a bowl. Add a few drops of green food dye into one bowl.

5. Use your fingers to mix the dye. If the mixture is sticky, add a little more icing sugar and mix it in.

6. Sprinkle a little icing sugar onto a clean work surface. Sprinkle some onto a rolling pin too, to stop the mixture sticking.

7. Roll out the green mixture until it is about as thick as your little finger. Use cutters to cut out lots of shapes.

8. Use a blunt knife to lift the shapes onto the baking sheet. Roll out the white mixture and cut out more shapes.

9. Lift all the shapes onto the baking sheet. Leave them for at least an hour until they become hard.

My thoughts: These were fun to make and quite simple. I followed the recipe to the letter but found my batter needed a bit more egg white than was required. Also, I didn't make white and green batches but dropped some green food dye onto the whole thing. I think I needed more. The strong peppermint taste is not to everyone's liking but I think it'd make a great gift if put into a pretty box!

I love the idea of Christmas baking. For the following weeks we plan to bake gingerbread cookies, shortbread, cheesy Christmas stars, shining star biscuits, and possibly chocolate truffles! See, I'm already excited. Christmas here we come!

A huge thank you to Marg and Kailana for organising such a wonderful event!

South Park Meeee

Oh, this is a bit of fun, isn't it? Can't say I ever watched South Park, but N decided to make me into a South Park character using this website. I think he did an excellent job, especially with those antlers and the great big lolly!

What do you think, is it me? What would your South Park character look like?

Stuff on head, Christmas edition

I have a thing about fun hats. I have wizard hats, a turkey hat, head-boppers, monster ears, bunny ears.. loads of fun things to put on my head. And, we have a bit of a Christmas tradition involving hats. Somehow it's worked out that N buys me a special Christmas hat every year! I love traditions that add to my collection and/or my craziness.

Here are just SOME of the hats modelled especially by my Littlest.

This Santa's Helper hat has little bells attached and make quite a little racket. This hat doesn't often come out of my special Christmas box as last year Littlest ripped some of the bells off and stuck one in his mouth!

Did you know I never had a normal Santa hat before? I didn't, but I do now! It's so furry and it's great for keeping a head warm and putting a smile on Littlest' face!

Instead, I have hats like this. Typical Santa hat, but in a jester style with three points. This hat is quite small though and neither child much likes wearing it. Sadface. Cute though.

This is one of my favourites. It's an elf hat, but with ADDED EARS! How cool are they? Littlest couldn't keep his hands off them.

These reindeer antlers are by far his favourite. He kept taking them off and putting them on and making the cutest faces. I remember we bought these antlers the first year I moved here, so possibly my oldest piece of headgear!

This was last year's hat. Pink! Couldn't be cuter, really!

And finally, this year's hat. My favourite of the lot, I think. That's mistletoe at the top and on the white brim is a read 'Kiss Me' Ha!



I think it just might be beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Mini-Reviews

I've decided instead of torturing myself to write proper reviews of everything I read, therefore not reviewing anything, I'd go down the mini-review road. Much easier and less stressful for everyone.

Generation A by Douglas Coupland - I really don't know how to review this one. It's been kind of hit or miss with me and Douglas Coupland. I've read a few of his books and liked some, Eleanor Rigby in particular, was absolutely beautiful. Then others, like Microserfs, I couldn't really find my place in it and had to abandon it. I wasn't sure what I would be getting into with Generation A. I hadn't heard anything of it before I saw it in the library. I picked it up thinking that perhaps N would like to read it and instead it was me who finished it. And here we are, weeks later and I still cannot find the words. I ... liked it. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I did like it. The first half of the book is very different from the second half and that just confused me more than anything else. It felt like if Coupland had explored aspects of the storyline in different ways (a romance between two characters was started and then dropped suddenly/it started off sounding like a paranoid conspiracy theory which could have been interesting) I might have liked it better, but it was still a fun, intelligent read. It's set slightly in the future, where bees have become extinct for awhile. Then all of a sudden five people from all over the world are stung and they end up being studied by the government before being shipped to an island together. It's interesting.

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton - The first book in the Anita Blake series. As I've mentioned before I feel a little uneasy starting a series with so many books in it. I believe there are 17 books in this series right now. 17. That is too many. How are the books towards the end of that? Still as good? I don't know. I liked Guilty Pleasures, but I didn't love it. I started reading it and it just felt like I'd miss something. I had to put my book down and check the internet to see if Guilty Pleasures really was the first book in the series and not the second. Because nothing seems to be explained. We're just sort of thrown into Anita Blake's life as an animator/vampire hunter and introduced to a bunch of characters and find out very little of her back history. I was confused a great deal. I kept getting the male characters mixed-up. The people Anita works with, the stripper, the men trying to kill her, her colleague. I don't know, I found it to be a lot to take in all at once. I liked Anita as a character, she seems quite feisty. I like the premise of it all. But can I commit myself to another 16 books? I'm still undecided.

The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera - I thought that The Whale Rider would be a light, fun read. And it was fun, and it's not very long, but it's so full of history and it was so interesting that I took a lot more time over it. I love reading all those stories about how the relationship between the Maoris and the whales. It was truly fascinating. The chapters alternate between the legends of the past, and the family of the descendents of The Whale Rider. As much as I loved the myths, I also adored Kahu, the sweet little girl who has such a strong connection to the whales and who loves her grumpy old grandfather Koro Apirana so entirely despite the fact that he denies her existence because she is a girl. The story is a little slow to start, but midway through to the end I was absolutely gripped by this tale. I actually sobbed in several different parts, it's so moving and beautiful. One to look out for.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin - Why has it taken me so long to read this book? It is truly wonderful. I stayed up too late reading this because I had to know what happened and then had crazy dreams about it. Le Guin's writing style feels quite sparse, but I was completely invested in the story and the characters right away. I was astounded by the detail and scale of Earthsea. I loved Sparrowhawk. I truly did. His struggle with his own pride and vanity, the self-doubt after he creates a nasty beast during a difficult spell - his coming of age journey was a magical thing to be part of. The show-down with the dragons had me almost breathless in suspense. I literally couldn't sit still from the anticipation of the final battle. I'm wondering if I will love the other books in the series as much with Sparrowhawk being only a supporting character? It doesn't matter, I have to read the other books.

And that is all! Mini-reviews of the books YOU are reading in comments? Please?

REVIEW: Evermore by Alyson Noel

I hadn't planned on reading this one, but then I read Raych's review over at books i done read (link below) and I was laughing so much throughout that when I saw the book at the library I thought 'why not?' and gave it a chance. Oh dearie me. It was .. interesting.

There are so many supernatural romances out there at the moment, and I have to admit, I've been enjoying reading them. But Evermore really grated on me. There is much that I disliked about the book. The premise is interesting.. Ever survives a car accident that kills her parents and little sister. From that moment on, she's able to hear thoughts and see people's auras. She goes to live with her aunt in California, and takes up with the misfit crowd while carrying on conversations with her sister's ghost. Then one day she meets Damen and things get a bit weird.

The parts I didn't like? The dialogue. Especially out of the mouths of Ever's 'friends' Haven and Miles. I put friends in quotations there because that bond of friendship didn't seem particularly strong, especially in Haven's case. Doesn't take a lot to get these friends riled up at each other. Haven and Miles seemed to be a bit two-dimensional as well.

Hated Damen. Throughout the book. He has very few redeeming features. He may be good-looking, but if you're a douche, as Damen appears to be, then that fact doesn't go very far with me. He's clearly messing with Ever, being very mysterious, not answering or addressing any of her concerns, blatantly flirting with the one person who is bullying Ever, and playing tricks with her mind. No. The fact that Ever and Damen are mysteriously pulled to each other? Not particularly believeable, especially considering all the crap that Damen pulls. Plus, what was with all the skipping school? That's not cool! I didn't much care for how slow Ever seems to be. She seems to be the most non-inquisitive person ever. Even when she sees Damen move faster than is physically possible, she still never asks any questions, doesn't demand any answers. Just thinks to herself idly, 'hmm, that was odd.'

I also didn't like the ending. The big reveal seemed to be too much, all at once. I couldn't really wrap my head around where everything was going and after the dragginess of the first 200 pages when not much seemed to happen, when everything did happen it was just confusing. But, it's not all bad, otherwise I'd have stopped reading.

I did think that Ever's grief over the loss of her parents was well done. I believed in that pain and the guilt that she carried around. I also like Riley, Ever's little sister. She was annoying but fun and I did enjoy it when Riley was around.

I wish there was more regarding people's auras because that seemed kind of cool. I'd have liked to see more development between Ever and her aunt. I wish Ever were a stronger person who took more control over her life. I'd have like to have seen a more believeable romance between Ever and Damen. But these things I think will have to be found in a different book. It's unlikely that I will pick up the others in this series.

Other Opinions:

books i done read
Reading Keeps You Sane
Karin's Book Nook
The Story Siren
Planet Books
Chicklish
The Compulsive Reader
Book Binge
Wondrous Reads

TSS: Books read in November

It's been a while since I participated in a Sunday Salon. I've missed it. But in other news, I'm really pleased with this month's reading totals.

1. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
2. The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff
3. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
4. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
5. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
6. The Enemy by Charlie Higson
7. Generation A by Douglas Coupland
8. The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks
9. Heaven Can Wait by Cally Taylor
10. The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
11. Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto
12. Evermore by Alyson Noel
13. Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
14. The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

I have reviews of those last few books coming shortly (I hope). I feel like it's been kind of a weird selection of books for this month. I don't know about you, but whenever I cross genres it feels like the month has been stretched in some way that makes it longer. Does that make sense? It barely does to me, so I'm not sure. But it feels like a great distance has been travelled between Ella Minnow Pea and A Wizard of Earthsea.

I finished the last three books in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I've enjoyed it. I wonder how much longer they will continue. I also started the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton. I'm not as excited about the series, and doubt I will read all 17 books but at least I've given them a try and will probably at least read the next two (more of that in my review!).

The YA books I've read this month have all been quite different, from the violence of The Road of the Dead and The Enemy to the supernatural in Evermore to the subtlely of The Bride's Farewell. The Whale Rider broke my heart. Generation A and Ella Minnow Pea are both dystopic but not in anyway similar. The Penelopiad is a modern retelling with a twist, I found it very difficult to put my thoughts together about Goodbye Tsugumi and Heaven Can Wait was just a wonderfully fun read. A Wizard of Earthsea kind of crept onto the list at the end of the month but it was fantastic. A book that kept me up at night reading desperate to know what will happen.

With all the books being quite different from each other, I'm feeling a little confused about it all. It does confuse me when the sequence of books I read seem to have no correlation with each other. It makes me wonder how I jumped from book to book this month, what were the reasons behind each choice. I don't want to overthink it though, I'm just enjoying the random selection.

Ah, but what will December bring? Are you expecting lots of time to read or less time with the holidays approaching?

New version of me...

The other week, I had a haircut. It was my first in a year. Is it just me, or are the women who work in hair salons a little intimidating? No? Just me? Anyway, I needed a change. My hair has been looking so limp and lifeless. So I cut it. Here's what it looked like before...


And.. after. The lighting is pretty bad, but you can tell I chopped a lot of it off, right? What do you think? It'd take a miracle for my hair to not look wispy and horrible at the front, but I like it. It makes my head feel a lot lighter. Try not to notice what a state my living room is in.


Here's the reason why. We always go to N's work Christmas party the first weekend in December. It's a formal affair, and you get the first sneak peak of what I'll be wearing...




Isn't it pretty? I'm not much of a girly girl, but I do so love getting dressed up, going out and I get to dance for this one night. Have a good weekend everyone.