Book review -the one that i want

I chose this book from a site I buy a lot of my novels on, it was on sale and I love a sale.  The back read like it would be interesting, Tilly Farmer 32 years old married to her child hood sweetheart, content living in her hometown, working at her old highschool.  Tilly goes to a fair and is told by a fortune teller that she is being given the gift of clarity and her life begins to change and crumble around her.  Can she change the future and what will happen if she tries.  Seemed interesting enough.  And as you can see from the cover the author is a New York Times best seller.

Did I love this book?  No.  Was it fun?  Kind of.  Would I read it again or suggest it to others?  Probably not.  In all fairness it was an easy read.  But I just didn't get a lot from it.  I like a bit of depth in characters and this Tilly was just a little wimpy for me.  After her marriage begins to fall apart she is just insipid, I wanted her to mourn yes for sure, but get up and tell her husband enough.  But no she keeps on keeping him happy and even packs his stuff for him to collect, I don't think so!!!!! REALLY!!!!  

I guess she triumphs in the end but the infuriating way she gets there finally left me a bit cold.  You might love it, then again......

  

So my Sweet Pea (a nick name given the princess by Se'Lah) meaning Sweet Paul, Elle, Alicia is a big ONE year old today, am I the proud and doting nanny oh yeah I am!!!!!  We have had two sleepovers in the last fortnight and I love having her with us.

She is so inquisitive and such a joy for us.  Her mum and dad have been to skin and plastics specialists in the past week or so, to see what can be done about the removal of some of her spots.  I did share some time back that Elle has what is known as Giant Congenital Nevus, you can see the spots in some of her photos.  Well there is a little light at the end of the tunnel and there is a way of removing many of the spots on her arms and legs.  The large one on her back can't be removed it is just too big.  But our beautiful baby girl is so loved and we will help her through any of the stuff that might go with having this to live with.

So Elle is blowing you all a birthday kiss, oh my goodness I swoon seriously I do.  Lots of love from us.

xxoo

Have You Read These?

Now I have to say straight off that when I bought this novel I didn't realise it was teen fiction.  And for all intents and purposes it is meant for the teen audience, but none the less I really enjoyed it.  Set in Australia it is the tale of Simone whose father dies and whose mother Dawn is left to raise Simone and her two brothers on her own.  Simone hears her dad's voice from the huge tree in the backyard, and when she climbs the tree she begins to have conversations with her dad.  She tells her mum, who at first doesn't believe her, but then she too climbs the tree and as she talks and argues and laughs and cries with her husband in the tree, the neighbours and her children are left wondering and talking about her sanity.

The tree though has grown huge and it's roots threaten the stability of the house and the lives of those who live in it.  

This was an interesting read, different to anything I had read before and I enjoyed the family as they tried to patch their lives back together after the too sudden death of father and husband.

Another great little book, also a teen novel was Shug, like sugar.  The turning from childhood to being a teen, the turmoil and the changes that Shug undergoes made me wince remembering my very own teenage angst, and laugh at the memories of the silly things we say do and worry about as teenagers.  If you are looking for a book for your children or grandchildren, I'm sure they will enjoy Shug.  

Have you read this?

Do you want to go back to or take your first trip to Italy?  Do you want to roam the cobbled streets of a tiny village nestled in the mountains?  Do you want an Italian lover, and sweet cold gelato? If you answered yes then read this book.  It swept me away to Montevedova in the Tuscan mountains.  I strolled the streets with Lily, the main character in this little gem of a novel.  I raged with her when she found the hidden photograph of her husband's other family, and I fell in love with Italy all over again.  I'm not even sure that I didn't actually visit Montevedova myself when we were there a year back.  It sounds like so many of the beautiful villages hidden away in those mountains.  

So the story is captivating, funny, sad, and honestly I wanted to just do the whole lifestyle change and go open a pasticceria in Italy myself.  Really a wonderful tale of love lost and found, happiness sought and caught and lives changed.  I think you'll love it.

This is a new addition to my garden.  She sits on the edge of my birdbath.  The same birdbath that as a child I lined with broken pieces of bread, hoping the birds would come and eat and bathe here.  Of course it was my parents birdbath then and when my dad passed away I had to have it.  He had faithfully painted it for years, a deep cream and a hideous forest green, it is now just a beige colour, I don't think he'd mind at all.  We have lots of birds here and they regularly bathe and drink here.  Not so sure they are used to my brass beauty yet, but I think in time they will just accept she will sit quietly watching as they frolic and drink.

Two shrubs away from the bath this little girl is nesting.  She has two speckled eggs under her warm tummy and she is quite protective.  I will try and get some shots of the eggs, but I don't want to scare her off the nest for good.  We call them yellow eyes, these are native but there are some imports that look very similar and they are quite mean to other birds.  I love birds nests and baby birds so excited I hope I see them as little squeaky babies.  How exciting.

Texture Tuesday and a Book Review

Another week rolls by and it is Texture Tuesday time again over at Kim Klassen's Cafe and of course me being on this side of the world and her on the other I am posting on Tuesday and it's still Monday way over yonder.  Anyhow that does not stop me so here today we have the texture challenge that was set for this week, we needed to use Kim's texture Yesteryear.  What a beautiful texture it is too.  Unfortunately I merged the layers before I kept a note of what I had done, but I did use the texture twice, once on Soft Light and also added a vignette to the edge of the shot as well.  I do like it actually, what do you think?

And finally I have been able to read Olive Kitteridge, this was sent to me by a fellow blogger in an Autumn swap we did some months back.  I like to read my books in some sort of order and had a couple to finish when this arrived so I have only just finished it now.  What can I say but OUTSTANDING truly amazing.  I absolutely adored this book.  From the first quirky chapter, which introduces Olive and her husband Henry and the young woman who is working for Henry in his pharmacy, through the rest of the book, that with each chapter brings to life more people whose lives cross somehow with Olives.  I was irritated by Olive, I laughed with Olive, I cried with her, though she didn't cry, I felt her loss, her fear, her anger all of it and I loved it.  I felt for Christopher her son, fearful of his mother, her oblivious to his feelings.  I hoped she would see how she was being talked about by the community she lived in, then I realised if she did she would care less.  I loved this book, you must rush out, run quickly really and get this little gem.  Just 270 pages and every one revealing a small piece of someones life.  Fantastic, thanks Spud for sharing this with me.

Book Review - Sea Glass

I think this is Anita Shreve's 8th novel.  Going on the other titles listed in the front of the book and it was published in 2002.  After the last book I read The Passage, I really wanted something light and something with some hope and joy included.  I am SO glad I chose this book.  I picked it and another of Shreve's novels up at the second hand shop a while back, this one was only $2 and I enjoyed it so much.  Set in America in the time of the great stock market crash and the beginning of the depression, this book is just delightful.  Each chapter is the details of one person at the time.  The people's lives intermingle in such a simple way, as they live and love and marry and die throughout the story.  I love the way Anita has presented each character, their lives touching in ways that eventually will lead to disaster and triumph, love and loss, it was wonderful.  Just 325 pages long and I read it in a couple of days, I liked it so much.  The characters were real, flawed and wonderful.  I felt like I was there and I hoped for lives to be changed and love to be fulfilled.  I want to start collecting sea glass like Honora the main character in the tale.  I want to renovate an old mansion by the ocean, I want to meet McDermott.  Oh I really enjoyed this so much.  Great holiday reading really.

Summer is upon us now, it is hot, muggy, rainy and I found in the midst of all the blue agapanthus this beautiful white one.  Reminds me of snow so clean and white. 

Book Review - The Passage

The Passage by Justin Cronin.......

766 pages of the most confusing story I think I have ever read.  Was it good though, well umm, I don't want to say NO because we all like different things, but for me well I kept reading didn't I.  Yep I did because I was hoping to make sense of it finally.  Did I?  Well kind of and kind of not.

The back reads...

Deep in the jungles of eastern Columbia Professor Jonas Lear has finally found what he's been searching for - and wishes to God he hadn't.

In Memphis, Tennessee a six year old girl called Amy is left at the convent of the Sisters of Mercy and wonders why her mother has abandoned her.

In a maximum security jail in Nevada, a convicted murderer called Giles Babcock has the same strange nightmare, over and over again, while he waits for a lethal injection.

In a remote community in the California mountains, a young man called Peter waits for his beloved brother to return home - to kill him.

Bound together in ways they cannot comprehend, for each of them a door is about to open into a future they could not have imagined.  And a journey is about to begin.  An epic journey that will take them through a world transformed by man's darkest dreams, to the very heart of what it means to be human and beyond.

Okay you might say well after reading that I should have expected something strange and different.  I did but not what I got, I could never have expected that.  So let's say, this novel is long.  It will possibly keep you reading if, like me, you almost always have to finish a book once you start it, if not then you will probably abandon it at the first sense of total confusion.  This will be somewhere around chapter 5.  

If you continue you will enter into a world, well not one two really, they will be about 100 years apart and yet still be consumed with the same earth changing events.  You will encounter men transformed into the most vile creatures, who ravage the earth and cause the series of events that the book deals with.  You will meet men and women living in primitive conditions, with no real true knowledge of the world as we know it today.  They will battle continuously the smokes as they call them, trying to protect their small isolated community of less than 100.  Then you will meet Amy and from there in you will be even more confused.  When you last met her earlier in the book about 100 years earlier she is 6, now she is thought to be about 15.  Yep go figure.  The battles continue with more gruesome and horrid events and eventually exhausted you will begin to think there is an answer and a chance of peace and restoration for all the characters.  Oh no once again you will be disappointed, more horror and destruction.  So if you like a book that is downward moving, from one horror event to another, with little hope for happiness and a real heart turning event at the end, don't go here.  I looked earnestly for an email address on this book so I could contact the author and ask some questions as there was a great deal of confusion for me.  Really confusing stuff, but alas there was none.  So if you like this kind of story then you'll love it.  Me I'm still reeling from not knowing who or what Peter really is??????????  Oh well on to something nice and light now, I need the rest.

For something a little lighter how about some beautiful honey scented gumnut flowers.  Our gum trees are loaded at the moment and the scent of honey wafts past as I stroll round the grounds.

When the blossoms are all gone we will be left with hundreds of tiny gumnut hats, little brown hats for the fairies to wear.  Until then the smell of honey and the buzz of a trillion bees and the squawking of the native birds devouring the honey filled centres, fills the air.  You just have to love summer.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak - Book Review

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.  Wow what do I say, where do I begin.  This is the second book by Marcus I have read.  The first 'I Am The Messenger' was suggested to me by a wonderful blogging friend Monique and I loved it.  This book though is very different than the first.  Written about the lives of Liesel Meminger, her foster parents Hans and Rosa, her best friend Rudy and the young Jewish man Max, hidden in their basement and narrated by the character Death, this tale is unlike any other I have read.  

I found it a little perplexing in the first few pages as they are Death talking to you.  Explaining how he sees the world, the people in it and the colours that change throughout each day.  Yes strange I know.  I actually started this once read a few pages and put it down, it just didn't make sense.  A few months later I picked it up again and persevered and after the first chapter I understood how to read this book.  

It is a young adult book and it is wonderful.  With a string of bestseller awards, rave reviews from many newspapers and winner of the National Jewish Book Award, I urge you to read every page.

I really enjoyed this book.  It is sad at times, funny, very, very thought provoking and not unlike the story of Anne Frank.  

A really great worthwhile read.

The Cobra - Book Review

The Cobra.....is a book I would not normally read in a fit, but my husband devours these type of novels, so to try and diversify a little I thought why not.  A book about the cocaine industry and the effort to break the back of the cartels who run it worldwide, well that's not really my thing.  I know Frederick Forsyth is a world acclaimed writer and he does write well, I can admit that.  But this style of writing I just found to be a tad dull.  I am not one for reading pages of information on the type of aeroplanes, ships, trucks, depots etc etc., that are being used for the purposes of cracking the drug industry.  Just tell me we have some planes and ships and a few men to man them and we're on our way.  The characters in the novel were strong, though there were so many I was a little confused at times, Frederick must have known this would happen to not just me though, the first TWO pages after the chapter index are the names and characters listed, the next page and a half the acronyms an abbreviations used throughout the book.  AFB = airforce base, CRRC = combat rubber raiding craft, FARC = Columbian Revolutionary/Marxist Organisation, now how they get that one I don't know!  But I think you get my drift here.  

So the storyline was very good, the main characters strong and the tension, once you are over the information about the craft, trucks, soldiers etc., good.  There is a great ending and if you do like this kind of information filled story you'll love it.  Not my thing as I said, but I did generally enjoy the experience.  What do you think, have you read it, I am curious?

Two More Books

Life Begins, well it was a little slow to begin in this book, but in all fairness it did get going a little later.  We meet Charlotte, recently divorced, trying to sell her house and failing, hooking up with her estate agent and failing at that too, in rather nasty circumstances.  Her best friends husband getting interested in her after he sees her greying aged bra strap, really, how does that happen and Charlotte, finally realising that perhaps she is more at fault for some of the disasters in her life, than she would like to admit.  Not a bad read all up, fairly light and probably the style of novel you read on the plane or just to while away a few hours.  Not deep, serious or very thought provoking, but a pleasant read none the less.

Tied to the Tracks, the blurb on the back of the book says this is an irresistible modern love story.  Hmm well I could resist really I could.  Okay I have to admit I picked up both of these books hugely discounted at the largest book store in town and there is usually a reason for this hey!?  Again not a bad book, not great either, a mildly interesting read, moderately humorous mainly because of the strange antics of the very Southern Gals in this book.  So a small but growing film company is asked to cover the life of Miss Zula Bragg.  Literary legend, reclusive and a Negro living in the South, this is where things get interesting for the crew.  Jumping at the chance to explore this woman's past they head to Ogilvie and the sparks begin to fly.  The head of the university that employed Zula is also the lost love of the key player in the film company.  He is engaged to be married but things aren't running as smoothly as they should be for the future bride and groom.  Typical gossip, lies, truths, opinions and misconceptions fill this book and while it is mildly interesting it isn't riveting.  Another plane ride novel, not bad but not great.

The 7th Day and a book review

DAY 7

This is not in the exact theme of 30 Days in My Kitchen, but this book certainly was in my kitchen this morning.  I had laid in bed riveted to the last few chapters, not daring to put it down until the final outcome was known.  

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

Danielle bought this book in the UK in 2008 and I have had it here waiting to be read for that long, why I didn't read it sooner I don't know, I wish I had.  I totally enjoyed The Kite Runner, but I must say this book has left it's mark.  What a profoundly moving story.  The strength of the two women who star in this novel is amazing.  The courage and the love that sees them through no end of difficult and life threatening situations is startling.  When I think now that even today there are women subjected to this treatment my heart bleeds.  That men could do this to the women they have married is beyond my comprehension.  To live a life of fear and constant harassment is too much for me to consider.  I thank God that I do not have to be treated in this manner, nor fear that my children, all girls, will suffer like this.  But to have known love like they did is also wonderful.  That even in the most desperate situations that love carried them is such a marvellous thought.  I know the book is a work of fiction, but it was so easy to be totally caught up in the lives of the people portrayed.  Each one has left a lasting impression on me.  I know many muslim women now living in Australia and I am wondering how many of them have lived through the events in this tale.  Many of them have come here as refugees so I will assume that some have suffered the degradation forced upon women in these countries.  But this sounds like the book is depressing, it is not.  It's underlying strength and beauty is the truth that love comes through.  It comes in many forms and suffers many ills, but true love lasts forever and cannot be destroyed.  Khaled Hosseini has written a powerful story of the everlasting strength of true love.  I devoured this book in 3 days which for me is something, I tend to linger over the pages.  I could not put it down I think most everyone will enjoy the tale of Mariam, Laila and Tariq.

Unspoken - Review

I cannot believe how many books I am whizzing through this year.  Really for years I read only Christian based books including novels.  Now I am reading all sorts of things and loving it.  So my latest was "Unspoken" by Sam Hayes who also wrote "Blood Ties".  I will definitely read Blood Ties as Unspoken was great.

376 pages and each chapter written as the thoughts or events in a timeframe of one of the main 3 characters.  Mary Marshall the mother of Julia who for over 30 years has kept a dark secret.  Mary is forced to confront the past and the awful events which set the scene for this story begin.

Julia stumbles across the brutalised body of a student from the school where she is a teacher and the terrible events from her mother's secret past begin to unfold.  

Murray, Julia's soon to be ex husband, a drunk and a lawyer is dragged into the unfolding crisis and as he struggles with his addiction he finds clues to Mary's past which will change this family forever. 

A good read, fairly fast paced and not so graphic to be off putting.  Unfortunately I was able to work out for myself the whose who of the mystery some time before it was disclosed in the novel, always a little disappointing I think.  But nonetheless the story is well written and quite interesting, mysterious and well just a good old read.

AND CAN YOU BELIEVE!!!!!!!!

I will be a nanny very, very soon, stay tuned and I will let you know...

The countdown begins.....

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

What a mouthful you might well be saying, and you're right it is some title isn't it.  But this brilliant little 256 page epistolary novel is so so worth the reading.  Written by 70 year old former librarian Mary Ann Shaffer and edited after her death by her niece Annie Barrows I am sure you will be as entranced by the lives of the people of Guernsey as I was.  Set in 1946 and told through a series of letters I was totally caught up in the lives and tales of the islands residents.  The enthusiastic life of Juliet Ashton, the quiet steadfastness and loyalty of Dawsey Adams, the quirkiness of Isola and the stillness of Eben, combined to enthral me and keep me hooked from the first page till the misty eyed ending.  Having a mother and grandparents who lived through the war in England, I was fascinated by the stories told here.  The daily events the residents of Guernsey lived and told of had me captured.  I was waiting with baited breathe to hear of the outcome of Elizabeth the founder of the society.  I smiled, and laughed and held my breath and was angry, so many emotions were evoked by this gem of a book.

In the end I was happy, a smile on my face and a giggle as well, as I turned the last page on these islanders lives.  I truly hope you can get hold of this treasure and that you enjoy it as much as I did.

Lunch in Paris - Review

Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard, what can I say.  Wonderful, delightful, mouthwatering, beautifully written, an insight into her life, I loved it.  Forget the fact that I am a total Francophile, yes I am and that we were embarking on our trip to France as I was reading this, forget that I put on 7kgs in 5 weeks in France, yes I did and that I am still trying to lose it arghh!!!!!

Why did I tell you that well you may do the same after reading this book.  The recipes included will tempt you at least and if you succumb I can see the kilos waiting to jump on to you somewhere, me its the butt arghh!!!!

Anyway back to the book.  Elizabeth tells about her life changing move to France, Paris in particular to be with her fiance Gwendal.  Having spent nearly 2 weeks in Paris I can see it would be difficult to meld into the fabric of this town.  To meet and make friends and to become accustomed to the way of life there.  The dining time alone is so different to here, they eat at around 8.30pm. Well it seemed that way, the restaurants filled with people still dining and drinking at 11pm.  Fascinating.  Anyway Elizabeth steps out and moves to Paris, and the story is told by way of meals.  The meals that she linked to certain events in her life.  I could see her in this, I could feel her frustration, her anxiety and her desire to make this move work.  I walked with her to the market and I struggled with the language and the desire to fit in with her.  And I ate with her the wonderful meals she learned to cook along the way.  She left behind a successful, friend filled life to move to a country where to be honest she didn't quite fit in the beginning.  She taught herself how to fit and she finally realised that her life was with this man and his life in France.  In the end she is at the dinner table when she knows she is home, with Gwendal and with her new found friends in Paris.  The table is the place where lives are shared and lived in France and she is living and sharing.  Throughout the book she shares her recipes, you could make these and I will be and truly this was one of my favourite reads so far.  I think you will love it.

Above is a goats cheese salad I ate in Paris, the huge helping of fresh, soft, salty cheese tops a crunchy bread round and sits on a mixed leaf salad with a drizzle of mustard dressing delicious.

As they say in France     Bon Appetite.

Book Review - Lavender Morning

So here we are again another book down.  I must say this one "Lavender Morning" written by Jude Deveraux was not terribly exciting.  I have not read anything else by this author and she has written at least 15 other titles.  I'll start with the blurb on the back, well it isn't exactly accurate, perhaps the publisher wants us to think it will be far more exciting and intriguing than it is.  

The story of Jocelyn Minton living in a family who she certainly does not fit in with, and spending all her time with Miss Edi an elderly woman who befriends Joce and teaches her the more cultural aspects of life.  When Miss Edi dies she leaves Jocelyn her estate, a beautiful yet slightly run down home in Edilean, Virginia. It is here in Edilean that Joce meets Ramsay and Luke.  Which one will she choose?  Seriously after having known these two cousins for only a few days she is contemplating marriage to one or the other and that's where Miss Deveraux lost me.  Firstly she portrays Jocelyn as a well educated intelligent young woman and then in an instant this woman is madly in love with, well is she really Ramsay and then Luke.  Luke the gorgeous gardener and Ramsay the well respected and wealthy lawyer, how will she choose.  Arghh!!  I hate a story where the main female character is such a dough head she acts like a silly school girl with marshmallows for a brain.  I got frustrated several times in reading this novel.  There is a slightly interesting underlying mystery, which could have been fleshed out more and perhaps that would have saved this story from being a little dull.  I guess if you just want 375 pages of drivell to loll around in for a few days this is fine.  Certainly not a page turner and a shame because I think it had the potential to be much more than it is.

Au Revoir

I am feeling so french right now, not that I can speak more than two words, or understand how french women stay so thin but hey I am going to find out I promise.  And I'll let you in on it I swear!!

Actually the secret to eating thin is in this absolutely divine book.  Oh my goodness this is like a trip to Paris in a paperback.  I want to live there, well maybe, I must say she did have a very hard time fitting in for a very long time.  But the way she tells of the museums and the streets, oh I cannot wait to get there, which by the way is not long now.  Actually we leave in 3 and a half hours on the Greyhound and then in approximately 9 hours we are out of here all together.  Thrills of excitement up and down my spine.  EEEEE!!!!!!!!!!  Anyway back to the book.  You just must read this.  The thrill of moving to Paris with a super lovely Frenchman is just too much for me, really what is it with this country everyone is France mad!!!  There isn't a blog with a French title, or flavour that isn't devoured and followed by hundreds, me included.  I will honestly give you my absolute most unbiased opinion over the next month, I will take photos of the real deal ok and then you can judge for yourselves.  Is this crazy mad love affair we all seem to have with France warranted?  (Secretly I think it will be)  But let's wait and see.  The recipes in the book sound wonderful too, I am yet to try any as I have not really had time lately, not to say they seem terribly difficult they don't, so I am absolutely giving some a go when we return.  Well worth a visit and a trip in your mind to Paris this one for sure.

The girls and Paul and Adrian took me out for breakfast this morning for an early Mother's Day pressie.  I also received a huge hammock, that we will put up on our big deck.  And a book voucher at my favourite online super bargain book store.  Talk about spoilt.  It will be funny to come back and see how much bigger Alicia's tummy is.  So everyone Au Revoir for now and I'll chat from gay Paris very soon. 

Silent Boy

Well another book down, though this wasn't in my pile at the beginning of the year.  My eldest daughter gave it to me for my birthday.  She is the most vorocious reader I know.  Speed reader I think, she just flies through them.  Me on the other hand I have to eat, actually nibble and chew on every word.  I have to see the faces and places, smell the scents, hear the noises, so it takes me ages to read a book. 

Well what to say about this one, different.  Not to say I didn't enjoy it, I did well sort of.  But towards the end I just wanted it to finish so I could start something else.  You know those kind of books.  I have to read to the end, I have to find out the conclusion, so I can't just stop and start something else.  Though I have done that it still bugs me.  Torey Hayden the authoress is an educational psychologist and a special ed teacher and she writes about her struggles in the classroom.  So this and all her novels, I assume are based on some facts.  That is probably what got to me the most.  Kevin the subject of the story is most likely a real person.  How sad and depressing is that.  He is so traumatised by his childhood, that at 15 when Torey, she uses her own name in the novel, meets him, he hides under tables and uses the chair legs as a safety barrier.  He doesn't speak hence the title and he doesn't respond for much of the book.  Sparodically he talks, hits out and reacts badly, or positively depending, and I found that quite frustrating.  Any progress he made in one chapter seemed to be lost again in the next.  Thinking that this is probably how Torey's daily work life is, just irritates me no end.  One step forward three back argh!!!!

So for all the teachers and educators and psychologists, I am sorry, you will probably enjoy the daily struggles she encounters in trying to help Kevin.  I was just annoyed.  The story does have a somewhat happy ending, and there are sections that are just so vividly written, I was cringing with the horror, so her writing is I guess very well done.  I would probably not read any of her other novels, simply because I believe I would be so annoyed again.  Actually that is what I love so much about reading.  There are so many styles, so many different views, it really is never boring.

Please share a really good book you have read lately, it gives me a chance to search out new writers and new styles.  Have a wonderful Monday.

Eclipse

I have just finished reading the 3rd installment of the Twilight series Eclipse.  I must say the first couple of chapters didn't grab me and it had been a while since I had read New Moon, so maybe it was that I was off track a bit.  But I persevered and I am glad I did.  Now let me say once again that I never, ever ever thought I would read this series.  I am so not a vampire fan, actually don't like very much freaky super natural stuff like that at all.  I don't like violence at all and I'm not really into fantasy stuff like this.  But in saying that, I am amazed at how totally sucked in I get reading these books. 

I think it is the love story that gets me in.  I am a totally goofy romantic lover person.  I have dreams of all that romantic stuff happening to me and this kind of rocks my boat.  Edward and Jacob love totally love, adore actually Bella.  Bella loves, totally, adores, breathes for Edward, but she also really does love Jacob.  So the story revolves around this little triangle.  The protecting of Bella from the baby vampire hoards about to descend on Forks (her hometown) and the realisation that Bella has that she actually does love Jacob, are the centre of this edition.  Edward is selfless in his love for her, and Jacob is such a tryer, he tries to get Bella to dump Edward and choose him, she can't, she is hooked totally sold out for Edward.  But she is at the end of the day a teenage girl and this causes some interesting trysts between the trio.  The action of the vampires attacking is good too.  Worth a read if you just want to float around in a dream land for a few days.  I have packed my books away so don't have a picture to go with my other reads yet so hope this will do instead.

Happy Monday everyone.

2 More Books read.

Another book review for you.  But first let me say that when I choose a book to read I am led by my feelings.  I read the synopsis on the back of the cover and if it appeals to me then that's how I choose.  I am also easily led by my peers.  If someone I know and feel like I have similarities to reads and tells about a book, or suggests it to me, well I have no choice, really I have to read it.  So I am by now means a serious book critic.  I know what I enjoy and what I don't so that's what I will share with you.  My latest two books couldn't be more different.  The first I finished was Judith McNeil's memoir The Girl with the Cardboard Port.  I had no idea when I started reading this that it was a true story and only in the last pages did I find this out.  I was shocked.  How a young girl, and she was young at the outset of this book survived all that she did is amazing.  To endure the loss of her father and then to live through the chain of events that follow is inspiring.  The need to survive, to protect her children, the lengths she goes to, to do this, show the admirable strength she has.  The rejection and hatred suffered at the hands of her husband, his family and their community is shocking.  The friendship and help offered in the midst of this welcome.  The love reignited in the most unexpected place and the ever lasting over powering need and desire to return home to Australia, show again her strength.  The loss suffered at the end of the story overwhelming.  This is so worth a read and I am sure it will shock and amaze you.

Now I Am The Messenger, titled The Messenger in Australia was recommended to me by Monique and I had to search to find it.  It was not readily available in stores here, but thank goodness for online book stores.  Include the added bonus of a package in the mail and this wonderful book was fantastic from the beginning to the last page.  It is a teen novel, but hardly one at all.  The story is funny, sad, a mystery, intriguing, uplifting, inspiring and the underlying message is just wonderful.  Set in Australia, but not so much that it is glaringly obvious, this was just so much fun to read.  The characters all brought to my mind friends from long ago, hopes and losses, frustrations and wins.  It is so well written that each person has a face in my mind and I find myself hoping that everything is still going well for them.  Really worth the effort of finding this and making a coffee and not getting up till your done.

Two Down so many more to go

2010 is my year to read more, lots lots more.  I am off and running having read these two novels since January and I am reading several photography, blogging and digital camera magazines and texts as well so while to some 2 in two months might seem slow, I am trying. 

The first I read was the Senator's Wife by Sue Miller.

I haven't read any other titles written by Sue but the notes in the book say she is the best selling author of many works including the story collection "Inventing the Abotts".  I only know that as a movie so if I am being totally ignorant then please forgive me.  The story line is a tale of love and betrayal.  A story of forgiveness and loss.  The new neighbour Meri building a friendship with the Senator's wife.  A relationship that becomes important to her, a motherlike connection.  I could relate to Meri after her pregnancy, the feeling of being slightly overwhelmed.  Though I immediately connected with my children, which she did not, that sense of oh my goodness where to from here was the same.  Her need to be desired by her husband, her need to feel beautiful and worthwhile are beatuifully written.  The choices Meri makes astounded me I wanted to shake her, hug her and sit beside her and sneak a peek at those letters also.  But bad choices, forgetting about the other people in our lives just to satisfy our own needs, well lets say she blew it, if only momentarily, big time.  I enjoyed The Senator's Wife, not an instant favourite but a good read.

Now Anita Shreve, I have heard of, not read, but I have seen the many, many titles she has in the book stores and if they are all like "A Change in Altitude" I will be reading many more.  My daughter has been a fan for some time.  Firstly let me say I am a fan of all things African and as this book is set in Kenya that was an instant win for me.  The sense of total white domination in some of the characters made me bristle.  I like a book that can do that to me.  I liked the characters, irritating, humourous, intriguing, snooty, loud, humble, kind, you can see there is much going on here.   I loved the tale of the mountain climb, I was breathless at the scene of the accident and livid at the treatment of a poor servant girl.  I was in love with the reporter as along with Margaret and I longed for them to sneak off together.  This writing style had me from page one.  A great story with many layers. Worth a read for sure.

Time to read

This is the beginning of my reading list for 2010.  I have put off reading much over the last couple of years.  And now my hunger is verocious.  I just finished The Road.  Totally different to anything I have ever read before.  And the feeling it left me with, well I was stunned.  Perserverence, love, hope, faith, strength all these are woven through this tale of absolute desolation.  I believe it will be made into a movie and shown this year, not sure how that will translate, I think the book will be much better.

We did a bit of room rearranging on the 1st Jan and now this is the view from my office window.  The reserve across the street is lovely, hares, kangaroos, possums, butterflies it's a delight.  Danielle's car I was going to move it for the shot, but I miss her while she is in Perth so I like to look at it and look forward to her and Ashleigh coming home soon.

A few days ago we took a drive to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland.  We went to the Mt Cootha Botanical gardens, the photos of the plants in my last few postings are taken there.  This is from Mt. Cootha, the skyline of Brisbane City centre and the Brisbane river.  It was rainy, misty and muggy, typical Brisbane humidity.

Coming home to Toowoomba, it rained we so badly need the rain in our dams, the clouds hung low over the range and the drizzle kept on, lovely.