October Books

3 books, 2 winners this month.

Ok Eat, Pray, Love, another book I'd heard of, but knew nothing about. I really quite enjoyed the first section, Italy, but I'm afraid India & Indonesia, Bali to be exact, weren't enjoyable. 

Basically this book is one woman's journey to find herself & tell us how wonderful she is along the way. I didn't think she was wonderful, I thought she was ignorant & shallow, but that's just my opinion & it's worth the paper it is written on, lol. I think it's simply one of those books you'll just love or hate.

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth, another true story but this time about a woman in the east end of post war London delivering babies & home nursing in sometimes the most appalling conditions but with such a dedication you just thank god there are people like her in the world. Jennifer turns up to work at what she believes is a small hospital, but what turns out to be a small convent, with a team of midwives who also happen to be nuns. I watched & loved the tv series so was rapt to find there was a book & just had to have it. It's brilliant, funny, sad, moving, entertaining & inspirational. Now this is a book I can't imagine anyone not enjoying.

The Hot Flash Club by Nancy Thayer, this was a fun book. Four woman with very different lifestyles meet by chance & become firm friends. It soon becomes apparent that they can all help each other with specific problems & set out to do so. I've now found there are more books in the series so I look forward to tracking them down as I'd like to continue following their stories.

Yay I've caught up my book blog posts. I've just been so busy lately I haven't had much time to blog. I finished painting & wallpapering the main bedroom for ds to move into & I'm currently turning the 'study' into a playroom for the Playstation. I hope to get it finished quickly as there's a couple of pieces of furniture I really want to get painted this month so I can get into Xmas mode for December.

September Books

Three great books this month.
The Monster in the Box, another Inspector Wexford by Ruth Rendell. As always a great whodunnit, that kept me guessing. It always helps that I've watched so many Wexford movies that I can picture everything I'm reading. This is a strange story that really started when Wexford was a young officer, 2 unsolved murders, & even though Wexford believes he knows who the killer is there is nothing to tie him to the crimes. Decades later the same man Wexford suspected is back in Kingsmarkam & back on Wexford's radar.

Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido. I'll be honest, it was the cover that attracted me to this book, I guess that's true of a lot of books. An unusual book & I enjoyed it & went back & bought some more books by the same author. The story begins with 18yo Katherine & her friendship with one of her professor's & his family. The book spans a decade & the changes in her life. I found it in the $5 bookshop, more & more of these shops are popping up, & they've opened one in my little local shopping centre. Woohoo. They have a facebook page so you can see if there's a store near you.

https://www.facebook.com/allbooks4lesscomau?ref=stream

An old favourite, The Mirror Crack'd by Agatha Christie, one of my all time favourite stories & I absolutely love the movie version with Angela Lansbury, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis & Kim Novak. The bitching between Liz & Kim is brilliant. Back to the book, it's a clever plot & I wonder if you'll guess whodunnit & why? In this one Miss Marple is home in St Mary Mead & her good friend Dolly Bantry features too. Her police detective nephew Dermot has been sent to investigate the murder of Heather Badcock & takes full advantage of his aunt 's gift for sleuthing. Even though it is a murder mystery as always there are some light-hearted moments to enjoy.

August Books

Again 3 very different books. (Yes there's only 2 in the pic. I've already disposed of 50 Shades, I was never going to read that again).

I was given 50 Shades of Grey for my birthday, or as I refer to it 50 Shades of Shite, & I would have to say, it is without a doubt, the WORST book I've ever read. I knew nothing about it when it was given to me, except that it was very popular. Yes well all I can say is 'The Emperor's New Clothes' syndrome is alive & well & it's a damn shame when trash sells so well, & makes some talentless hack rich. Shall I tell you how I really feel? Lol. 

Seriously this book is badly written, annoying tripe. It is repetitive & boring. As far as being titilating it had the opposite effect on me, I felt like I needed to shampoo my brain after subjecting it to this garbage. Yes I did finish it, I don't think you can sit & criticize a book if you haven't even read it & it may well have improved as it went along, it didn't. My heart didn't beat faster as I read, my stomach turned over a few times with nausea. If you want a book that will make your heart beat faster & put you in a romantic mood read Pride & Prejudice. I like my men to be men with a personality, give me Mr Darcy any day of the week & keep this troll with a never ending supply of condoms in his pocket!!!!! As for the bathtub scenario, was the bath just a few inches deep or did she have a snorkel??? Did anyone else wonder about this??? 

Now I'm sure there are people who agree with me & people who don't, cool. If you don't agree please feel free to blog your opinion of the book, on YOUR blog. I know a lot of people love it & that's cool, my only real concern is that young girls, or boys for that matter, are reading this & thinking that it's the norm & ok to be treated like this. Now that's a worry!

So after finishing that crap I needed to read a GOOD book so I chose Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy. I didn't think I'd read it before but soon realised I had, but settled to enjoy it again. What a beautiful, well written story about people I cared about. What a joy to read. It tells the story of Elizabeth, a little English girl who is evacuated to a big Irish family for the war, & the friendship that develops between her & Aisling the daughter her age in the family & follows their lives as they grow up. Over 600 pages it could have gone on longer, I wish it had.

The Wish List is an unusual book. A 'normal' family is suddenly thrown into a difficult situation when it comes to light the father is a drug addict, & has run up huge debts. While he is in rehab, his wife & 2 young sons, must sell up & move, & get their lives back on track. Things take a strange twist when one son takes it into his head that their elderly, grumpy neighbour is in fact Santa. This book is funny & sad & definitely a good read.

My Entry & a Quick Catch-Up

I've entered 'My Crazy Heart' wallhanging in a contest. If you like it the best, please vote for it. :-)

http://tinyurl.com/a6c3fzd

Life has been hectic here lately. I've redecorated the main bedroom & ds has moved in there. I've now emptied the study to paint & it will become the 'playroom.' A home for the Playstation etc. I'm slowly reorganising the whole house & I plan to get rid of as much excess stuff as possible. That includes a major clear out of all my excess quilt & craft stuff. After over 30 years of crafting, & over 20 years of quilting, my tastes have changed also my eyesight simply cannot handle some of my earlier crafts. It's going to take months, but I'm hoping that at the end of it life will be much simpler. 

Hopefully I'll have time to update my reading list soon & I really hope I can get Live Writer working again so I can post more easily & with the font I like!