The Graveyard Book

I have spent a most enjoyable Saturday afternoon in the company of Bod - better known as Nobody Owens of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman I began reading on Friday evening and a little more each day since - everytime I put it down to see to something else I felt cheated. I could easily have devoured this in one sitting if I'd had the available time.

Bod is brought up by the residents of a graveyard after being the sole survivor of a murderers' rampage on his family. He needs to stay inside the graveyard as the danger still lurks outside from the murderer, the man Jack, so we travel with him on various adventures within and without the graveyard railings.

A fabulously imaginative novel that I would like to see come alive in film - rare for me as I rarely enjoy the films once I've read the book. This is certainly an escapist read, I would have like to have read this as a youngster, it's most certain to inspire any child to read more. I shall now be looking to read more Gaiman - American Gods being my next in line from this imaginative writer.

Baking Therapy

Firstly apologies for my absence here, it's been all work and no blogging this week. I've been happy in my creating though and sales are good at the moment which always boosts my creativity. I've managed to squeeze in some baking this week - below is my version of chocolate brownie, first attempt. It came out surprisingly well, little crispy on the outside with a gorgeously gooey centre and was devoured by my girls with whipped cream - so thumbs up to that one. Then I made a batch of bread rolls - I love to bake bread, it's so therapeutic. These too went down well. It's always worth it when the goods get eaten the same day.



Books have been arriving in the post! I've managed to have 10 mins of buying time on eBay and have bagged myself about 5 for my TBR pile. Current read is the magnificent The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - a totally entertaining read and am hoping to find time to finish it this weekend, so far SUPERB. Others in the pile include Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and An Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett - looking forward to some serious reading time this weekend. Who knows, it may even be in the garden if we are lucky enough to glimpse the sun down in Kent!

I don't know if I should even dare to publish a post today as my spelling on Twitter has been terrible today - so here goes, I have checked and double checked :-)

Reading Tastes that Change Daily

It's been a short while - I've been busy working mainly - creating at my desk while the sun has shone and tried to lure me away. Well actually it doesn't have to try too hard, I'm usually in the garden by 3 o'clock each day. Although we have had one awful day weather wise - it was almost dark during the daytime, like mid winter. But I'm not one to complain, I am a winter weather type of girl - love the jeans and jumpers, the coming home to a cosy house after a brisk walk in the

cold wind, and lovely evenings snuggled up under blankets with a hot water bottle - yes that's very me. I had a slight blip in my work life lately - trusting someone a little too much, my own fault, I should know better - so I've been trying to catch up really. It's been a whirlwind of creating beads and pendants with some reading and housework in between.

I've got such varying taste in books, which also changes on a daily basis, depending on my mood and what I'm currently doing or interested in. On my coffee table in front of me now is a pile of books - one on self sufficiency, one on thrifty living, a british cookbook and one on car free living - all library books and all seem pretty good. I always find myself reading up on whatever takes my fancy that week - such as this week I've been in the garden planting lettuces and beetroot, so here I am reading 'Sufficient' by Tom Petherick. I find myself drawn to novels about readers or writers, simply because I love to read myself. If I am particularly stressed I will find myself in the self help section in the library - really you could tell what's happening in my life by my book pile!

I've finished a couple of good novels this last couple of weeks - 'The Island' by Victoria Hislop and 'After Dark' by Haruki Murakami. I found 'The Island' an easy read, although the subject matter seemed rather stressful it was dealt with in an almost comforting way by the author. Lovely images of a Greek island, a way of life depicted in her words portraying a strong sense community, a continual thread of leprosy and death throughout was somehow lightened by the warm descriptions of everyday lives of the families. The book didn't become too deep or dwell upon one person too much, there were a variety of interesting characters intertwined within the writing that made this a constant delight to return to - I look forward to reading another by Ms Hislop.

'After Dark' also kept me entertained although I felt duped by a very unfinished finish. The writer leads us into scenes of almost paranormal happenings that aren't explained, tv screens that are switched on when uplugged, reflections remaining in mirrors after the person has walked away. The whole novel takes place over one night with about four main characters. I enjoyed the actual events of the night and the conversation, however, there were no satisfactory conclusions to any of the events - I felt cheated. I'd been drawn all that way for nothing, no reward, no clever answers...............but then maybe I'm missing something more, do let me know if you have the answers please.

Twilighting

I visited my local library yesterday - has to be one of my most favourite places to go. I spent a while searching the shelves and came away with only two novels, although they both look like quality reads.

Firstly I picked up Haruki Murakami's 'After Dark' - having seen a lot written about this author on the Book Club Forum I felt it was a timely find.

I also picked up a hard cover copy of 'The Painted Man' by Peter V Brett. It's a thick novel and it kind of drew me in after reading about it on a site - although which one escapes me.

I searched the DVD section for Twilight - but alas, no joy. I've been wanting to get a hold of a copy since reading the book a few weeks ago. I've heard various reviews of the film, some say yes see it, others saying no, not if you've read the book, it will be a disappointment. So off I marched to HMV and got myself an HMV limited 2 disc edition - has Edward on the front alone.

I also picked up chocolate on the way home and then settled in to watch.

My opinion - good film. It does miss out a huge deal, such as the hunting, Edward doesn't once roar in the film as he does in the book and I feel it could really be improved upon etc but I don't think this lessens the enjoyment. Glad I watched it - ahem, twice last night actually. Got the special edition second disc to watch later now ;-)

New Moon - Stephenie Meyer

I devoured Twilight as a teenage girl might have done - I found the concepts fascinating, although the first couple of chapters seemed a little long winded. I came away from the book energised, eager to read the next installment.

New Moon is number two in the Twilight saga - unfortunately it may be the last I read. I found the first 3/4 of the novel to be nothing more than a template of Twilight - and felt that Ms Meyer had simply filled in the blanks with new names. There are far too many similarities in the two - a young girl always getting into trouble to gain the attention of the opposite sex, not only the opposite sex, but ones with extras - vampires or werewolves. Not just any young girl, a rather pathetic one at that, who needs constant protection from herself and other hazards, I'm left wondering if this is what Ms Meyer herself was like as a teen? A rogue vampire chasing her down, putting herself and her father Charlie in danger feature in both novels. Where is the originality? Has the author felt the need to stick with a safe plot - one that sold previously therefore lets go with it again?

Jacob became an interesting character, however, he featured far too much, taking up the first 400 or so pages. My reading revved up once Alice returned with the Cullens.

The one piece of writing that I will applaud, that had a great effect on me was the scene in which Bella is left in the forest once Edward leaves - very moving. But I was left cold from there on, almost quitting on the whole book as it became so depressing after that scene. I carried on with encouragement from others who had read it. I will give the other books in the series a wide berth for some time, although I am assured that they are better and that New Moon is the least entertaining read. 2.5/5

Book Buys

I had a lovely wander into town today with no specific purpose in mind. I found myself checking out the bookshelves in a few charity shops, of which we are not short of in this area and came home with the four pictured above. Yes, it is true that there are approximately 400 books in boxes under my bed - all paperback fiction, others in cupboards downstairs, on shelves, however, I see no reason to stop adding to my TBR pile, book shopping has become a love of mine, it's innocent surely? Once home I added these to my Library Thing library - another love of mine, cataloging my books, anything that allows me to have piles of novels next to me, to handle them, check them out, read the blurb, admire the covers, decide which should be next to read........

I can't quite remember when my love for books began. 1984 by George Orwell was certainly a turning point for me at school, I had read very little until we were reading this in English - it totally captured my imagination - it wasn't until recently that I decided to acquire a copy for myself. I had a friend who devoured The Famous Five, I admired her for it, but still that didn't kick off my habit. I feel it has crept up on me in the last 10 years, gathering speed with each passing year. It was only last year that I began to use LT quite regularly and now I'm an addict.

My current read of New Moon by Stephenie Meyer has become a little hard going for me once again. I originally had trouble getting into it, thinking I had perhaps leapt in too soon after

Twilight. I left it after 100 or so pages, read another two novels and returned to it yesterday. I managed about 150 - 200 more pages whilst sitting in the sunshine yesterday. Of course I am no teenage girl, however, the werewolves theme seems a little unoriginal and even outrageous after the vampires, which, incidentally, I thought was brilliantly written. I've had to walk away from it again. I shall get stuck into My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine tonight to clear my head and maybe another novel also. Anyone else had similar probs?

Booktalk aside - I made a few sets of beads yesterday which will be listed on eBay this evening. My listings have disappeared since I began supplying two bead shops, however, if I find myself with too much time on my hands between orders then I shall create and list once more for eBay. My beads and charms can be found here. I currently have a week off so am just relaxing, reading and pottering about. Let's hope the sunshine returns

I'm Twittering

Good evening all,

Thanks for coming by. You can probably tell from the name that this blog is likely to have a few books featured......a review here and there............posts about reading.........other people's book blogs..............other book sites............

Are you getting the picture?

Bookaholic, readaholic, bookmad, bibliophile, booklover...............need I go on? They can all be used to describe me, I will read anything online and off. I hope to record my thoughts on the books I've been reading here and my daily life.

I like to enjoy a simple lifestyle - oh yes and I work as well. I make beads, pendants, charms and more from polymer clay.I like to try my hand at various crafts and am a colour lover. I've designed my life to suit. This entails working from my desk here at home next to my pc, usually till 1pm when the rest of the day is left for me to potter, tend to housework, cook, and oh what was that other thing......ahh yes read of course.

My current read is New Moon - Stephenie Meyer. This is the second book in the Twilight saga.

Having been hooked in by the first book, I had trouble continuing into the second. I had to walk away from it for a week or so and read a couple of totally different novels before I could finally settle into the drama once more. It's all going fine now...........although I will expand on that once I have finished it.

I'm currently enjoying a week off of working - a rarity for me. So I'm having some quiet time about the house - pottering, cleaning, baking, gardening, and little things such as painting my nails, a bath in the middle of the day (such luxury), sitting in my garden and listening to the birds..............which reminds me that I too am twittering! WARNING Twitter can be addictive and great fun.

My days are lacking constructive routine - so I have no idea what tomorrow will bring - perhaps some more sunshine so I may continue sitting in the garden reading, maybe an hour or two playing with some clay, or a friend calling in for tea and a natter - holiday time is great isn't it :-)