A Year in Books 2015 - March-April

Er, yes, you are absolutely right, I am several weeks in posting this .... but never mind :)

Let's just get on with the reviews shall we. In March my 3 planned reads were:

12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris, and Run or Die by Killian Jornet.

I started off with Kilian Jornet's Run or Die. I must admit I was a bit disappointed with this. I really enjoy reading tales of men and women who undertake extreme challenges - a great example of this being Cheryl Strayed, whose book "Wild" I read last month (http://emeraldcottage.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/a-year-in-books-2015-february-march.html) and really enjoyed. Sadly Run or Die wasn't as inspiring. Yes, Kilian has run a lot of extreme distance races, and for that I applaud him, but a writer he is not. The book was only mildly interesting, more like a series of race reviews, which were all a bit samey, and with occasional brief interludes about his childhood and how he became an extreme runner. The book meandered around, and so I think, for me, it just lacked direction. Sorry Kilian. Fair play to you for all the running though :)

Next up was "Definitely Dead", the 6th book in the Sookie Stakhouse series by Charlaine Harris. You'll know from my previous reviews that the Sookie Stackhouse books are kind of silly, fun, supernatural vampire frivolity. I've enjoyed all the books immensely, however with Definitely Dead I do have a mini grumble. In this book the author refers back to events which happened, chronologically, between the previous book, Dead as a Doornail, and this one. Events which were not included in either book. I spent ages flicking back, wondering if I'd missed a chapter, then I thought I had missed an entire book, and finally I turned to Mr Google who told me that the intervening events had been included in a short story that wasn't considered part of the series. What ???? Eh ????? To be fair it's possible that the short story was by a different publisher or something, and so couldn't be referenced in the main books, but, whatever the reason, it was bloomin' annoying. Luckily I found the short story "One Word Answer", again by asking Mr Google, and I was able to read it online, thereby filling in the gaps. Otherwise, Definitely Dead was as much silly, vampire, nonsene, fun as usual. I thoroughly enjoyed it :) Just don't say I didn't warn you about the extra story.

Finally, I read "12 Years a Slave" by Solomon Northup. I knew that a film had been made of this and I really wanted to read the book first. What I didn't realise was that the book was written in the mid 1800's and is the true memoirs of Solomon Northup's own experience. Knowing that now, I feel, well, stupid, to be honest. I had thought that the book was a work of fiction only based upon fact, and when I started reading it I really didn't like the olde-worlde language in which it's written. How completely ignorant do I feel now, realising that the language is reminiscent of a time gone by because it was written in a time gone by. Anyway, so now that I've got that sort of confession out of the way, I can talk about the book. What is there to say..... It's amazing in a terrible, awful way. Solomon Northup was born a free man, in New York state, but was essentially kidnapped as a young man, and sold into slavery. The desperate events that happened to Northup, and of course many many many others like him, are just unbelivevably cruel, harsh, unfair, merciless. There aren't words to describe the atrocities that slaves endured. I'm ashamed to say I've never taken the time to think about the real lives of slaves and how appallingly they were treated. I know that makes me sound like a modern day spoilt brat, I don't think I am, well not any more than the average person, but this book was a real eye-opener. Of course I've always thought, known, that slavery is just plain wrong, but I had no idea how bad things really were. Once I got used to the language and style of writing, I couldn't put this book down. I was so desperate for Platt (as Solomon was renamed) to escape from slavery and be re-united with his family. Having read the book I'm not sure that I want to see the film. It won't be a light-hearted movie, that's for sure. 12 Years a Slave is one of those books that I think everyone should read. It's very humbling and I'm thankful every day that I have the freedom that Solomon lacked for such a large part of his life, for no other reason than having different coloured skin.

In April (what's left of it!) I'm planning to read (and have indeed made an excellent start upon) The Ice Balloon by Alec Wilkinson. This is the story of S.A.Andree, the swedish explorer who, in the late 1800's, attempted to be the first man to fly a hot-air balloon over the North Pole. Slightly bonkers, right ?! Then of course there will be the 7th Sookie Stackhouse book, "All Together Dead", another supernatural romp I'm sure :) And finally my kindle choice for April is Lucy Diamond's "Sweet Temptation"; the front cover describes it as "a story of love, friendship, calories and cake", I'm hoping for a light-hearted easy read.

That's it for now, see you soon for April's reviews, erm, next week I suppose :)

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This week

This week I've been mostly ....

.... loving that my Mother's Day flowers still look gorgeous

.... snuggling under blankets with various under-the-weather Little People

.... enjoying daffodils in my new-to-me 50p bargain charity shop vase

.... crocheting things with my Gillymakes win of Sugar n Cream cotton yarn

.... admiring the pieces I made on my fused glass workshop

.... flicking through my new-to-me craft books - another charity shop find, all 4 for £12 :)

.... loving the latest McDonalds Shawn the Sheep Happy Meal toys (yes I know its unhealthy)

.... ironing Hama bead creations

.... packaging up (finally) my blog giveaway prizes

.... playing with colours for a new blanket :)

What have you been doing this week ?

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ps rubbish photos, sorry - all taken on my iPad, just couldn't be bothered faffing about with memory cards etc!

A Year in Books 2015 - February-March

February was a bumper month for reading. We spent a few days away, so in addition to the 3 books I'd planned to read, I squeezed in another couple. Five books in one month?! Better keep the reviews brief then.

I started February with Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This seemed to elicit various responses when I mentioned at the end of January that I'd be reading it, so I wasn't sure how I'd find it. It's a funny one. Funny peculiar, not funny ha-ha. I struggled a little to get into it, but I found myself wanting to keep reading, so there must have been something there. None of the characters were particularly likeable, there were no heroes to root for, or victims to empathise with particularly, and I do find that hard in a book. But I really, really wanted to find out what happened, and actually I raced through the second half, I thought it really picked up in pace, and was a great story. If you like the whodunnit genre, then give Gone Girl a go. Interestingly, the night I finished it hubby and I watched the film. The film was a very condensed version of the book, as is usually the case (except for The Hobbit - how did they stretch that to 3 films ......?) however it captured the essence of the story quite well, and both main characters were well portrayed. Read the book first though!

The Gap Year for GrownUps by Annie Sanders was my charity-shop-book choice for February. I don't usually read all of the blurb on the back of books in case it gives too much away, so to be honest, I felt a bit let down by this story. Sarah is having a bit of a mid-life crisis - she is bored with her (very, I have to say, irritating) husband, she sort of temporarily leaves him and, more selfishly, their two children, who I must admit are at Uni, and runs off to stay with her old college friend in France. Now, to me, that is not a gap year. That is a nice long holiday. My idea of a gap year is backpacking round Thailand or trekking in Chile. How Sarah gets on in France is very light reading, but the relationship between Sarah and her daughter Claire is the far more interesting sub-plot. It's a complicated relationship; Claire is devastated when (in her eyes) her mother abandons her, and the book would have been much meatier if it had focused on this relationship alone. Anyway. I'm always reluctant to give up on a book, so I did finish it, and it was okay. But just okay.

They All Ran After the Farmer's Wife by Veronica Frater was one of my "extras" last month. This is Veronica's account of life as a farmer's wife, told through the farming year, starting in January. Veronica's husband runs a farm - with Veronica's not infrequent help - with the usual sheep, cows and chickens, and to supplement their income, Veronica runs a holiday home and a B&B business. Oh and they have 6 children. Yes, 6. Clearly they are bonkers. Veronica seems to never be stressed or agitated and appears to flit from disaster (flooded kitchen) to disaster (herd of cows escaped) with good grace and tremendous humour. I'm sure in real life it isn't like this, but it makes for a most enjoyable read. The book is a bit like a series of anecdotes, or at best short essays, and once you realise that there isn't a lot of flow, and that that doesn't matter, its brilliant. Great fun and guaranteed to raise a smile.

Another extra in February was Wild, by Cheryl Strayed. This was my favourite of February's books. I really couldn't put it down, and all the reviews I'd read about how great it was were certainly accurate. Wild is a true autobiographical account of Cheryl's journey of discovery, in every sense. Cheryl has had an usual upbringing, and more recently had faced a lot of trouble in her relatively short life - she was 26 at the time of her story. After a chain of mostly unhappy events, and largely on a whim, Cheryl decides to hike, alone, the 1000-odd mile Pacific Crest Trail. It's a trail that runs north along the west coast of the United States, from the Mexican border, to the border with Canada. Naturally, this is no mean feat even to an experienced hiker but Cheryl has undertaken no training, indeed she barely even knows how to fasten her backpack. What starts out as a book following a young woman on a long walk, very quickly becomes a lot more. We really feel Cheryl's despair at what her life had become, and the agonies, both physical and mental, that she struggles with on her journey. Cheryl's story leaves you with feelings of gratitude for a stable home life, admiration for her for setting out on this journey, and also, a strong desire to do something Really Big yourself. Cheryl, I take my hat off to you.

My last book this month was Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris, book 5 in the Sookie Stackhouse series. If you've read my other Year in Books 2015 posts, you'll know I am reading one of these a month. Each book introduces various supes (supernaturals) including vampires and werewolves, and poor old Sookie is always at the heart of a heap of trouble. Dead as a Doornail does not disappoint, with lots of supernatural goings-on, and Sookie, as ever, only narrowly escaping serious injury or death. Silly, and fun :)

Now to my choices for March.

First I'm planning to read Run or Die by Kilian Jornet - "The inspirational memoir of the world's greatest ultra-runner". I'm hoping it gives me a much needed kick up the you-know-what to get me running again. I use the word "running" very loosely. Next I've chosen Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave. This is another one I've had on my kindle for a while, and I'd like to read it before seeing the film. I suspect some bits of it will be hard going, so after that, I'm planning to read Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris' next Sookie Stackhouse book. I had initially intended to read it first in March, straight on the back of Dead as a Doornail, but I think the Run or Die hoped-for inspiration is a bit more urgent :)

Joining in with A Year on Books hosted by Laura at Circle of Pines

A Year In Books 2015 - January-February

In an attempt to read more, and reduce my to-be-read backlog, I'm joining in with Laura at Circle of Pines' The Year In Books (http://www.circleofpinetrees/year-in-books-January-2015). In January I read 3 books - Dead To The World, A Girl Named Disaster and The Great Christmas Knit-off

Charlaine Harris' "Dead to the World" is book 4 of her Sookie Stackhouse Series. Set in modern day small-town southern Bon Temps in Louisiana, Sookie is a "supe" - supernatural - who gets up to various escapades involving vampires and other supes of various shapes and sizes. It's a bit like Nancy Drew meets Twilight. The stories could be considered slightly daft, however it is fantasy, so I guess that's ok. Definitely a bit tongue in cheek, and providing you don't take them too seriously they are an enjoyable read. As with books 1-3, book 4 was a real page-turner. I'm looking forward to book 5 :)

My next book was very different. Nancy Farmer's "A Girl Named Disaster" follows Nhamo, a young girl in Mozambique, who runs away to avoid being married off. Wow, I loved this book, I really couldn't put it down. The first couple of chapters were quite hard work as there are a lot of unfamiliar names and words to get to grips with, but fairly quickly, as the story line evolves, I stopped noticing them. We follow Nhamo as she travels up-river, alone and with extremely limited resources, searching for safety. The author really evokes the sounds, smells, and culture of living in Nhamo's village, and we are also introduced into the villagers' belief system. Once Nhamo has run away we feel her fear, frustration and fight to stay alive, and her struggle between hope and despair. Life in the village was hard and relentless, and being on the run for Nhamo is, in a lot of respects, easier. This is a story about survival, and discovery of hidden strength. It's not especially light subject matter, but it is a very worthwhile read.

My 3rd book was in complete contrast to Nhamo's story. "The Great Christmas Knit-off" by Alexandra Brown is a lighthearted seasonal yarn (do you see what I did there ... :). Girl has various woes in busy noisy London. Girl goes to visit best friend in quaint village. Girl falls in love with hunky village man. Girl turns dream of knitting for a living into reality. Everyone lives happily ever after.  No, I haven't just spoilt the plot, you out could work it out in the first chapter or so.(Actually as I write I have a couple of chapters still to go, so there could be an unexpected zombie apocalypse at the end, but I rather doubt it). The Great Christmas Knit Off is warm and fuzzy, just like cozying up on the sofa with a cuppa, a biccy and your knitting (or in my case, crochet). Very predictable chick-lit, but isn't the predictability of chick-lit the exact reason we love it ? Of course the addition of knitting banter makes the whole thing Even Better. Great, great fun to read, really gentle and uncomplicated, no tear-jerking heartache moments, it's just hearty, wholesome, yarny fun.

For February I've chosen 3 books again.

"Just how well can you ever know the person you love ? This is the question that Nick Dunne must ask himself on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy, suddenly disappears."

I bought Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl" for my kindle over a year ago. I'd like to see the film (it's got Ben Affleck in it. Enough said :), but I think seeing the film first spoils the book more than reading the book first spoils the film. Does that make sense ? 

The purple yarn is about to be hooked up into a scarf and wristies for my friend's birthday next week.

My second choice should be a bit lighter -  "The Gap Year for Grown Ups" by Annie Sanders. This is one of my charity shop purchases, the title appealed to me, as did the cover. "After twenty years of comfortable marriage, and with the kids finally off her hands, Sarah Lewis realizes she has filled the wash machine once too often ...... What Sarah needs is a gap year for grown ups". Sounds quite light-hearted and fun I thought. I could do with a gap-day myself, never mind a year!

The granny squares above are destined for the playroom, I have about 3 to go and then I can join them, it's a bit of silly fun and I can't wait for the big ta-dah!

Finally for February I'm planning toread is "Dead as a Doornail", book 5 in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I'm fully expecting more vampire silliness, but that's ok! I haven't even read the blurb on the back of the book, to be honest, but as I know the characters now, I'll just dive straight in. I'm going to read this book last so I can move straight onto book 6 at the start of March. 

The blue, green and white squares are for a little something for my 100th post Giveaway - only a couple of posts away now - exciting!

Happy reading everyone :)

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A Year In Books - January 2015

It's so tempting to leap aboard every blogging band-wagon with gay abandon, I read so many interesting and varied posts, and think how fun they sound. But posts take time to write, and I do want to try and keep my blog primarily-craft-and-especially-crochet focused. Plus, if I joined in with every linky-up thing I would spend all my time blogging and not doing any actual doing. And that would mean not crocheting. And that would be Not Good.

The theme though that I do constantly find myself thinking about is The Year In Books organised by Laura at Circle of Pine Trees. I've often seen posts linking back to this, usually with eye-catching photos of book covers positioned at jaunty angles. I do some of my reading on my kindle and just assumed that photos of it would just be really duuuuuulllll ....

.... however I was blog-hopping this morning - as you do - and read this post by Shelley at The Little House In The Corner - another lovely crafty crochet homey blog. Shelley provided me with a solution to the boring kindle photo - arrange the kindle artfully on a pile of colourful crochet! Genius! Simple genius, but genius nonetheless. Why had I not thought of this before ? And now there's no stopping me from blogging about books, so here we go .....

As a child I devoured books. I couldn't get enough of them. From Enid Blyton to Lewis Carroll, Anna Sewell to Judy Blume, I'd read anything. I continually had books on loan from the library, and asked for them for birthdays and Christmas. My reading continued through school, whilst at university and during my office-working life (not actually AT work I hasten to add), but nowadays life seems to have got in the way of reading much. I'd like to rectify this, so hopefully joining in with A Year in Books will give me that push that I need to get back on board the reading train.

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I'm being stupidly over ambitious and aiming for 3 books a month. Yes, yes, I know I'm running before I can walk, but let me explain. My three books a month fall into these categories:

1. The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, given to me over a year ago for Christmas by a friend.
2. Charity shop purchases - I keep buying them and not actually reading them.
3. Kindle backlog - again I keep buying them and not actually reading them.

I'd like to read one from every category every month. And inspired by Shelley I thought it might be fun to have, as"props" for the photos, whatever crochet projects I'm currently working on.

So, a bit more detail about the books I've chosen for January. From the Sookie Stackhouse books, I'm just finishing the third, Club Dead, and this month I plan to read book 4, "Dead to the World". They sound a bit grim don't they. They're actually surprisingly cheery, and a very light read. Think chick-lit with a southern vampire twist. The stories are all centred on Sookie Stackhouse (no surprises there) who lives in a version of today where Vampires have "come out" as it were, and live openly in day to day society in normalcy if not harmony with people. Each book is a story in itself, although each does contain minor references to previous books. 

I probably wouldn't have chosen these for myself. I'm not a huge fan of vampire tales, but I had read Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series and my friend knew I'd enjoyed them (the films not so much). As with the Twilight books, I would say that the Sookie Stackhouse series is probably more favoured by the late teenage market, however some of my favourite books would be aimed at that market too, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy being a perfect example, so I think its ok for an - ahem- 40-something - grown adult to enjoy them too :)

Dead to the World is pictured next to some yellow solid grannies, squares for a Top Secret Project for the Little Peeps, unfortunately I've built up its part too much and they're expecting a colossal crochet play arena or something. They're going to be disappointed. Oh well.

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From my charity shop backlog I'm going to give "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer a go. This looks the meatiest of my 3 choices, and it's for that reason that I'm most looking forward to it. According to the blurb (that's what my Little People call the synopsis on the back :)

"Nhamo is an unloved and unwanted orphan who determines to leave her village rather than face a hateful marriage. Alone for the first time in her life, she paddles upriver towards Zimbabwe in her canoe."

Hmmm. Better get the tissues handy. I love books like this. Books that transport you to another place, another climate, another culture. Books that immerse you in a world radically different to that in which you live day to day. Can't wait to get into this one.

A Girl Named Disaster is shown with a backdrop of Autumn Blanket, yes I know it's not been autumn for ages, but who cares ?!.

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Finally I've chosen something a bit lighter from my kindle - "The Great Christmas Knit-Off" by Alexandra Brown, on a recommendation from Clare at Summerhouse by The Sea. (Thanks Clare!). Clare took part in A Year in Books last year, and this was her December read. Despite having 3 billion (ok, 108) books already on my kindle, I bought it last week (when it was technically still Christmas), and yes I know that buying a new kindle book does not reduce the backlog. Must try harder next month.

The Great Christmas Knit-Off will be a bit of light-hearted fun, I hope. And let's face it, with a title like that it has to be entertaining. 

The Great Christmas Knit-Off is shown nestled in a very very variegated scarf which is a very very nearly finished very very late Christmas present, in fact for the friend that bought me the Sookie Stackhouse books. Ooooh nice link back to the top of my post there :) How convenient :)

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Must dash, lots of reading to do :)

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August Break Day 17 : Bookshelf

Hello, and welcome to Day 17 of the August Break. 

Today's theme is "Bookshelf". Well done for sticking with me as I catch up!

In case you hadn't worked it out by now, I'm still on holibobs (or vacation as the locals would say :) My travel bookshelf is my kindle, but I didn't want to witter on about that. Instead, I thought 'd witter on about the new crochet books I've bought whilst here, and share with you some lovely pictures :) New crochet books! Yippee! Very very very nearly as exciting as new yarn (but not quite).

I do love a bookshop. Whilst yarn shops make my heart beat a little faster and my head goes a bit giddy, when I'm in a bookshop I go into a bit of a Zen-mode. Actually, libraries have the same effect. There's something so calming about all those wonderful, delicious books. Almost soon as you cross the threshold, and the door closes with a soft swish behind you, a stillness happens. Problems and worries are left behind with the noise and busy-ness outside. Row after row, shelf after shelf, book after book. Pictures. Images. Sketches. Words. Stories. Descriptions. Lists. Instructions. Who needs the internet ? Everything you ever needed is right here, only you are so calm you don't actually need anything, except to wander up and down the rows, tilting your head to read the titles, occasionally selecting a book to open, and peruse, before gently placing it back in its rightful little slot.

And so I found myself, in my happy place, the nearest bookshop. At this stage I must confess I didn't experience my usual calmness but this is because it was An American Bookshop and so by definition is bigger than your average purveyor of literature (no offence Americans, but you do BIG Very Well). Instead I had the giddiness and really wanted to run around shrieking with hysterical excitement over all those lovely books :) But I was very sensible and headed for the books-on-craft section. How restrained.

This first book In bought is Crochet Garden by Suzann Thompson.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crochet-Garden-Bunches-Flowers-Delights/dp/1600599273

It's beautifully illustrated with vibrant pictures in gorgeous colours.

Patterns for all sorts of flowers can be found inside, like forget-me-nots and roses.

There's even a pattern for a poinsettia. But ssshhhhhhh no one mention the "C" word yet ....

There are also some leaf patterns, like these maples. And I KNOW I have the colours of yarn for these, I bought them yesterday!

And also some little creatures to keep the flowers company.

There are also some really sweet little flowery scenes dotted throughout, I'm very inspired to make some with a mix of crochet and embroidery.

 Aren't they adorable ? Aaaah my creative spark is sparkling right now let me tell you!!

Next up is this little beauty, "How to Show & Sell Your Crafts, by Torie Jayne 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Show-Sell-Your-Crafts/dp/1250044723

I haven't taken many pictures of the interior because, honestly, they are all so gorgeous I'd have to show you every page. What's that you say ? You do really want to see a picture ? Oh, okay then, just the one though ... 

I've justified the purchase because it's, er, for research purposes. For advice on selling my own stuff you see, an investment if you will. Yes, that's it, an investment :) There are sections on branding, online selling, photographing your work, pricing, marketing, and so on, but I'm not sure I can concentrate on the words due to the really beautiful photos. All it's done so far is give me a serious case of craft room envy. Oh alright, one more picture ...

Third on my list of newly-acquired books is this fabulous collection of projects.

Most crochet books try to teach crochet for absolute beginners as well as provide interesting patterns to follow. That's great and all, but more and more I find myself a bit miffed that the first 20 pages of a 90 page book is just a repeat of the first 20 pages of the last book I bought. So I was really happy when I flicked through Crochet One-Skein Wonders. 

The book dives straight into a project on the first page (well, page 9, after the index and other blurb). There then follows 256 pages choc-full of patterns and illustrations. Bags, scarves, socks, coasters, mitts, jewellery, baskets, it's got the lot.

The projects are arranged by yarn weight. I LOVE this approach. It's really very sensible. I rarely find a pattern then choose the yarn for it, instead I almost always go "oooooo loooooook!!!!!!!! New yarn!!!!!! Must buy it !!!!!" and then I have to find something to do with it...... I'm sure you all understand, cos it's not just me is it.  And once you decide which pattern to make with your new yarn, there is also a handy chart to assist you. Well for most patterns anyway. We hookers are a visual crew are we not.

I have already made something out of this book, but I'll keep you in suspense for another day :)

The last "book" isn't actually a book, it's a magazine, but it still contains lots of lovely crochet-goodness. There you go, look, it even says on the cover "27 Sizzling(!) Summer Patterns" !!! Sizzlin' !!!!

Now. Dear readers. Dear American readers. I must confess that when I was browsing the crochet section of the magazine aisle in the bookshop (and quite impressive an aisle it was too), I started to get really rather stressed. There were loads of crochet magazines, but nothing was grabbing me. Surely there must be some mistake ? Not grabbed by a magazine ? Does not compute. I leafed through loads, getting a bit frazzled, trying to find something to give me that "oooooh! I need to buy you NOW!!" Feeling. But nothing. Are American magazines just not as exciting ? Or was I having a bad day? Please dear American readers, feel free to let me know! Maybe I need to try again. Or try a different bookshop. Ooooooh! A visit to another bookshop!

Anyway, I did buy the latest issue "Love of Crochet". And actually it has really really grown on me. Maybe not quite "sizzling" but warming up very nicely.

 I know a Little Miss who would love this Peony Purse (that's a "bag" all you Brits out there).

I particularly like this "Climbing Wisteria" wrap thingy. That's definitely on my (ridiculously long) must-do-sometime list. Now, I wonder if I have any yarn or do I need to go shopping again ...?

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