Miscellenae

Been a few weeks hasn’t it? Hrm.

I haven’t been doing anything out of the ordinary that I can think of …

Let’s see. What in-the-ordinary things have I been doing?

Well, reading, obviously, although I’ve only finished a couple of books lately and I’m not feeling the reviewing mojo at the moment.

I read 11-22-63 by Stephen King which, for me, wasn’t up there with his best. It was readable and the premise was interesting but I found it very easy to put down and walk away.

I also read Engines of God by Jack McDevitt – I seem to be entering a sci-fi reading phase which happens once in a while. It’s the first in a series of books featuring pilot Priscilla Hutchinson (Hutch) and I really loved the premise, which was about finding alien artefacts on long-abandoned worlds and what responsibility do human beings have to long-lost alien cultures?

I really enjoyed that one and I have the second one in the series out of the library.

What else.

Patrick is enrolled in school. Which is a huge shock to my system and he’s not even starting officially until May – lol. He’s having school visits twice a week from now until then, though, which I actually think is a really good idea. He’ll get to know his little classmates and it won’t be such a shock to the system.

His first one is meant to be Tuesday but he’s got an ear infection at the moment that seems to be coming and going so we’re keeping him home tomorrow and Tuesday and taking him to the doctors as early as we can get him in. I’m probably being over-protective but that’s how it is. I’m the mum, therefore what I say goes. :P

I saw Midnight in Paris at the movies on Thursday and oh my gosh what a lovely movie! Even before it had finished I knew it had to be mine because as soon as it was over I wanted to start watching it again – lol. By virtue of Invercargill being a large cultural wasteland, it’s already out on DVD and therefore it is MINE ALL MINE.

I’m working – slowly but surely – on my room; turning it into a kind of escape from the boys/cats where I can just come and kick back and read. It’s getting there, but I have a couple of corners that still need to be cleared out. I cleaned off my dressing table and I now have only seven things on there so my brain is going “hmmmm … minimalism” (that’s very minimalistic for me. I have crap everywhere).

I’m musing on whether I can pare everything down and just have three bookcases – two for books and one for DVDs/cross-stitch stuff/sundries. I’d really really like that but it means getting rid of a fuck-ton of books.

My cross-stitch rotation is going well although I haven’t done much lately – mostly lately at night I’ve been mooching on twitter and watching crap TV. They both have their place but you can overdo it and I do believe I have.  I have Stuff To Do.

I started Clash of Kings and I’m loving it – just waiting for the body count to start tallying up. It can’t be long now – I’m already about 100 pages in. I’m still picking away at Bleak House on my eReader and it’s still fascinating, even though I truly have no idea what’s happening. I’m also about to start Taken by Robert Crais – it’s a review book for work so that’ll become my lunchtime read. 

I do believe that’s all I have. How’s it hanging, blog-world? :D

So I bought an eReader ...

This one, to be precise. It’s a Sony. And … that’s all I know about it really.

It’s awesome but it took forever to set up. It had two free ebooks on it – Around the World in 80 Days and The Jungle Book. I bought Bleak House and I’m a few chapters in – mostly reading in the car and waiting at the bus stop after work.

I bought Bleak House on a rather obscure impulse – I had always thought I didn’t like Dickens after not liking Great Expectations at uni, or The Old Curiosity Shoppe when I tried to read that a few years ago.

Bleak House, however, is fascinating and I’m riveted. I have no idea what’s going on, but I don’t even care.

I’ve promised myself to at least try and finish one ebook before buying the next one, and Bleak House is big enough that it’s going to be a while.

Plus, I’m saving my hard-earned for Sherlock – season two and both soundtracks, all of which will be available on amazon UK on Feb 27 (er, Tuesday my time). I’m just waiting for the season 2 soundtrack so I can get them all together.

Yes, I do have “I believe in Sherlock Holmes” and “I’m fighting John Watson’s war” t-shirts, why do you ask? :D

Speaking of reading, I’m ¾ of the way through 11.22.63 by Stephen King. I’m hoping to get it finished fairly early this week so I can dive in to my pile of library books.

It’s good; I’m liking it but I wish it had been edited a little more tightly. It’s a bit on the rambly side (yes, I know, it’s Stephen King but there’s rambly and then there’s WILL YOU GET ON WITH IT).

I’m still picking away (slowly) at my cross stitch rotation – at the moment I’m working on Patrick’s train and next up in the round is Circe. I’ve had a couple of weeks from the  Planet Pants but I’m hoping this one will be better.

I have tomorrow off, and I’m going to a friend’s place to watch the Oscars. We shall eat, stitch and pick at people’s outfits.

I’m looking forward to it. :-)

My fails ...

*Sigh*

At the moment there’s just one fail, but I feel awful about it. I’ve basically bailed on the 1Q84 readalong with Care.

I tried. I mean, I only got to page 150 in the book but I kind of felt like I was reading in Groundhog Day every time I picked it up and now I’ve quietly shelved it. I feel  pretty awful about it, I hate bailing on readalongs because they’re fun and involving and engaging and Care is awesome.

Urgh.

Anyway, now I’m reading 11-22-63 by Stephen King and – not surprisingly I guess – that’s going much better.

I’m trying to think what else I’ve been doing lately that’s not failing to read … hrm. Work, obviously. Last week was The Week from Pants but that’s all we’ll say about that.

Oh! I’m thinking of getting an eReader. I’ve been wittering on it for ages but I was thinking today that it might be …. Nice. I mean, in the same way having an iPod is nice, if that makes sense. Something I can cart around with me and read on the bus and in the car and things.

So I’m considering getting a Sony. What I really want is a red one but I don’t seem to be able to get one here.

I also went on a school visit last Friday – to my old primary school, actually; for Patrick. He’ll be five in May and no matter how deeply in denial I am and how much I procrastinate, he’s still going to start school this year.

I had one other visit a couple of weeks ago but I like the feel of this one much better, and not just because it’s where I went to school when the dinosaurs roamed. It’s small – the roll is about 90 kids – and it’s relatively close to my work; about a 10 minute walk, which is also a selling-point. Plus I liked the feel of the place. So once I have the enrolment details sorted out, Patrick will start having school visits.

Please excuse me while I go and breathe into a paper  bag in the corner – lol.

What else, what else while I’m word-vomiting … oh!

Hairy Maclary! The stitching project. I gave up on it because I really hated the fabric and the way the pattern was laid out. My friend was so horrified that she’s finishing it for me – and getting through it a lot faster than I’d be able to.

So now I’m stitching Patrick this steam train (to your left) 

I’m a little further on than that, but haven’t taken a pic for a while. Plus I’m using Anchor rather than DMC  and so I don’t have all the cottons I need for it yet.

I’m also working on a picture for a present for a friend, so my rotation has temporarily expanded to five projects rather  than three, but it doesn’t feel like it’s out of hand or too much.

Uhm … also ALL OF THE PROGRAMMES on TV came back at once. I have A LOT of watching to do - lol

Short reviews

I’ve finished three books in relatively quick(ish) succession – for me, at least so I’ve decided to do a bit of a review-dump and kind of lump them all together.

Partly also I’m not entirely sure how  I feel about The Magicians by Lev Grossman and don’t really know what to say about it, so I sort of waited till I’d read a couple more books so I could go “hey, short reviews” and coward out that way – lol.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

This is magic, but not as we know it. Quentin accidentally stumbles across a magic school in the middle of Manhattan, and finds out he has a real gift for it.

Seventeen and already somewhat disaffected, Quentin falls easily into the world of Brakebills.

I have many and varied feelings about The Magicians. I’m just not sure what they are. The obvious comparison, of course, is Harry Potter,  but there’s little resemblance between the world J K Rowling created and Quentin’s world at Brakebills and beyond, where he finds just how difficult it really is living in the real world while keeping most of your life secret.

There’s a quest, of sorts, that goes rather badly, after Quentin discovers that Fillory – the world of a favourite series of children’s books – is real.

Then things really go to hell in a handbasket.

The Magicians is, I don’t even know. It’s certainly not sunny and optimistic. It’s rather grim for the most part and honestly Quentin is kind of unpleasant and self-absorbed but I couldn’t stop reading.

So. I liked reading it. I just kind of felt like I’d set my fingernails on fire.

From one cheerful little read to another …

Burial by Neil Cross

Oh, Neil Cross. You made Luther and therefore I love you because Luther is awesome. And then you write these awesomely chilling novels that are designed to do nothing so much as make the reader go what the – and then check and make sure ALL THE DOORS ARE LOCKED.

A young girl dies at a party. The two men who were present at the time, agree to hide the body and cover up the crime. And swear NEVER TO SPEAK OF IT AGAIN.

Which, you know, never goes well.

When Bob, one of the men turns up on the doorstep of the other, Nathan, things start to spiral downhill rather fast.

Burial is just the right amount of creepy – enough to keep you reading and to double-check your doorlocks. Maybe sleep with a teddy bear but that’s between you and Mr Snuggles, I don’t judge.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

To me, you are perfect. And I will love you forever, Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth.

(Okay, that’s not really a review, it’s a paraphrased quote from Love Actually. LOOK, KITTENS!)

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It’s Monday! What are you reading? Your meme is hosted here: http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/

I’m still reading  1Q84 for the readalong, and I’ve made it all the way to page 114. It’s … slow going. I’m hoping to get into it a bit more tomorrow  - it’s Patrick’s first day back at kindy and my last day on holiday so I”ll have the morning to get some reading done.

I also started Waiting by Ha Jin, which is my January diversity read. Well, better late than never, yes?

Next up … hrm. Good question. Not sure yet. J

Billie's Kiss review

The Tempest is my absolute all-time favourite Shakespeare play. I love the setting, and the concept of it and basically everything it chooses to be.

I’ve owned Billie’s Kiss by Elizabeth Knox for a few years (won it on the Trade Me book quiz actually – lol) and decided this year I’d give it a smack, finally. Also I’m trying to read more of my own books but that’s another story ….

Anyway. It’s Spring, 1903. Billie Paxton is travelling to a remote island with her sister and brother-in-law where he’s set to take up a position as curator for the local lord.

However, things don’t exactly go to plan when the ship explodes. Billie survives because she jumps ship before the explosion, although she can’t say later why she jumped, and Henry her brother-in-law survives but Billie’s sister and Henry’s wife Edith drowns.

So begins Billie’s new life on the island of Kissack and Skilling under a very black cloud.

She negotiates her new life under the suspicious gaze of Murdo Hesketh, a fellow passenger on the ship.

I keep going back and forth. I loved The Vintner’s Luck, which remains one of my favourite books, and I liked Billie’s Kiss – a lot – but I think love is too strong a word. I kept waiting for … something, and I still couldn’t tell you what I was waiting for.

There are a lot of scenes in which nothing exactly happens, although the subtext is rife, and then there are several action-driven sequences which kind of go … I’m not even sure.

I will say, though, that I loved Billie as a character. She’s complex, independent and fearless and the absolute opposite of a shrinking violet.

My feelings for Murdo Hesketh were more complicated – mostly by the fact that he suspected Billie of sabotage for longer than he should have in face of the evidence presented.

If I were opening a box of Roses chocolates, let’s say this  is the one with strawberry filling. Never a favourite, but still tasty in its own way.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It’s Monday – what are YOU reading? Your meme is hosted here: http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/

At the moment I’m mostly reading 1Q84 still for the readalong with Care and Kailana. I’ve stalled a bit on page 53, which is no fault of the book itself but rather of the fact I over-exerted myself on Friday and my poor battered body is still paying for it – lol.

So my concentration is a little bit shot as well. However, I’m planning on getting back into 1Q84 in as big a way as I can this week.

In the meantime, for a little light relief, I’m re-reading Half-blood Prince. I’ve been re-reading Harry Potter over the past year or so and I’ve been working my way up to this one for a few months because of how sad it made me last time. Once I’ve read it I’ll watch the movie, then do the same for Deathly Hallows.

So. What are you reading this week?