Category Archives: books

Bits about Books

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I was going to do a full sub-series for April, based on books. I downloaded the prompts and all. Then I decided that no, I had enough on my plate so I’d just answer those I can right now. You might learn a little about me; you might find something to read here too. And if you can answer the questions too, please do so in the comments. I’d love some recommends too.

DAY 1. – A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just end already. Like half the fantasy world, I wish George R Martin would hurry the heck up and finish the series. Who ends up on the Throne? Where can I buy a dragon? Is it practical to have a dragon and work full time (probably not).
DAY 2. – Favourite side character. This is easy. Silk, from David Eddings’ Belgariad & Mallorean series. I loved his humour, sly comments & all the things he got up to. Except when I first started reading the series I was ten, so I didn’t understand HALF the things he got up to until I was in my twenties. Slow, that’s me.
DAY 3. – The longest book you’ve read. It probably isn’t physically the longest, but Hilary Mantell’s Bringing Up the Bodies just seemed to go on and on…but I loved Wolf Hall. Not sure about watching it on TV but probably will, as Si prefers that medium.
DAY 4. – Book turned into a movie and completely desecrated. Oh please. This list would be far too long and you have a life to lead. Next!
DAY 5. – Your “comfort” book. & DAY 6. – Book you’ve read the most number of times. This is easy too – Pride & Prejudice. I would probably read this once a year. I love the flow of the words, the hidden meanings, the way Austen linked everything together & how she created some memorable characters. It’s nearly a perfect book. The BBC adaptation was nearly perfect too.

DAY 11. – Favourite classic book. DAY 20. – Favourite childhood book.Has to be Winnie the Pooh. My favourite early memories are curled up with my Gran reading AA Milne in my bed at her house in the Wellington Hills (Fantail Grove – wow I remember the name of the street!) or on the chaise. Gran’s reading-out-loud style is one I use today; I can hear her voice in the rhythm of “Disobedience”. Louise chose that as her poem for the school years ago too.
DAY 22. – Least favourite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise. Misdirection or assumption – used in far too many romance books. Often leaves the hero/heroine in the TSTL category.
DAY 30. – Book you couldn’t put down. Unbroken. Also listening – Z chose a Michael Morpulgo called Private Peaceful. It’s harrowing and topical (given that we are commemorating WWI this year and looking at the prospect of WWIII) but we couldn’t stop.

DAY 27. – Book that has been on your “to read” list the longest. To Kill A Mockingbird, preferably before the “sequel” comes out!

disobedienceDisobedience

By A. A. Milne 1882–1956

     James James
     Morrison Morrison
     Weatherby George Dupree
     Took great
     Care of his Mother,
     Though he was only three.
     James James
     Said to his Mother,
     “Mother,” he said, said he:
“You must never go down to the end of the town,
     if you don’t go down with me.”
     James James
     Morrison’s Mother
     Put on a golden gown,
     James James
     Morrison’s Mother
     Drove to the end of the town.
     James James
     Morrison’s Mother
     Said to herself, said she:
“I can get right down to the end of the town
     and be back in time for tea.”
     King John
     Put up a notice,
     “LOST or STOLEN or STRAYED!
     JAMES JAMES
     MORRISON’S MOTHER
     SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MISLAID.
     LAST SEEN
     WANDERING VAGUELY:
     QUITE OF HER OWN ACCORD,
SHE TRIED TO GET DOWN TO THE END
     OF THE TOWN—FORTY SHILLINGS
     REWARD!”
     James James
     Morrison Morrison
     (Commonly known as Jim)
     Told his
     Other relations
     Not to go blaming him.
     James James
     Said to his Mother,
     “Mother,” he said, said he:
“You must never go down to the end of the town
     without consulting me.”
     James James
     Morrison’s mother
     Hasn’t been heard of since.
     King John
     Said he was sorry,
     So did the Queen and Prince.
     King John
     (Somebody told me)
     Said to a man he knew:
“If people go down to the end of the town, well,
     what can anyone do?”
 
    (Now then, very softly)
     J. J.
     M. M.
     W. G. Du P.
     Took great
     C/o his M*****
     Though he was only 3.
     J. J.
     Said to his M*****
     “M*****,” he said, said he:
“You-must-never-go-down-to-the-end-of-the-town-
     if-you-don’t-go-down-with ME!”

A. A. Milne, “Disobedience” from The Complete Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh. Copyright © The Trustees of the Pooh Properties reproduced with permission of Curtis Brown Limited, London.

Source: The Complete Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh (Dutton, 1998)

MISSING: One eReader. Reward.

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It’s not really missing. It’s just that my morning routine went to custard, as it was rubbish & recycling day. I got home later than usual last night (league season training has started) & the Screaming Teen hadn’t done his chores. I didn’t notice until nearly six this morning but punishment will be cleaning their bathroom – and he hates that. Consequences!

So I got to work, settled in then realised at breakfast time that I’d left it behind on my bedside table. I have read nearly every word in the printed Herald today and am jonsing to pick up where I left off – re-reading a Nora Roberts standalone, Black Hills. There’s a good review here:  As the reviewer says One thing that you never fail to do is make the setting come alive. The South Dakota Black Hills have never sounded so welcoming, so engaging…

I do wonder tho at the thought process (or lack of) that goes into covers. This is the original (I edited my file to show this cover):

black hills proper

And then there’s this one (I think this is local to Australia & NZ) – Hills? What hills?

black hills no hills

And this one – hills but a distinct lack of clothing budget…

black hills skank

Maybe I’ll get some more planning time in while I wait between appointments. Here’s hoping!

REVIEW Rock Hard by Nalini Singh

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ROCK HARDI was signed up to the ARC review of this title but boo hoo, it didn’t download to my Kindle (yes, I have one of those evil things as well as the Sony). So I did what anyone else would do – sulk for five minutes then downloaded a copy to the Sony. I stash-watch for stitching stuff, not eBooks! Besides, Nalini’s are in my must-buy list anyways….

This is the sequel (altho it runs concurrently) with Rock Kiss, the first title in the Contempory Romance series. I enjoy Nalini’s books as there is also a sense of humour running through them (sometimes you just KNOW that she has been sniggering while writing; Ashwini, you must have one of the coolest jobs) but the bonus here is that it’s set in my hometown, Auckland. Apart from the bistro (I didn’t recognise that one), I’ve been to every one of the locations, including hiding in the upstairs coffee bar where G meets his mum, and I worked on the same street in town for over six years.

I devoured this last night/this morning, alternatively laughing and sighing. I’m easy like that. I liked most of the character evolution, and the side characters were also well filled in & moved the plot along. I liked the glimpses back into Rock Kiss so much so that I’ve opened that up again. Hopefully there’ll be more in this series set in Auckland – after all, Schoolboy Choir did take a month off…

Here’s the blurb from the author’s website:

Wealthy businessman Gabriel Bishop rules the boardroom with the same determination and ruthlessness that made him a rock star on the rugby field. He knows what he wants, and he’ll go after it no-holds-barred.

And what he wants is Charlotte Baird.

Charlotte knows she’s a mouse. Emotionally scarred and painfully shy, she just wants to do her job and remain as invisible as possible. But the new CEO—a brilliant, broad-shouldered T-Rex of a man who growls and storms through the office, leaving carnage in his wake—clearly has other plans. Plans that may be equal parts business and bedroom.

If Charlotte intends to survive this battle of wits and hearts, the mouse will have to learn to wrangle the T-Rex. Game on.

Lastly there’s an entry in Best Chapter Heading Ever.

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2015 Reading Challenge Series

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I should have posted this yesterday, but I have an excuse. I only saw the linkup as exciting this morning – my bad. So far I’m 9 down (but I’ve read a lot, lot more):

 

A book with more than 500 pages

A classic romance

unbroken*A book that became a movie – Laura Hillenbrand Unbroken (5*, he was amazing & the research impeccable, the words painted a picture)

 

 

 

 

A book published this year

A book with a number in the title

*A book by a female author – Karen Kingsbury’s Angels Walking (3 ½*, it wasn’t quite as good as the Frank Peretti/Ashton novels)

*A book with a one word title – Monica Ferris’ Cutwork (3 ½*, part of her needlework mystery series)

the will

*A book set in a different country – Kristen Ashley The Will (4*, but I must admit it’s not hard to find a book not set in New Zealand) I also chose this for the cover, but something else will come along to fit that category.

 

 

 

nora roberts land

*A popular author’s first book – Ava Miles’ Nora Roberts Land (4*)

 

 

 

*A nonfiction book – The Countess of Carnavon’s Lady Almina & the Real Downton Abbey (3 ½*)

A book by an author you love but not read yet

A Pulitzer prize winning book

A book based on a true story

A book at the bottom of your to read pile

A book more than 100 yrs old

A book based entirely on its cover

*A memoir – Cary Elwes’ As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride (4*, as I just HAD to watch the movie again)

A book you can finish in a day

A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit

A book that came out the year you were born

A trilogy

A book with a love triangle

A book with a colour in the title

A book by an author you’ve never read before

A book you own but never read  !!!!!!!

A book that takes place in your hometown

A book that was originally written in another language

A book set at Christmas

A book written by an author with your initials

*A book based on or turned into a tv series – Kathy Reichs’ Deja Dead (3 ½*, they turned this into Bones but I’d made the mistake of liking the TV series far too much to like this Tempe)

*A book you started but never finished – Katie Ashley The Proposal ( it sucked as bad as the fan fic that lead to 50 shades of shite)

Linking up to Rachel for the challenge party.

Grateful, day eleven

Posted in books, grateful, House by

Good books (I’m reading a funny but trash romance series by Kristen Ashley, Rock Chick)

Good weather (we got one wall of the house painted in the same time it took for Australia to bat today, ha ha)

Free paint (that stuff ain’t cheap)

MySky (recorded the cricket and watched in fast forward)

Happy enthusiastic kids (turns out B is great with painting & loved how quick he got the result)

image

I’m very blessed.

You Can Quote Me: Grateful for…book recommends

Posted in books, grateful, You Can Quote ME by

book_smRecently I’ve been struggling with the actions of an extended family member – it’s amazing. You chose someone, they chose you, & everything is expected to go swimmingly. It doesn’t. Not even in fairytales.

But I’ve learnt a few things this week, and I now have a post-it front page of my planner. It’s there to remind me:

It’s none of my business to know what X thinks of me. It’s OK to ignore (the bad behaviour). It’s OK to walk away. It’s OK to limit time spent with X. It’s OK to ask X politely to leave my home.

I’m finding this simple but powerful. It reminds me it’s not OK to be rude or mirror what is done to me. To that end, I’ve removed or blocked X from my social media accounts, and interestingly (as he didn’t like what X tagged him in or implied what he was) B has chosen to do the same. I’ve chosen not to name X, as that would be equally wrong. But my little finding this week might be helpful to someone else, so I chose to share.

I came to this finding reading a couple of blogs and discovering a book (I know, what a shock). I’ve only read some excerpts but I’m heading to a Manna today to get the paperback & the study guide.

http://thebestyes.com/ The Best Yes is about coming to a biblical understanding of the commandment to love one another. If you click into the link, you can read chapter one for free & see some other material. I don’t think that the concept about loving one another is necessary only for Christians; having respect & empathy for our fellow man is a concept that rings true in most religions, even Wicca’s “and it harm none” is the same directive as Jesus’ commandment in John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (NIV). Even if you profess to be an atheist, I’m sure you have a respect & empathy for others.

277263_Turner_CPWallpaper

The other book could be just as important. Ali Edwards (one little word) contributed to The Fringe Hours, by Jessica N Turner ( http://www.themomcreative.com/ ) which is about using time you already carve out for FaceTwitGram & using it effectively to renew your soul. Ali blogged about it here http://aliedwards.com/2015/02/the-fringe-hours?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+aliedwards+%28Ali+Edwards+2014%29 The image above is going on my phone to remind me. I also find this quote meaningful:

finding rest

 

Cover Reveal – ROCK HARD (Rock Kiss Series) Book Two

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ROCK HARD

PRE-ORDER AVAILABLE

Releasing: March 10th, 2015

In New York Times Bestselling author Nalini Singh’s newest contemporary romance, passion ignites between a gorgeous, sinfully sexy man who built himself up from nothing and a shy woman who has a terrible secret in her past…

Wealthy businessman Gabriel Bishop rules the boardroom with the same determination and ruthlessness that made him a rock star on the rugby field. He knows what he wants, and he’ll go after it no-holds-barred.

And what he wants is Charlotte Baird.

Charlotte knows she’s a mouse. Emotionally scarred and painfully shy, she just wants to do her job and remain as invisible as possible. But the new CEO—a brilliant, broad-shouldered T-Rex of a man who growls and storms through the office, leaving carnage in his wake—clearly has other plans. Plans that may be equal parts business and bedroom.

If Charlotte intends to survive this battle of wits and hearts, the mouse will have to learn to wrangle the T-Rex. Game on.

Series Reading Order

Rock Addiction (Book One)

Rock Courtship (Book 1.5)

Meet the Author

 

nalini

NEW YORK TIMES AND USA Today bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series Nalini Singh usually writes about hot shapeshifters and dangerous angels. This time around, she decided to write about hot and wickedly tempting rock stars – and one sinfully sexy rugby god turned brilliant CEO. If you’re seeing a theme here, you’re not wrong.

Nalini lives and works in beautiful New Zealand, and is passionate about writing. If you’d like to explore her other books, you can find lots of excerpts on her website. Slave to Sensation is the first book in the Psy-Changeling series, whileAngels’ Blood is the first book in the Guild Hunter series. Also, don’t forget to swing by the site to check out the special behind-the-scenes page for the Rock Kiss series, complete with photos of many of the locations used in the books.

STALK HER:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

Share Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/MDk5NjRmMDM5ZDM4YTBjYWM0YzAyYzM0NGI2ODRhOjU5Mw==/?

 

Just a little extra, that you won’t see anywhere else: Nalini has one of my stitched pieces on her study wall. How cool is that?!

I have the hangover

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& I’m not just talking the movies or the one you earn by drinking. This is the post-migraine, kids being merciless, lack of true sleep, stressors still present hangover. This is what I wanted to avoid with my OLW.

But I won’t go into too much, as the main stress is a relation; let’s look forward to the new week.

  • The kids go back to school – all 3 of them!!!
  • It’s only four days of work this week – Friday is Waitangi Day, which is our supposed Foundation day (but I won’t go into that too much either).
  • I found Alison Weir’s Elizabeth of York on CD, so have lots of interesting listening to help me thru the mundane stuff at work (and it drowns out Hamish’s radio, which is tuned to the Rock).
  • I spent some time with my gf Emma’s cats this weekend, as she is away. Kitty cuddles can be lovely.
  • I had a good walk this morning with Z. I think we are listening to a Michael Morpolgo novel to/fro from work this week; review from Z later on (first kid post on the blog; be afraid as he uses longer words than I do!).
  • The Joan Elliot Spirit of the Orient SAL starts Tuesday, NZ time.
  • The February prompt for One Little Word should be up later today. Homework!
  • I won a download of the new Edge Kingsland CD, Seven Days. It’s an interesting piece of work, as each track is based upon the 7 Days of Creation. I love Day 5, Crash & Collide. Thanks, Dan @ LifeFM.Edge Kingsland Seven Days

The album is a whopping ten bucks – great value for money. Lydia Cole’s is the shortest at 3:22 and that’s still a minute longer than most radio plays.

Fiat lux. Let there be light.

With one phrase, the existence of our sphere began.
The creation poem of Genesis illustrates the magnum opus of God’s artistry.
From the void our world is crafted, in explosions of colour and seismic shifts.
The blank canvas of the universe is traced with stars and a vast roadmap of planets.

But creation is not just a moment in time. It is an endless cycle.
The artist joins the arc of creation when he stares down a blank canvas.
The musician tackles the void with every note and verse.
Seven Days is our attempt to join the creation story. It’s a journey that sees songwriters collaborating with writers and visual artists, creating their interpretations of each of the days of creation.

www.lettherebelight.co.nz

You Can Quote Me

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More that relates to my OLW, serenity

OLW power

this is a reminder to me that I can walk away. I can chose to un-follow, to un-friend, to correct my behaviour & responses.

I have just finished Unbroken (love it still) and am moving one to Gretchen Rubin’s books, starting with Happier at Home. Not sure what fiction I will read, as M starts back at school next week so it will be a lot of picture flats. Lots of non-fiction recommends running around (feel free to link to my Goodreads and make some suggestions) but I am in a bit of a book coma from these last two being so, so good.

Travel Recap + WIP Wednesday

Posted in books, family, Mirabilia, stitching patterns, travel by

Just for Chiara! Here’s a small sampling of our photos from the long weekend.

This is a boutique hotel in Cambridge. I’m thinking it could be the perfect spot for a stitching retreat – altho it would be a pricy one!

20150109_070504

This is B – if you’re on my FB, sorry, as you would have seen this already. From our stop in Taupo. Plus the sundial that is in the Rose Garden next to the play park, on State Highway one as you drive through town.

20150109_090546  20150109_093241

Junk shops – we probably stopped at about 50% of those we saw, so Z can look for vintage Commando comics. One of my bosses collects old gramophones – this was in an ugly shop in Havelock North.

20150109_125101

Also in Havelock – Duart House. As soon as I saw it I recognized the resemblance to the family home in Scotland. http://duarthouse.org.nz/ sadly it was shut when we discovered it, so it’s on the diary for the next time we visit Hawkes Bay.

20150109_132104

Day two was in Wellington. We went to Te Papa, the museum where Z started his Lord of the Rings/Hobbit costume search. This is the Elven Lieutenant – love the detail.

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M as a pilot! He’s got his “oh grow up Dad!” face on.

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B designed a plan in the AirNZ exhibit.

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We had drinks then walked around with one of my brothers. We don’t spend much time together and I’m so sorry R – B & M combined can make anyone’s ears bleed! R helped Z find more costumes. Here’s Gloin – one of the dwarves. His costume was sumptuous yet sturdy. Those boots! Huge.

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Day 3 was more Wellington then the drive to New Plymouth. This is one of the houses along the Wellington ocean coast. I have a thing for lighthouses!

20150111_100141

Hawera – the water tower. Again, closed – but had we been 30 minutes earlier we could have climbed to the top. Apparently only takes 10 minutes! Yeah, right. Chiara, I’m sitting on the ground about 300m away from the base to take this. Any further away and I would have been on the road! The oaks surrounding it are planted to commemorate Armistice Day in 1918 by the local dignitaries and a VC winner.

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And the War Memorial in Hawera.

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We didn’t take many photos from New Plymouth to home. Unfortunately we’d done too much in too few hours and everyone was grumpy and ready for their own beds. It was fantastic to get home.

I did get quite a bit of Stargazer done, given that most of this was in the car on the long straights (don’t try to stich thru the Manawatu Gorge. It’s too windy and too beautiful to miss). All that dark yellow was the trip & I’ve pretty much made up my mind to rip the face/hands and re-do it with 2 over 1 tent, to give more detail. One more week of work then I’ll rotate to a small plus some finishing.

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Reading – Monica Ferris’ Needlecraft Mysteries. Gentle (Betsy’s no Miss Marple) & I like the stitching references. I also like the way the author is experimenting with the genre. Luckily there’s a few books so far in the series! Next will be a re-read of Unbroken before I see the movie (it’s been a few years since I read an advanced copy).