We Read

Rebecca

2010-04-14T09:20:00.000+10:00

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
397 pages
Gothic romance
my rating: DDG

This is one of those books that you return to time and again throughout your reading life. When read ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again’, one of my favourite first lines, I am instantly transported to 1930s England and the house on the coast that I wanted for my own as a teenager reading this for the first time.

The Rebecca of the title haunts the story rather than participates in it and there are many of the other characteristics required for a gothic horror story, although it’s probably a bit tame for modern audiences. It’s a love story in the style of ‘R’omance – there’s not a lot of mushy stuff but there is a deftly handled romance between Maxim, Rebecca’s widower, and his new bride.

She’s the one who dreams about Manderley, the first person narrator, and she’s very easy for a reader to love so go on – give her a go.

2010 so far

2010-04-10T16:21:00.001+10:00

January

The 19th Wife David Ebershoff
The Other Boleyn Girl Phillipa Gregory

February

Tomorrow When the War Began John Marsden

March

84 Charring Cross Road Helene Hanff
Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier

April

Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger

Becca reminded me

2010-04-10T13:44:00.002+10:00

….I’ve read The Nineteenth Wife & Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (actually I started it but abandoned it for 84 Charring Cross Road).

Thanks Becca, it’s good to know someone is paying attention even when I’m not…

Tomorrow When the War Began

2010-04-08T15:24:00.000+10:00

rating: VPI

It’s a teen novel about a war that sneaks up on a bunch of teenagers who are camping in the remote countryside of an unnamed country, which I couldn’t help but think of as my own Australia. This, I expect, comes from the Australian-ness of the narrative voice and my knowledge of the origins of the book. I heard John Marsden interviewed somewhere and he said he wrote the Tomorrow books to speak to his students who were disengaged with literature.

I’ve been wanting to read it since my teenagers read it and l.o.v.e.d it to pieces! It’s an easy, enjoyable read, a bit too teenagerery for me and, while I love the apocryphal storyline, I was bored by the romancey bits – that’s not a criticism of the book I’m rarely a fan of the smelchy, will-he-won’t-he/does-he-doesn’t-he/I’m-so- confused relationship-stuff.

I loved the start of the book - disorientation of coming home a world abandoned by all humanity but found the teenagers amazing feats of cunning a little far fetched. If an aggressor had enough skill to invade, take a whole town captive and create a base of operations within the space of a week I think they’d be able to round up the stragglers pretty quick too. It didn’t detract too much though & I can see why it would capture the hearts and minds of a youth reader audience and inspire the reading of the whole seven books in the series.

84 Charring Cross Road

2010-04-07T14:42:00.000+10:00

rating : DDG (drop dead gorgeous)

During the Christmas break I started reading Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, one of my Christmas books. It reminded me so much of 84 Charring Cross Road I abandoned Guernsey to revisit 84, a charming book which should be required reading for all book lovers. An epistolary novel gathering the correspondence (which did actually take place so It’s not really a novel I guess) between Helene Hanff (in New York) and Marks & co - 'antiquarian book-sellers' - (in London) just after WWII. The lovely pithy little letters make it a quick read.

The juxtaposition of Helen, a fiery New Yorker who writes just the way you’d imagine she speaks, and the very proper English gentleman, Frank Dole, is glorious and their discussion of literature (amongst other things) makes this book a treasure.

Helen, as an anglophile, was a girl after my own heart and her desire to see, taste and feel all things English was something I could relate to in such a passionate way the first time I read this:

Please write and tell me about London, I live for the day when I step off the boat-train and feel its dirty sidewalks under my feet. I want to walk up Berkeley Square and down Wimpole Street and stand in St. Paul's where John Donne preached and sit on the step Elizabeth sat on when she refused to enter the Tower, and like that. A newspaper man I know, who was stationed in London during the war, says tourists go to England with preconceived notions, so they always find exactly what they go looking for. I told him I'd go looking for the England of English literature, and he said:
"Then it's there."

It took us about the same length of time to achieve the dream of walking those London streets – 20 years. Her visit is captured in diary form in The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, often included now in one volume with 84 Charring Cross Road.

**spoiler alert**

I find The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street disappointing and I realise it’s because it doesn’t contain Frank’s voice.

2010-04-06T13:03:00.001+10:00

I got bored sitting on that washbowl after a while, so I backed up a few feet and started doing this tap dance, just for the hell of it. I was just amusing myself. Catcher in the Rye p25

think Wendy THINK!

2010-04-04T13:11:00.000+10:00

Thanks to the little bit of blogging I HAVE done this year I know I’ve read 84 Charring Cross Road and Tomorrow When the War Began. Also There was Rebecca am still raking my brains and scouring my shelves for others. If I’ve mentioned anything I’ve read in conversation with you please let me know.

sketchy reviews of the above to follow (sketchy because some of these books I don’t have anymore so no details like first lines, fav lines, page no. etc.

what a ditz!

confessions of an ersatz blogger

2010-04-03T14:04:00.002+11:00

Yes that’s right I confess there’s not much original thought going on at WeRead. I copy format, layout, even tone in an effort to fit in to the blogosphere, because I really like it it here. I came back all enthusiastic after the Christmas break and then I went back to work everything started back & BAM the old not-enough-time-thing cut into my blogging…plus after such a long break away from blogging I didn’t/don't know how to return.

Especially as my return may well be short-lived. I just can’t seem to juggle all the things I must do to leave room for all the things I like to do, I take my hat off to all you regular bloggers with original, creative ideas (who I admire & copy like crazy). I’m convalescing atm and under doctor’s orders to do nothing strenuous. He even underlined housework as strenuous AND warned MGM to enforce the ‘do nothing’ rule (I love my doctor). So I have a small window of blog time, which I’m going to devote to recording the books I’ve read this year.

I realise now that I can’t remember all that I’ve read this year... f.r.u.s.t.r.a.t.i.n.g!
humph…that’s why I started this blog in the first place!

I don’t know what I’m going to do with Friday Firsts – I’ve missed ANOTHER first Friday (how could it be four already that I’ve missed!) I’m just going to rack my brain for books I’ve read and if I can do more I’ll be overjoyed (& shocked). If that’s all I can do well... life’s too short to sweat the small stuff.

The Other Boleyn Girl

2010-03-01T18:29:00.000+11:00

The Other Boleyn Girl Phillippa Gregory
452 pages
historical Fiction
my rating: VPI

Gregory gives life to the court of Tudor England and creates some relatable characters in her book about Mary Boleyn, and its five sequels. I found myself hating Anne and loving Mary and I think strong emotion evoked in the reader is an indication of good writing.

I love historical fiction and so the VPI rating should be taken under advisement – if you’re not into this genre you won’t like it as there is a lot of history here. The wikipedia entry has a lot about the historical inaccuracies, but you don’t read fiction for fact. Just read it for the pleasure of the vivid and detailed life of Mary Boleyn. Don’t short-cut this by watching the movie which did not do justice to the book despite the gorgeous Eric Banner as Henry VIII.

too many books, so little time

2010-02-08T16:12:00.002+11:00

hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own.

This week: Do you frequently read more than one book at a time? Do you try to limit this to a certain number? Do you have different books for different purposes/topics?

I am a dyed-in-the-wool read one book at a time fan. I like to immerse myself completely, no distractions or characterisations blending into one another, no getting storylines mixed up…you get the picture. Alas my total devotion to one book and one book only has gone by the wayside.

I usually have a book club book going at the same time as one (or two) from Mt TBR. Too many books not enough time-before-I-turn-out-the light sums up my abandonment of my preferred reading habit.

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

2010-02-02T07:22:00.001+11:00

514 pages
Genre: Family Saga/whodunit/religion
Tone: factual/historical
Rating: VPI
Fav lines: We were something else – a cult, a cowboy theocracy, a little slice of Saudi America. p8

First Line: In the one year since I renounced my Mormon faith, and set out to tell the nation the truth about American polygamy, many people have wondered why I ever agreed to become a plural wife.

Synopsis: Interweaves dual stories of a nineteenth wife; one, Ann Eliza Young in 1875, who sets about divorcing her husband and de-bunking the practice of polygamy; and two, BeckyLyn a current-day 19th wife accused of killing her husband who must be rescued by her estranged son, Jordan Scott.

What do I think?: This is a book about families and the pressures we put on each other which of course are compounded for the polygamous family. I was very interested to see how the women in a multiple marriage cope and it has to be said that this story shows both he good and the bad (although perhaps not with equal measure). It’s not what you think, it’s not all LDS bashing in fact one of the aspects I really enjoyed was the focus on faithful people living out their lives according to their beliefs even when the rest of the world can’t understand or doesn’t agree.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that it’s not at all sordid, the voracious way women are ‘consumed’ and then discarded by a few men in positions of power is subtly handled with lots of spaces in the text for the reader to fill in themselves…nice.

Overall I enjoyed both storylines although Ann Eliza gets a bit dry at times. Polygamy is an interesting subject deftly given life in this book, I’d recommend it if you’re interested in the different ways people live their lives.

Happy New year

2010-02-01T06:57:00.000+11:00

Hello everyone in blogland I know the 1st of Feb is a ridiculous day to say happy new year but my year has got off to a bit of a rough start so I’m declaring January a non-entity and starting afresh with February.

I hope you all got the books you wanted for Christmas and am looking forward with relish (pickles and mayonnaise too) to reading all your reviews of your summer/winter/holiday reading. How lucky am I…I got 3 of the 4 books on my wishlist.

The 19th Wife David Ebershoff, Unbearable Lightness of Being Milan Kundera & Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer.

AND

Using Functional Grammar: An Explorer's Guide David Butt, 1000 Glass Beads: Innovation & Imagination in Contemporary Glass Beadmaking & Junk Style Melanie Molesworth.

S.P.O.I.L.T!

2009 wrap up

2009-12-21T13:39:00.001+11:00

With just 71 days to my blogoversary I have to say I’ve enjoyed my first year in blogland. The highlight was the very unexpected welcome into a community I never even knew existed. You’ve all been so helpful and fun to be with I can’t imagine life without you now…so a big thankyou to all who have commented (I do so love to hear your opinions/reflections/ideas) and a HUGE thankyou to all who’ve joined in Friday Firsts (so::much::fun!) and and even bigger THANKYOU to my followers – can’t tell you what a thrill it is to see your faces on my blog everyday!

I’m very excited to look back on what I’ve read this year – that was the aim of WeRead after all to keep a record of what I’ve read just for the sheer pleasure of knowing…finding you all here in blogland was such a tremendous bonus!

View Full Album

The Best Thing Margo Lanagan
The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas John Boyne
A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens
Cold Skin Steven Herrick
The Devil’s Brood Sharon Penman
Disquiet Julia Leigh
Earth Abides George Stewart
Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
Freda Noelene Martin
Friday Night Knitting Club Kate Jacobs
Girl with a Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier
God of Small Things Arundhati Roy
Good Omens Terry Pratchet
Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Attwood
Kiss Kiss Roald Dahl
Little Women Louisa May Alcott
Making Glass Beads K Jenkins
March Geraldine Brooks
Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
Mrs Dalloway Virginia Wolfe
Northern Lights Phillip Pullman
Nightfall Isaac Asimov
Romulus My Father Raimond Gaita
Tales of the Unexpected Roald Dahl
The Slap Christos Tsiolkas
Time and Chance Sharon Penman
Time Traveller’s Wife Audrey Niffenegger
Twilight Stephanie Meyer

I didn’t manage many reviews, just the ones I felt passionate about, but I’m going to try for more reviews in 2010 because, although I’m having a little blogging-break now I will definitely be back next year!

Merry Christmas everyone!

2009-12-21T13:14:00.001+11:00

[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Graphics*]

If you use a circular saw blade as a book mark I’ll waive the overdue fees.

2009-12-10T22:03:00.001+11:00

BTT is a long running bookish meme. To join in pop over and read the 100's of interesting comments. This week’s question…
What items have you ever used as a bookmark? What is the most unusual item you’ve ever used or seen used?

Does everyone know know this blog Forgotten bookmarks? A whole blog about things that people use for bookmarks and leave behind when they sell their books (gasp) to a rare book dealer (how do I get that job?!). It’s a great blog my favourite post was this one about a 6" saw blade marking a page in Inside Every Woman, what a crack-up!

As for me I’ll use anything to mark my spot, empty cafe sugar sachets, chip packets, bobby pins, date due slips, a piece torn from a newspaper/magazine, pens, post-its, receipts, jewellery, tools, cutlery (just yesterday I was forced to use a dessert spoon). All of this is ridiculous because I have 4.ooo bookmarks – all gorgeous – that somehow are just never in the right place when I put down my book.

how about you how do you mark your place?

read the signs…please

2009-12-07T13:05:00.003+11:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week borrower-bugged Becca asks about those pesky people with whom we must share OUR library…

For the regular library patrons among us: do you have your own idea of what constitutes proper library etiquette? Is there anything you always try to do? Anything you hate when others do?

Not being a big user of my local library I'll comment on my uni library, I suspect library etiquette is slightly different from the staff’s side of the desk. Noise? It's a big niggler for some but, in a library that houses the engineering, science collection noise can be a factor. The engineering students seem to be gregarious and loud which is okay except if they're infringing on the rights of others. Complaints about noise will force me into the classic librarian-shushing-thing but I’d rather the patrons felt welcome to make the library their own and a bit of talking goes with the territory.

It’s good etiquette to clean up after any food and drink you take into the library - which we do allow. After decades of saying 'you can't bring KFC/chips/coke in here' it did bother me to see food and drink so close to the books until I realised that the books are exposed to food an drink in the patron’s home why not in the library!

It is polite to return your books on time at assessment time and NOT to hide the in-demand texts under the shelves for your own personal use (yes we regulary check UNDER the shelves for such sneakiness).

From my point of view it’s good etiquette to be patient with the library staff who are not miracle workers. If you haven't saved the document you've been working on for the last three hours we will try and retrieve it - just be patient and understand who's at fault (even if your asignment IS due in ten minutes/the library is closing in five minutes). And PLEASE read the signs – where is the colour printer? see that sign?, how do I fix a paper-jam? read the instructions **points to sign**, how do I bind my document? read the instructions **points to sign** etc. Don’t get me wrong I am happy to help, it is after-all my job, but happier if you’ve given it a go first… Proactive self education – not too much to ask in a university library is it?

‘Tis the season

2009-12-04T17:00:00.002+11:00

* Copy/paste the question and button.
* Please leave a comment & link to your post.
* Join in with the puzzle, (answers next FF). First correct answer = 1 pt. with a prize going out on FF 1st anniversary! (track your progress on my sidebar)…

We’re all Christmassy here at no.13 so we simply must do a seasonal Friday first, please post any first line from a Christmas book, for some reason I can’t think of any Christmas novels – how strange is that, so mine is the most obvious…

Marely was dead, to begin with.

Even though it ends with a preposition (a big no-no in my house) I love this 6 word story all wrapped up in Dickens’ first line from A Christmas Carol.

Last month’s puzzle winner (via email) of 3 points is Becca for her answers: 1) Misselthwaite Manor. 2) she was most disagree-able looking. 3) from The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgeson Burnett.
but
I’m giving Vicki and Nise one point each for being faithful Friday Firsters, and giving the correct answers and …well… because I can :)

Puzzle: 3 points:
1) Who Stole Christmas?
2) where did he live?
3) which was just north of what town?
Edit: I gave Sandra a point too (come on how could I not!)

a whole new world at my fingertips

2009-12-03T21:21:00.003+11:00

BTT is a long running bookish meme. To join in pop over and read the 100's of interesting comments. This week a BTT question about BTT…

What’s your favourite part of Booking Through Thursday? Why do you participate (or not)?

You must pop over to BTT this weeks it's snowing! So pretty wish we had some snow here - wrong hemisphere, just heat haze here

I got into blogging for a number of different reasons one of which was to sort out my reading into some kind of order. What I didn’t expect was the pleasure I would find in just being part of a new community – who knew there was a whole world of people at my fingertips (excuse the pun).

I really enjoy the thinking part of answering BTT questions, have I lied about reading a book? why do I do that?; just what are the 15 books that will always stick with me …and why? etc. Sometimes the questions don’t move me to answer but I get a lot of entertainment reading what everyone else has to say.

That’s the best bit for me - everyone’s responses – it is amazing just how varied we all are and yet so often I find an answer that makes me feel ‘normal’, the ‘same’ and makes me sigh and say to myself “see someone else does that too!”

all about the shabby

2009-12-02T00:55:00.001+11:00

I love this meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Pop over to The Printed Page from time to time to see if you can catch some gorgeous cover attractions over there.

anyone who’s been within cooee of me for the past couple of weeks knows that I’m all about the shabby right now.

but I’m on a budget so if I could make junk look like this I’d be so having this book!

Burn baby burn

2009-12-01T12:38:00.001+11:00

“Do you ever read any of the books you burn?”
He laughed. “That’s against the law!”

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury p15

My Christmas cunning plan

2009-11-30T13:58:00.001+11:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week Busy-Bee Becca asks about holiday season reading/blogging…
How does your reading (or your blogging) fare in the holiday months? Do you read more or less? Do you have to actively make time to read?

It’s fair to say that we are all time-poor in the lead-up to Christmas, isn’t it? There’s so much socialising and end-of-year things to do that something has to give and for me, like the rest of you, it’s usually reading/blogging/me-time that is sacrificed to accommodate all the extra demands.

Having said that I must confess to being in the lucky situation of being on holidays as of today. Working on contract means that I go where and when I’m needed. The uni semester ended last Friday and so the library can manage with less staff for the next 3 months so, although I miss everyone, staff and students alike, I do relish the opportunity to take the 9 to 5 job out of the equation (whilst also not being too thrilled at abandoning the pack packet).

So I do actually have more time to read/blog if I can just manage to prioritise them. To do this I have a cunning plan – so cunning I could plug it in and light up the Christmas lights with it - My plan is two-fold: firstly I’ll do a list (yes Becca the one with tiny writing) that factors in time for reading and blogging; and secondly I plan to view all the ‘extra demands’ as pleasurable opportunities…

a little bit of positive thinking never hurt anyone!

what about you …how are you going keeping up with Christmas rushing?

christmas present potential

2009-11-25T22:23:00.003+11:00

Hey!

Cherub #2 asked me for my wish list today - he was off to do some Christmas shopping. I had 'books' on the list of course, he scanned the list and said 'books' were the only thing he felt at all confident about (and didn't require a trip inside anywhere too girly) but could I be more specific?

Yes! I said Yes I can & I pointed him towards We Read, told him to search for wish-list knowing full well he'd find his way here ...am so excited!

thankyou blogosphere, I love you.

Wicked Cover

2009-11-25T12:04:00.001+11:00

I love this meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Pop over to The Printed Page from time to time to see if you can catch some gorgeous cover attractions over there.

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradury - new to We Read Mt TBR

school days

2009-11-23T07:23:00.005+11:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own.

This week brand-new-teacher Becca asks about out school reading...

What books did you read while in school? Were there any that you particularly liked, or even hated? Did any become lifelong favourites?
HA! am feeling all nostalgic for my high school years and Mr Rule – my gorgeous English teacher in my senior years – on whom I had the biggest crush of my adolescence. Details of which books I studied with him are a bit fuzzy, high school was over 30 years ago and I was focusing on other things...that lightening smile, those dreamy eyes, that seductive intelligence ... but I do remember him taking books I hated and bringing them to life. Othello, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew all made sense when HE read them. I began a life-long love of Shakespeare under his tutelage.

I hated To Kill a Mockingbird (I know can you believe that!) until it was brought to life in class discussion and it has since remained my all time favourite book, re-read many times. In fact, when I think about it, I really didn’t like most of my high school books until we deconstructed them in class. 1984, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, Great Expectations were all turned around from hated to loved under closer examination.

The standout unsalvageable was Greene’s The Power and the Glory – never conquered the wordiness or engaged witht the subject.

There’s often one teacher in your career that makes a difference and for me it was Mr Rule. While I was convinced that I was not ‘academically minded’ (the euphemism of the day for not so bright), Mr Rule, wrote in my 6th form autograph book that once I got to English at university there’d be no stopping me. University! I kept that thought alive for over 20 years. I wish there was some way that I could tell him he was right – that I loved uni when I started as an undergrad at 41 and, just between you and me, I’d love to to share my 6.0 GPA with all the ‘well meaning’ but unobservant knockers of my childhood.

classic characters

2009-11-19T08:11:00.003+11:00

BTT is a long running bookish meme. To join in pop over and read the 100's of interesting comments. A meaty question this week…

Do you think any current author is of the same calibre as Dickens, Austen, Bronte, or any of the classic authors? If so, who, and why do you think so? If not, why not? What books from this era might be read 100 years from now?

The meaty bit about this question is defining 'calibre'. Dickens, Austen Bronte, those pedestal gods of ‘good’ literature, cast a long shadow. If by calibre you mean their way with language, the way they engage with and confront their culture and ideology, their status as part of the cannon then no because the old boys club of the cannon is hard to breach.

On the other hand if you’re talking about an author's way with language, engagement with and confrontation of their culture and ideology, and total disregarding the cannon…then yes! of course there are writers today who are up to the challenge.

My picks for those authors in the same league as Bronte, Austen & Dickens? Arundhati Roy, Tracy Chevalier, Margaret Attwood, Geraldine Brooks, Tim Winton, Markus Zusak, Ian McEwan…there’s seven authors just off the top of my head without even stopping to think too hard - wonderful work that will still be read a hundred years from now and hopefully contributing to a new cannon!

What about you, who do you think of as a classically great writer? - go on add to mt TBR I dare you :)

2009-11-18T19:34:00.000+11:00

I love this meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Pop over to The Printed Page from time to time to see if you can catch some gorgeous cover attractions over there.

I've seen the other cover for Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger but I like this one better. I loved loved loved The Time Traveller's Wife so have high expectations for this wish-list book.

Teaser Wednesday - doesn't have quite the same ring does it

2009-11-18T15:30:00.007+11:00

I'd like to tell you

I'd fallen head....................................over heals in love
with Derk. I did.........................feel something, but
it wasn't the............hearts and flowers
kind of live in my
dog-eared
books.

Looking back, it...............................seems I should
have been in love.......................with him. We did
all the things..................two people in
love were supposed
to do. Maybe
more.

I love verse novels ewre form reflects meaning! This is from Burned by Ellen Hopkins P.125

Musing on Monday

2009-11-16T16:30:00.001+11:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own.

Today Bethlehem-Becca (she really loves Christmas but I can’t call her Christmas Becca no alliteration there) asks…With the holiday season now upon us, have you left any hint – subtle or otherwise – for books family and friends might buy you for Christmas? Do you like to receive books, or do you prefer certificates so you can choose your own?

ooo this is a hard one I so love gift certificates and getting to choose for myself but you know that we've talked about gift certicates before...AND I do LOVE Christmas presents...lookin at them under the tree, Christmas morning mayhem of unwrapping so I for Christams I'd jave to go with the list over the voucher.

We’re a Christmas-list family, ever since that dreadful year when Father Christmas missed the boat in spectacular fashion. Mummy was greeted with the saddest Christmas face ever after the contents of the stocking were searched and the stocking was turned inside-out in incredulous disbelief. No coal but no pink Nintendo DS either… how could he have got it sooooooooo wrong! Quick boxing day shopping did not undo the trauma of not getting the exact right thing – apparently it’s not the same if Mum buys it, and to be fair it’s really not the same getting the ‘desired’ after the 25th!

Even though the cherubs are grown-ups now I still get them to write out a wish-list that includes specifics (not risking that Christmas disappointment ever again). I need titles from no 2 because he reads so voraciously I now have little idea of what he has/hasn't read. No 1 gives generalities 'I'd like biographies this year' and no 3? Well she's still finding her reading niche so I'll just get her some titles I think she'll like.

Thanks to blogging I now have a wish-list easily accessible for any potential present-givers but just in case this is too subtle I’ve also added titles to my paper list (which is on my bedside table in case any family happen to be reading this). I can cross one off my Dad has already got me The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff, I know this because I do his Christmas shopping (he is 90 after all).

life IS too short

2009-11-13T17:30:00.001+11:00

BTT is a long running bookish meme. To join in pop over and read the 100's of interesting comments.

I'm bit late but nevertheless yesterday's question was an interesting one so I'm playing belatedly, this week’s question is…

Do you read everything all the way through or do you feel life really is too short to read bad books?

Really life IS too short and Mt TBR too high to force yourself to read something you’re not enjoying. When I finished my degree (actually while I was slogging it out during my degree) I promised myself to never again endure the torture of great books waiting on Mt TBR while I punished myself with mediocre.
As always this declaration has an exception in the case of bookclub. If we’ve got a book I’m not enjoying I will persevere (most often but not always) so that I can be an informed part of the discussion. Actually so I can bang on about how much I didn’t like it – with examples!

Cover attraction

2009-11-11T07:37:00.000+11:00

I love this meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Pop over to The Printed Page from time to time to see if you can catch some gorgeous cover attractions over there.

I came upon this I happened upon Wild Thyme gorgeous blog while wondering through the web instead of paying attention to cooking dinner…as you do. I spent enough time there to burn the veg and find this beautiful book cover…

Isn’t just the way that when something is brought to your attention (paper cut on your pinkie finger which finger you otherwise you never notice) you just keep bumping into it.

Since last weeks BTT I keep finding biographies I want to read, like this one about British aristocrat and artist Mary Delany. She was friend to Jonathan Swift, corresponded with Sir Joseph Banks, moved in circles that included George III and Queen Charlotte and was so expert at decoupage that some of her art survives in the British Museum.

Too many interesting books – not enough cooking (housework) –free time!

2009-11-10T11:58:00.002+11:00

hosted by MizB @ Should be Reading.
* Grab your current read & let it fall open.
* Share 2 “teaser” sentences, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
* Share the title of the book… remember... **************************avoid spoilers please****************************

I’ve tried praying.
It gives me comfort.
But not as much as a cup of tea
and a ginger nut biscuit.

Cold Skin Steven Herrick P100

Now we're talking! this book is so much more the type of book I like to read (I'm comparing it to the last Australian book I read The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas). It is gorgeous writing and the reflects an ideology with which I can engage happily.

more shelves please

2009-11-09T08:15:00.001+11:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week book-shelf Queen Becca asks…

Does your house have a communal bookshelf? If not, is your bookshelf centrally located so everyone has access to it?

We have bookshelves everywhere in our house. Each of us has one (or more) personal shelf in their room and there’s two in my study and another in the family room. These shelves are crammed with ‘overflow’. #2 and I are probably the best(?) worst(?) when it comes to shelves. We both have a TBR beside our bed and another in our bedrooms jampacked with TBR overflow and the family room shelf is often used when we cannot fit new arrivals into our rooms.

there is a common cry in our house – we need more shelves – which makes MGM groan!

10 best(?) firsts

2009-11-06T12:05:00.000+11:00

* Copy/paste the question and button.
* leave a comment and link to your post.
* Join in with the intermittent puzzle, (look for the answer the following FF). First correct answer = 1 pt. A prize will go out on FF 1st anniversary ! (track your progress on my sidebar)…
First things first we had five points up for grabs last month and Becca got them all! straight to the top for you girl…

What book famously begins with what the narrator is not going to do...bang on with ‘all that David Copperfield kind of crap.’ The Catcher in the Rye
What is the iconic narrator’s name? Holden Caulfield
Who wrote it? J. D. Salinger
Who wrote the book referred to in the opening sentence? Charles Dickens
Which American punk band has a song about the book? Green Day

November’s Friday First is for my list loving friends. Below is a list of 10 Famous first lines that I copied from 100 best first lines from novels. How many have you read and how many make it onto Mt TBR on the strength of the first line alone?

1. Call me Ishmael. Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
2. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
3. A screaming comes across the sky. Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow
4. Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
5. Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
6. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
7. Riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodious vicious of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs. James Joyce, Finnegans Wake
8. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. George Orwell, 1984
9. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. - Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
10. I am an invisible man. Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

I’ve read four (1,2,8 and 9), have 4, 5 & 6 already on Mt TBR and I think I’ll add 3 on the strength of this first line.

Puzzle: for three points: Where was Mary Lennox sent to live and what did everyone say about her looks? From which book does this fabulous first come?

It’s all about them

2009-11-05T18:53:00.001+11:00

BTT is a long running bookish meme. To join in pop over and read the 100's of interesting comments.
Which do you prefer? Biographies written about someone? Or Autobiographies written by the actual person (and/or ghost-writer)?

I’m not a big bio fan I must admit and I don’t mind if it’s an autobiography of a biography – it’s the person that attracts me. The last bio I read was Freda: a biography of Freda Whitlam. She interested me because she is a member of my church, sister to a past Prime Minister and has lead a very interesting life. I also know the author, Noelene Martin, so I was very curious to read both about Freda's life and sample Noelene’s writing skills.

I’ve read Michael J Fox’s first (Lucky Man) and his second (Always Looking Up) is on my Christmas reading list. I love the intimacy of the first hand autobiography so I’d probably choose an autobiography over a biography, unless the writer of the biography interested me in their own right – as Noelene did.

how about you…bio or autobio, or neither?

2009-11-04T11:56:00.000+11:00

I love this meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Pop over to The Printed Page from time to time to see if you can catch some gorgeous cover attractions over there.

I haven’t read this book but Becca has and I just love the cover so it’s my cover attraction for this week I like the idea of using the before/after perspective that Jessica from Reading is Sexy describes. I have often discussed this idea when trying to steer my kids away from life’s hazards. I might suggest it as a read for #3 who’s reading tastes are very eclectic – she has Alice in Wonderland and The Killer book of true crime on her bedside table (at the same time).

Teaser Tuesday

2009-11-03T11:39:00.000+11:00

Handsome, did you say? You foolish girl! Is that what you consider to be of importance in the world? p 92

In the book I’m reading at the moment…

2009-11-02T20:26:00.002+11:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week Book-babbler Becca asks...How much of your reading do you share with others (outside of blogging?) Do you belong to a book or library club? Do you trade books with friends? Do you tell others what you’re reading?

So many of my conversations begin with this line, ‘in the book I’m reading right now…’ I love sharing books with others. You know when you go to an art gallery, shopping, craft show, on holidays and the experiences are so much more enriching when you can ooo and aaa with someone else? Well reading is the same for me. It’s a great joy having grown-up children for many reasons as well as the long conversations about the book we’re reading which usually begin with ‘oh …you have got to read this book…’

I’m lucky to have some really good readers as close friends, some really close friends who are also bookclubers, and some really patient friends who are willing to listen to me bang on about the fabulous book I’m reading that they are not even remotely interested in - so that my reading is always a shared experience. I’m lucky too, that my friends get excited over whatever book is currently exciting me.

A perfect example…I’ve just discovered verse novels. They’re so amazing but I couldn’t quite nail down what it was that appealed to me but Becca knew! She knows my reading habits well enough to encapsulate for me just exactly why I would be attracted to verse novels AND she suggested two more (I’m reading my first one atm – Cold Skin by Steven Herrick) AND she borrowed them from the library AND hand delivered them to me at work today – now that’s sharing with others!

and I know we’re not supposed to talk about book blogging but that’s what We Read is all about - the shared experience that is reading **smiles contentedly**.

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

2009-10-31T19:16:00.002+11:00

(yes it’s the one I cut into three pieces)
485 pages
Genre: Family Saga
Tone: smutty realism
Rating: NMP
Fav lines: Nup didn’t have one
First Line:
His eyes still shut, a dream dissolving and already
impossible to recall, Hector’s hand sluggishly reached
across the bed.

Synopsis: Hector and his wife Aisha invite friends and family to a BBQ and in the course of the backyard cricket match one small child is disciplined by an adult – not his parent – via a slap on the bum. The fall out from this event, told from the the perspectives of eight adults, is the plot of this book.

What do I think? Firstly, no one should take the disciplining of a child out of the parent’s hands even if said parent isn’t doing a good job unless, of course, they are putting the child’s life/health/well being in jeopardy. This is the main social taboo dealt with in The Slap. The others; teenage sex/drug use, adultery, smoking, homosexuality, wife beating, the nanny state, mixed in with the hot button issues of racism, dysfunctional relationships, culture clash & religion combine to create a world with which many will identify.

I didn’t like one single character in this book which made it a hard read for me. I don’t like graphic sex, expletive language or melodrama either, hence the low rating. This is not what the world is like for me and I’m grateful. This book has won a swag of awards…

Winner, Overall Best Book the Commonwealth Writer's Prize 2009

Winner, ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2009

Overall Book of the Year 2009Winner

ABA Book of the Year 2009

Winner, ALS Gold Medal 2009

Winner, Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2009

Shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Prize 2009 & the Colin Roderick Award 2008

so maybe it’s me who’s out of touch but you know what I missed most when reading this book? Australian ideology. Where is the she’ll be right mate laconic sense of humour, where is everyone deserves a fair go? When did we start taking ourselves so seriously?

Maybe I’m too old to read this new young stuff. I just wanted to get them all together in a room and say get over yourselves and get a bit of perspective…a kid got slapped at a barbie, the adult apologised, it happens, that’s life move on – don’t make me wade through 485 pages of filthy swearing, unattractive sex, unpleasant internal monologues only to fizzle out to everybody living unhappily ever after in soap-opera Australia in the end.

I would not have read this if it weren’t for bookclub so bookclub is doing it’s job - forcing me outside my comfort zone. It did generate some interesting discussion many really enjoyed it – they must think like the judges who have rewarded this book so handsomely. Hey it’s not the first time I’ve been in the minority!

cover attraction

2009-10-28T20:05:00.002+11:00

Maria's not posting cover attractions on Wednesdays anymore - but I'm sticking with it because I love this meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Pop over to The Printed Page from time to time to see if you can catch some gorgeous cover attractions over there.

New to mt TBR Moral Relativism Steven Lukes

I was attracted to this book by its cover. I don't know much about Moral Realativism but Wikipedia says it 'is the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect universal moral truths (neither objective nor subjective). Instead, Moral Relativism makes claims relative to social, cultural, or historical circumstances.'

Doesn't that sound interesting for our times? Well I think so and it's on my reading list now.

Edit: With apologies to Wanda, when I say Marcia isn't posting Cover attractions any more the emphasis should have been more on the 'on Wednesdays anymore' rather than the 'not posting'. Marcia's still posting cover attractions she's just doing them randomly as they appeal to her rather than always on a Wednesday click here for the goss straight from the blogger’s mouth

2009-10-27T17:39:00.005+11:00

back to The Slap for this week's teaser...and just so you know my first two random options were too raunchy to put up on this blog. Really do we need that much sex in one book? - not my cup-of-tea at all, actually find it a bit monotonous and therefore boring, good job we’re not all the same – wouldn’t it be a lacklustre world!

His face brightened and he turned around to face them.
Watch the road, Aisha wanted to scream at him. p 376

2009-10-26T17:06:00.000+11:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week Book-note Becca asks...Do you take notes while reading – either for your reviews or for yourself? How/where do you make these notes (on the page, post-its, scrap paper, notebooks etc)?

Becca she doesn't take many notes now but I don't believe her. Let me tell you she is never without a note book, is totally addicted to buying them and cannot resist the urge to ‘write it down’ while she thinks of it so I’m a little sceptical about ‘just stick in a post-it for any interesting passages to come back to later.’

That said I’m hopeless at note taking. Becca will tell you that I take notes in margins, in any blank spaces on the cover or the fly page and much to Becca’s chagrin I do it in pen. As my recent vandalism of books with a knife shows I am not at all precious about books which comes as a surprise to me because I thought I was.

I do love them passionately but I also am happy to make them mine with notes, tearing them into sections or altering them and I suppose this is where my dishonouring of the book as a distinct entity began. Altered books is a derivation of scrapbooking that I have grown to love. Once you’ve given a book new life by altering it you never look at the same way. The fist one I did was rescued from a reject bin at reverse garbage. It was a beautiful Catholic prayer book with rice paper pages and guilt edging. I remade it into a keepsake for a friends 40th. The first time I cut into those beautiful pages I went weak at the knees but the end result was a new lease on life for a book too beautiful to recycle to pulp.

Books should be living things. Notes, artistic rendering, inscriptions only increase the living of a book I say go for it ...note it up! (maybe not so much of the cutting into pieces though I may not do that ever again).>

Reading or the book

2009-10-23T18:30:00.001+11:00

What’s more important? This week I have done two things that, in hindsight, prioritise reading over the book.

The first is not so radical…I loaned out a virgin read. Yes that’s right I lent a friend a brand-new (my latest acquisition in fact), straight-from-the-new bookshop-never-been-read book. I was telling my work friends about Time of my Life by Allison Winn Scotch and one of them was really interested in reading it with her book club. When I saw it all pristine, perched precariously on the summit of Mt TBR I thought I should take it in for her. Everything rebelled. It’s mine, it’s new, it’s never been read …then I thought… that’s ridiculous! It’s beautiful, it has a great premise, it should be read. So I took it in for Annette to read and I feel better knowing that someone else will enjoy it while I’m whittling down Mt TBR a bit.

The second thing may freak you out a bit. The BookFreaks (my bookclub) are reading The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. Three members of my family part of BookFreaks and generally we pass the book amongst usually starting with me (the purchser) but at 483 pages I’m struggling to finish it in time pass it on and the poor third person in line will be still reading it in the car on the way to bookclub with NO hope of finishing. My solution? cut the book into three and give each person a section to get started. This book lends itself to reading like this because each section tells a different point of view of the same event. I broached the topic at work today over lunch to a vastly mixed response. Becca leapt straight into apoplexy, while Renae did a bit of excited laughing and hand clapping and Sarah told us all to get over being so precious about books - ‘they’re tools ‘she said ‘use them as you will.’

So after discussing this with MGM, and being roundly condemned for even thinking of it (and he’s not even a reader!), #1 and I decided to go ahead … if you’re squeamish avert your eyes…

It’s like the little boy on the cover can see the knife!

me at my MOST attractive

here we go knife to book!

Oh No!!! I did it!

A bit for me, a bit for #1 and a bit for #2

#1 in shock ‘Did my mother (the librarian) really just do that’ ?!?

This way three people will read a book instead of one. Was it worthwhile? I don’t know yet. This book is distasteful, so far there is no character with whom I can relate or even like, but it does deal with some hot button topics. It will generate some heated discussion along age and possibly gender lines in which, thanks to my vandalism, all AllanFreaks can now participate.

what do you think am I a sacrilegious vandal or inspired rebel?

2009-10-22T14:14:00.003+11:00

BTT is a long running bookish meme. To join in pop over and read the 100's of interesting comments.

this week the question is: If you could ask your favorite author (alive or dead) one question … who would you ask, and what would the question be?

This is a no brainer for me, I'd be asking Edith Wharton 'what were you thinking!'

****************The Age of Innocence Spoiler alert***********************

why doesn't Newland go up to see Ellen at the end of The Age of Innocence?

We wade through all that drama, their lives intersecting, the will I/won't I, all the sexual tension and THEN he finally has his chance with her and he doesn't even go up to her! really!!!

I've read this book twice and the ending many times. I've had a go at wrting an ending I could live with myself (it was a task set in a creative writng class at uni) and I admit that I couldn't do it and maintain the character's integrity but, hey I'm NOT Edith Wharton! I'm absolutely convinced she could have pulled off a meeting and happy-ever-after for Ellen and Newland.

So that's what I 'd be asking her.

2009-10-21T14:25:00.000+11:00

I love this meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Pop over to The Printed Page to view some gorgeous artwork.

eerie ,no?

Teaser Tuesday

2009-10-20T10:06:00.000+11:00

Her skirt is torn and twisted around her hips
a smear of dark sand on the fabric.
Scuffed footprints, shattered glass
and a cigarette but
that could have been here for days
or minutes…
Who in my town could do this?

cold Skin Steven Herrick p124

Musing Monday

2009-10-19T11:53:00.001+11:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week Babe-in-the-woods-Becca asks...

Are you planning on participating in the upcoming 24 Hour Read-a-thon (either as a reader or cheerleader)? Have you made any preparations for the event? And, veterans out there, any tips you’d like to share with the newbies?

As much as I like the idea, sad to say I can not see how I could do 24 hours of a read-a-thon as either participant or cheerleader (even without #4) for these reasons…
1) I need my sleep.
2) 24 hours away from my life = days of preparation before hand and weeks of catching up afterward.
3) kids to feed, taxi to run, Sunday School to teach, responsibilities to front up to.
4) and probably most importantly, I’m celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary with a night in the city and a show on the 24th October I think MGM might object to me taking my books along this time.

Hope all read-a-thoners enjoy the experience!

Death Sentence

2009-10-14T10:03:00.000+11:00

I love this meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Pop over to The Printed Page to view some gorgeous artwork.

Don Watson has a new book out called Bendable Learnings. I heard him interviewed on 702 and he was so articulate about a subject that intrigues me (language and it’s evolution) that I requested this weeks cover attraction straight away.

Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language. The cage is made up of words, I love it already

2009-10-13T09:32:00.000+11:00

He was right. Harry would have killed him years
before if they'd been in partnership together.

The Slap Christos Tsiolkas p89

love a good list

2009-10-12T12:53:00.007+11:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week book-list-lover Becca (double marks for double aliteration) asks…This past week, Borders re-released it’s 100 Favourite Books of All Times. Do you vote in these kinds of polls when they arise? Do you look through the list, or seek out books featured?
I have never contributed to the making of these list (have no idea how to go about this at all) but I have wondered, when reading said lists, just who does decide what goes on the list. Some times it's more like ....really? that's someone's favourite book (or actually the majority's fav. book) how can that be!

But like Becca I do love a good list (not quite as obsessivley perhaps) and while I don't check the changes from year to year I do like to cross off the ones I've read, even if they are the same ones I crossed off last year. There are few things as satisfying as crossing off items on a list. If I ever find myself in need of inspiration about what to read next I'll refer to the Dymocks or A&R lists but that doesn't happen as often post We Read. Blogging has opened up a whole new world of inspiration.

2009-10-07T09:08:00.000+11:00

I love this meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Pop over to The Printed Page to view some gorgeous artwork.

I’m having a bit of a Girl with the Pearl Earring week this week. It popped up on Tuesday for my teaser and here it is again for my cover attraction.

Don’t those eyes just draw you in and say ‘I’m here in this book – let me show you…’ According to the Girl with a pearl Earring website Chevailer had a print of Vermeer’s painting in her bedroom and those eyes said to her ‘this is my story, tell it’. Vermeer’s art features in Chevalier’s story & even though I’m not very far into it yet but I can already recognise the scene of Delft as Chevalier described it and Vermeer painted it in View of Delft (also featured on the cover) and Griet’s every day head-dress (not the one she’s wearing here) in Young Woman with a Water Pitcher.

AND I love the way Chevalier drops us into the story as The Woman with a Pearl Necklace is being developed by Vermeer.

2009-10-06T09:23:00.000+11:00

When her eyes fell on the palette knife a shiver ran through me. I took a step forward at the same time a she moved to the cupboard and grabbed the knife.
The Girl with the Pearl Earring Tracy Cheavlier p215.

If wishes were horses…

2009-10-05T15:22:00.000+11:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week book-begging Becca follows up from last weeks MM…

Last week we talked about keeping a wishlist. Why not pull out that list and show us some of the books you’ve been eyeing off?

0ooo MM is going to be dangerous for my TBR health this week I can see now…I’ve already added Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse John Joseph Adams (Editor), which looks intriguing, from Becca’s list.

And after a quick trip to my new wish-list (started as a result of last weeks MM) here are four books I’ve had in my hands at the bookshop, r-e-a-l-l-y wanted but didn’t get (usually for reason purely fiscal)…

The 19th Wife David Ebershoff

Unbearable Lightness of Being Milan Kundera

Beloved Tiny Morrison

Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer

If wishes were horses, poor men would ride

2009-10-05T15:15:00.003+11:00

I love that expression. It speaks to the need to actually do something rather than just wishing for it to happen. Last week’s MM was about wish-lists, and after reading all the MM comments I have done something by developing my own wish-list...pay attention family...

Saved on my c drive – there for all my family to read – is a new folder called 'Mum's wish-list'. In this folder I'm saving pics of books I come across whilst blog-lurking & bookshop/library travelling. One idea I got from reading last week's MM responses was to add notes referring me to how/where I found any book that goes into my wish-list (eg Matt led me to Rose Variations by Marisha Chamberlain through a FF comment).

I have an idea for a master spreadsheet fermenting in the cooking pot of my mind. It would bring my ‘TBR’, and my TBP (To be purchased) together. If I add my ‘have read’, ‘reviewed’, ‘TB reviewed’ I’ll have everything all in the one place – it has potential doesn’t it…

I started this blog with the idea of keeping track of what I’ve read and what I want to read and now I have a list purpose-built for taking to the bookshop/attaching to the fridge come present time too (I’m not so naive as to think my family will actually check my c drive!). Blogging is unexpectedly helping me to get one area of my life under control and, in the chaos that is my life, some measure of control is very satisfying.

Fabulous Firsts

2009-10-02T19:36:00.001+10:00

Okay I’m home from work so here we go…

Becca of Just One More Page recently she gave me a page about first lines photocopied from a book she’d been reading, Book Lust by Nancy Pearle, a book which combines two of Becca’s fav. things – books and lists. Pearle captures the way I feel about first lines. I love that…when someone else puts into words exactly what’s on your own mind.

Sometimes, Pearle says, great first lines ‘promise much but deliver little’. She makes a promise, when she lists eight books with enticing first lines that they are also ‘perfectly wonderful all the way to the last line.’

And, of course, I haven’t read any of them (in fact much to my chagrin I have only even heard of two), I just have to add them to my TBR, I think #2 is my favourite…or maybe #8.

here’s her list and their fabulous firsts

The Paperboy Pete Dexter “My brother Ward was once a famous man.’
After Life Rhian Ellis “First I had to get his body into the boat”
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (I know of this one but haven’t read it) “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.”
A Primate’s Memoir: A Neurscientist’s Unconventional Life Among the Baboons Robert Sapolsky “I joined the baboon troop during my twenty-first year.”
Endless Love Scott Spencer (everyone my age knows this book through the movie) – look it up it’s a long one
The Man in the Window Jon Cohen “Atlas Malone saw the angel again, this time down by the horse chestnut tree.”
No One Thinks of Greenland John Griesemer “ ‘You’ll want to scratch,’ said the nurse
The Towers of Trebizond Rose Macauly “ ‘Take my camel, dear,’ said my Aunt Dot, as she climbed sown from this animal on her return from High Mass.”

So what about you…which is your favourite from this list? do any of them warrant going on your TBR? have you read/recommend any?

puzzle: five point up for grabs!

What book famously begins with what the narrator is not going to do...bang on with ‘all that David Copperfield kind of crap.’
What is the iconic narrator’s name?
Who wrote it?
Who wrote the book referred to in the opening sentence?
Which American punk band has a song about the book?

last month’s puzzle winners: Holly feels grief (Vicki 1 pt) for Gerry (Vicki 1 pt) because he has died (Becca i1pt)

under construction

2009-10-02T08:26:00.001+10:00

Friday Firsts will be here later today – am rushing to work right now (am late already – not a good sign for a Friday), so pop back later for FF and the FF quiz…

Quiz Score board (not updated on the side bar yet) Vicki’s in the lead with 3 points, Nise has 2, Sandra and Becca both on 1 pt – pop back later for your chance at five points.

gotta G0ooooo

wish-list wonder

2009-09-28T09:56:00.007+10:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week book-list Becca (well actually any-sort-of-list-Becca but I'm on my mettle to alliterate each week) asks...

Do you keep a book wishlist, either on paper, Amazon/etc, or via a book database site (Shelfari, GoodReads, LibraryThing)? If yes, do you share this list with others (especially coming up to Christmas)?

My wishlist is badly maintained I'm afraid. Like everyone I have MT TBR beside my bed and I do have a wishlist on Shelfari (this is the badly maintained bit) but I'm thinking I really need a list.

You know one of those satisfying pieces of paper that you can work through and cross off as you go. Am going to read all MM posts this week to get ideas for said list - will get back to you.>

covers of covers

2009-09-23T09:00:00.000+10:00

I love this meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Pop over to The Printed Page to veiw some gorgeous artwork.

Whilst spending a rainy sunday afternoon surfing I found David Louis Edelman's blog. After chekingo out his blog Edelman’s science fiction novels Infoquake, MultiReal are on my reading list and I was fascinated by this book cover for Infoquake made up from a mosaic of David’s Library Thing catalogue.

Check out clickable photos of David himself made similarly of his mosaic book covers inhis blog post ‘you are what you read’ adds new meaning to cover attraction doesn’t it!

2009-09-22T09:23:00.000+10:00

Feeling like some poetry this is where my favourite opened up…

Advice to Psychologists

You spies that pierce the mind with trenches,
Feasting your eyes through private panes,
Who, not content with Heavenly stenches,
Insist on taking up drains,

For you I’ve only two suggestions,
Who prowl with with torches in this Bog –
Small good you’ll get from asking questions;
Walk on your nostrils, like a dog.
p144 Selected Poems Kenneth Slessor

Okay this is not my favourite Slessor poem (that would be Five Bells) but that’s the deal with Teaser Tuesday you just have to go with the fall of the page.

2009-09-21T16:15:00.001+10:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week Boppin'-Becca asks...

Do you listen to music while reading? Does this change if you’re reading in or out of your house? Do you have a preference of music for such occasions?

I'm a big fan of quiet. When I'm at home I read in my bedroom which is far enough away from the madding crowd to be a quiet space requiring no musical interference - just me and a book and quiet.

When I'm out however I choose music of my own rather than listen to the noises the world imposes on me. I notice this especially in the canteen at work. Uni students can be rowdy in their breaks from scholarly pursuits and our canteen sounds like a football match where the home team is winning.

My IPod is my best friend in this situation. I pop in my earphones and suddenly I'm in a tranquil world of my own device. My IPod is relatively new (got it for mother's day) and I so love it! Now I understand what the fuss is all about I'm wondering why it took me so long to get on the IPod band-waggon and, of course, I want the next one with more gigs (mine's 8 but I've a friend with a 120 and it looks awesome) the grass is always greener - really what would I do with all that gig-power ***laughs at herself***

I listen to instrumental - jazz, classical, new age - because any lyrics create too many words inside my head, they get in the way of the words on the page.

2009-09-15T11:01:00.000+10:00

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page.Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.Share the title… that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

my teaser:

She looked at me as though she had returned from the dead, unsure about the value of the achievement.

Romulus, my Father Raimond Gaita p32

a Fairy for Becca

2009-09-14T17:50:00.000+10:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own.

This week Blue-fariy Becca asks …

Do you find yourself forming trends in your reading? Is this a conscious act, influenced by either your own interests or current publishing fads?

Looking back over my reading life I find trends in my reading and they seem to relate more to my own maturity and interests than publishing trends.

At the dawn of my reading career (remember I came quite late to this because of my dyslexia) I discovered Tolkien and could not get enough. Alas when I’d read everything he’d written I was a bit lost but by staying within the fantasy genre I was able to capitalize on the momentum I’d built up and continued to develop my own reading tastes.

When I worked as a children’s librarian I read as much of the collection as I possibly could – all genres – to be able recommend books from personal experience for my young patrons.

As a mature-age uni student I read the classics and still have a fondness for the tried and true.

I’ve read some that I guess would fall into the category of ‘publishing fads’; Harry, Da Vinci Code, Twilight and, with the exception of the last (which I found boring), quickly came to see what the hype was all about.

So generally I read books chosen consciously for their content, right now I’m choosing historical novels (emphasis on the history/not-so-much on romance) and award winners (for curiosity’s sake)…oh and whatever the freaks (by bookclub) are reading of course.

life's a puzzle

2009-09-14T13:30:00.000+10:00

Just how do you fit everything in to your life together?

You'll notice August 18th was my last post...I've gone back to work after having first semester this year off and am having immense difficulty fitting in the fun stuff like reading, crafting, blogging, coffee with friends. I've been taking it easy on myself attempting one challenge a week.

work out how to clean the house and work...check
work out how to wash and iron and work.....check
work out how to get everyone where they need to be on time and work (on time)...check
work out how to get enough sleep...check
work out how to fit in the gym...check

ongoing...
read
craft
blog

this week it is my mission to work out how to schedule posting and get caught up with my blogging...I miss you all!

First Friday Firsts

2009-08-07T07:21:00.000+10:00

Congratulations Vicki (you’re on the score-board) who was first in with the answer to last month’s FFPuzzle: The clocks were indeed striking 13 in Orwell’s 1984.

An east FF this month (but one of my favourites because I’m passionate about first lines)…let’s have a teaser from your current read…first line/title/author please.

…and the Government of the United States of America is herewith suspended, except in the District of Columbia, as of the emergency. Earth Abides George Stewart.

Puzzle: Holly holds a sweater to her face for three points…what does she feel, why and for whom.

could it really be only Tuesday?

2009-08-04T19:12:00.001+10:00

Don’t get me wrong I love libraries – just not my local public library. My favourite library is the one just over the hill from where I live – in the university where I was a student up until just last year.

I must love libraries because I’m back to work in not one but two of them! 3 days a week in a lovely little school library (I’ve loved school libraries ever since one became my refuge from a lonely school career in grade 5); and two days a week in a uni library – not the campus the hill but the same uni – opposite end of the spectrum work-wise but just as enjoyable in a different way).

I’m loving being back at work but boy I’m tired and it’s only Tuesday!

library thing

2009-08-03T23:50:00.001+10:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week book-blogger Becca asks ...This week Bower-bird Becca has a library meme courtesy of MizB:

Library Habits meme:
1) If you don't frequent your local library, why not? Don’t get me started…It gives me the irrits, there’s never the book I want, or it it says it’s in I can’t find it because as Becca says, the shelves leave a lot to be desired, the general ethos is off-putting which is annoying cause I love libraries (mostly) and I really WANT to like my local but there you go my standars are too lofty I guess.

2) If you do visit the library, how often do you go?

3) Do you have a favourite section that you always head to first, or do you just randomly peruse the shelves? I usually have something specific in mind if I’m there so that determines where I head first.

4) How many books are you allowed to check out at one time? Do you take advantage of this? See Becca’s notes

5) How long are you allowed to have the books checked out? See Becca’s notes

6) How many times are you allowed to renew your check-outs, if at all? again Becca
7) What do you love best about your particular library? That Becca loves it with such a passion.

8) What is one thing you wish your library did differently? I wish the staff took more pride in their work.

9) Do you request your books via an online catalogue, or through the librarian at your branch? Once upon a time we had a great branch librarian but that branch had to go now I don’t know where she is so I go elsewhere for books.

10) Have you ever chosen a book on impulse (from the online catalogue OR the shelves) and had it turn out to be totally amazing? If so, what book was it, and why did you love it? As I don’t do impulsive well ride along on Becca’s coat tails, she knows what I like and passes all her great finds off to me (lucky I know). I just don’t have the time to speculate and my TBR is so HUGE I can happily work with what I’ve got.

Top 3 by the c

2009-08-02T14:36:00.001+10:00

My favourite top 3 responses by the commenters extraordinaire for July.

1.July 13: literaturecrazy from What was I reading? said, in response to discussion about cover attraction, I think it must be pretty tough on publishers because so much of beauty is (as the cliché says) in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes their great artwork could end up being, for some person, a turn-off. It's Catch-22, huh?

I love the other-side-of-the-coin aspect of comments that make me all ooo I didn’t think if that and how clever of Literaturecrazy used the title of a book in her answer – one that has entered the idiom to be such an evocative expression all on its own.

2. July 7 Nise' from Under the Boardwalk said I loved watching my kids get excited about books too!

Nies’ you always make it into my top 3! kids and books are a great combination… I think we are very alike.

3.July 31 Christina from Reading though the Night said Don't feel bad. I can't think of anything off the top of my head right now either.

My blogging friends make me feel so …normal :) it’s so good to know that others feel just the same way as me!

2009-08-02T13:45:00.001+10:00

Dear JOMP

The Best Thing

2009-07-31T14:16:00.008+10:00

The Best Thing by Margo Lanagan
181 pages
Genre: YA
Tone: gritty
Rating: VPI (well not exactly pleasant but interesting enough).

Fav lines: Outside the cicadas cease, like a blanket snatched off us, letting in the silence in.
First Line: I find a condom in my locker, with a jelly baby poked right down the tip.

Synopsis: Mel is a typical 17 year old full of angst, confusion & awkwardness; she’s dealing with some pretty heavy stuff. Her parents are having marriage troubles & she’s burdened with a secret that could make them worse; she’s got bullies throwing stones at her and putting condoms in her school locker; she’s had one miscarriage and may be pregnant again; she’s got Pug but does she love him?

What do I think? There’s nothing like a good first person narrative to get you hooked. Poor Mel struggles to work through all her difficulties in a self-imposed isolation that made me want to hug my daughters and tell them that they are never alone. The structure – narrative broken by technical details of pugilism and obstetrics – I found a bit poncy. If I thought about it for a few minutes I could probably come up with a nice form = theme analysis but I just wanted the story in this book (so I skipped a lot of the ‘interruptions’). It is at 181p a very quick read and everyone who knows me knows I’m a Lanagan-fan, so it wasn’t a stretch for me to like this book.

It’s not like any others that I’ve read of hers. It’s set very much in the real world – places in Sydney that I can picture in my head. I think it would appeal to the YA audience – seems to me Lanagan has captured an authentic voice in Mel. One thing I noticed was how much I rely on my car. Mel doesn’t have access to a car so, being furiously independent she walks everywhere, even when she’s in labour!

I really like the explanation of the title (something I always like to nail down) which is articulated on p 135 and foregrounds the climax of the story beautifully. Read this for a reminder that life goes on with all its ups and downs. No matter how unsurmountable difficulties seem just keep going and you’ll find one ‘thing’ worth living for – the best thing.

stand back I’m on a mission!

2009-07-31T01:38:00.001+10:00

BTT is a long running bookish meme. To join in pop over and read the 100's of interesting comments. This week’s question…

What’s the funniest book you’ve read recently?

Well there you go another reason to blog find the gaps in your reading.

It’s amazing to realise I can’t think of a single book that I’ve read recently that made me really laugh. My stand-out memory of a great laugh was years ago reading Spike Milligan’s war books - laughed till I cried even on the train (smidge embarrassing).

So it is now my mission to read everyone else’s BTT post to make a list of books that made others laugh and they are going to the top of Mt TBR!

Guru, you may regret asking this question…

2009-07-27T19:42:00.001+10:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week book-blogger Becca asks ...

Do you have an account with an online book database site (LibraryThing, Shelfari, GoodReads etc)? If so, do you have a preference? Do you use it for - your own record keeping? finding new books to read? social networking?

When I started blogging it was all about getting a handle on what I have read, am reading, want to read. As you know I found a whole world of fun and new friends, and my blogging became more about the subject of reading. All this is a long way of saying that yes I have Shelfari & GoodReads accounts because I found myself distracted from my original purpose on my blog.

I loved Shelfari when I started and made it my TBR shelf on my sidebar but, because I’m not really fantastic oat the blogging thing, I found the functionality annoying so I tried Goodreads. Again, was overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I don’t know. I’d love to try LibraryThing, i see it on so many of your blogs and it looks REALLY interesting, but with two failures under my belt am a bit gun-shy (not to mention time-poor).

And…. to come full circle my recent post listing what I've read this year on WeRead satisfied my desire for all the things for which I originally started this blog. My plan is to do reviews for all my 2009 reads to add to this post and to do another listing all the books I’ve read. This is fairly ambitious (for me) so maybe when I’ve got that done I’ll book the guru up for another intensive lesson and venture out beyond my blogging comfort-zone.

pop quiz

2009-07-24T02:22:00.001+10:00

BTT is a long running bookish meme. To join in pop over and read the 100's of interesting comments.

Try this quick quiz…

Reading something frivolous? Or something serious? Serious

Paperbacks? Or hardcovers? Paperbacks

Fiction? Or Nonfiction? Fiction

Poetry? Or Prose? Prose

Biographies? Or Autobiographies? neither

History? Or Historical Fiction? both

Series? Or Stand-alones? both (series for fantasy especially)

Classics? Or best-sellers? classics

Lurid, fruity prose? Or straight-forward, basic prose? none of these, but I do like quirky or lyrical prose

Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness? plot please

Long books? Or Short? both

Illustrated? Or Non-illustrated? usually non

Borrowed? Or Owned? owned

New? Or Used? both

Cover detracttion

2009-07-20T16:32:00.001+10:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week betoken Becca asks about book covers…again.

As a follow up to last week’s question, Melody asked about when book covers do not match the story. Do you feel disappointed when the cover’s don’t match the story? Have you ever been completely misled by a book cover?

I suppose I do look to the cover to betoken the story and yes I do feel betrayed if the story doesn’t live up to the jacket. As I rarely buy solely based on the cover it’s not a huge problem.

I thought this Twilight cover was interesting or even arresting, was disappointed by the story but I didn't buy it for the cover I bought it for bookclub so it doesn’t count .

This cover of To Kill a Mockingbird does nothing for me but I know the book so have it in my collection for the story not the cover, it might be a pity if others are not drawn to it because of the cover… probably a new snazzier one out now anyway.

I’ve picked up some historical fiction by the cover but the blurb usually gives the game away, it it’s a bit Mills & Boonish (not that there’s anything wrong with that) I’ll put it back. Likewise some SF have covers that sometime don’t match the blurb. So while I’m sometimes attracted to books I then reject I don’t think I’ve ever been completely misled by a cover, I’m to precious with my money to buy anything unless I’m fairly certain.

One book I would not have read by the cover alone is The Time Traveller’s Wife. This, to me, very ordinary cover put me off but I was nagged into ignoring the cover AND the promise of ‘romance’ in the blurb by Becca and since have recommended it to others, because she was right (again), it is fantastic.

In short I read books based on much more than the cover.

2009

2009-07-17T17:01:00.004+10:00

January

When Christ and His Saints Slept Sharon Penman
Time and Chance Sharon Penman
Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides

February

The Devil’s Brood Sharon Penman (unfinished)
Friday Night Knitting Club Kate Jacobs
Night Fall Isaac Asimov

March

Little Women Louisa May Alscott
March Geraldine Brooks
Tales of the Unexpected Roald Dahl (unfinished)

April

To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Attwood
Kiss Kiss Roald Dahl (unfinished)

May

The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy
Disquiet Julia Leigh
Freda: A Biography of Freda Whitlam Noelene Martin
Mrs Dalloway Virginia Wolfe (unfinished)

June

Twilight Stephanie Meyers
The Time Traveller’s Wife Audrey Niffenegger
Making Glass Beads Cindy Jenkins

July

The Best Thing Margo Lanagan
Good Omens Neil Gamon/Terry Pratchett
Northern Lights Phillip Pullman
The Time Traveller's Wife Audrey Niffenegger

August

Earth Abides George Stewart
Girl with a Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier

September

Romulous my Father Raimond Gaita
Fahrenheir 451 Ray Bradbury

October

Cold Skin Stephen Herrick
the Slap Christos Tsiolkas

November

The Boy in the Strippied Pyjamas John Boyne

December

A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens

Time Traveller’s Wife

2009-07-17T16:56:00.001+10:00

The Time Traveller’s Wife Audrey Niffenegger
pp 546
Genre: Romance, SF, Speculative
Tone: quirky, self deprecating love story
Rating: DDG
Fav Line: Clare” "It's hard being left behind. I wait for Henry, not knowing where he is, wondering if he's okay. It's hard to be the one who stays."
Synopsis: Henry De Tamble suffers from a genetic disorder that causes unpredictable, involuntary time displacements – forward and backward of his own time-line. He just ends up in a different time; disoriented, hungry and naked. He starts this adventurous lifestyle at five years old, it sounds great to have this potential but the logistics of arriving some other time with none of the basics – food, clothing, shelter mean that this is a life only viable for someone young and fit. Henry’s great fear is that something will happen to his feet that will prevent him from running – a thing you have to be very good at to survive his kind of life.

He meets Clare when he’s 28. He’s never seen her before but she’s known him since she was a little girl finding him, a grown man, naked, hiding in the bushes near her home. Confused? You’ll have to read it, it is well worth picking up, you’ll read the first chapter and be totally hooked!

What do I think?

Described in the blurb as an ‘unconventional love story’ it was the ‘unconventional’ that attracted me. I find it very curious that this book was Niffenegger’s response to her own lacklustre love life, a metaphor for her failed romances.

Genre-wise it’s been placed in both romance, science fiction but I read it as speculative fiction because that’s what interests me. The premise: a man with a genetic disorder that makes time travelling an unpredictable part of his life falls in love, marries and is accepted as ‘normal’ within his circle of friends and acquaintances intrigued me.

I love the structure, alternating first person perspectives following Henry and Clare as they make sense of their lives. Each new section is dated giving the ages of Henry (which can vary according to ‘when’ he is) and Clare. I can’t imagine how Niffenegger plotted this story or kept all the time-lines in her mind. You may feel tempted to keep track of what’s happening and when (I did) so for example when Henry is ‘chrono-displacing’ (the name of his disorder) you know something about what’s happening in Clare’s timeline.

Henry runs into himself when he travels too...I love it...the idea of his older self being the one who explains to his five year old self what’s happening when he time travels and how to cope with it is fantastic. This is refreshingly original from a speculative point of view, this is a world where you can meet yourself without dissolving as in so many other time travelling narratives (think Back to the Future).

Henry is a runner, he needs it to help him manage his stress levels (stress is a trigger for time travelling). If he wants to stay in Clare’s present for something special like their wedding- day from example he needs to run every day. Henry’s demise is foregounded when he explains to Clare how important his running is to him, it makes his return from one ‘trip’ with frostbitten feet amazingly poignant.

I know it’s Friday but…

2009-07-17T13:45:00.001+10:00

BTT is a long running bookish meme. To join in pop over and read the 100's of interesting comments.

Following up from last week’s question ...Do you keep all your unread books together, like books in a waiting room? Or are they scattered throughout your shelves, mingling like party-goers waiting for the host to come along?

So I’m late…again…but to be fair I thought it was Thursday! As you can see from last weeks BBT post my bedroom is also my TBR waiting-room. New books arrive and usually go to the top of the pile on my bedside bookshelf, often pushing one/some off the bottom and onto a shelf further away, but still insight of my bed.

This is called, in my own twisted way, moving to the back of the bus. Sometimes I feel sorry for those moved to the back of the bus and sometimes I’ll retrieve one for reading purely on the basis that it was once a treasure.

Since I’ve been slack in the looking for work department my book buying has slowed down (a bit, really it has, honest) so I haven’t moved any to the back of the bus for a while. Also, since I finished uni, I’ve been reading off the ‘one-day-books’ pile, so it’s easy to keep all my unreads in my bedroom the problem is the shelves that they move to once read are chockers and MGM has vetoed new shelves!

cover attraction + blurb attraction = purchase

2009-07-13T14:28:00.001+10:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own. This week bijou Becca asks about book covers…

We all know the old adage about not judging a book by it’s cover, but just how much sway does a book cover have when it comes to your choice of book – whether buying or borrowing? Are there any books you’ve bought based on the cover alone?

Let’s face it publishers have taken a leaf out of Mother Nature’s book, designing their covers with the express aim of attracting unsuspecting prey. One of my favourite memes is Marcia’s cover attraction over at The Printed Page. Each Wednesday the most amazing artwork is posted by Marcia and those participating in the meme but Marcia’s gorgeous blog is covered in covers - I like visiting her blog just to look at them.

While I’ll pick up one book and not another, based solely on the cover, I rarely buy that way. If the blurb matches the cover in the way of attraction I’ll go for it but I’m often disappointed when the blurb doesn’t match the potential in the cover.

A quick scan of my bookshelves revealed something interesting, most of my books were chosen for their renown; award winners, classics from the cannon, authors of repute… the only books I can acknowledge as true cover attractions are fantasy books.

Amongst others these standout because I knew nothing about them before I bought them and was completely engrossed from page one, for all of them.

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson

The Belgariad by David Eddings

The Saga of the Exiles by Juliann May

Now monthly on the First Friday (of course)

2009-07-10T16:36:00.001+10:00

* Copy/paste the question and button.
* leave a comment and link to your post.
* Join in with the intermittent puzzle, (look for the answer the following FF). First correct answer = 1 pt. A prize will go out on FF 1st anniversary ! (track your progress on my sidebar)…

When was the first time you thought ‘I can do that’ and put pen to paper for your first work of fiction? Care to share yours I’d love to read some new stories.

When I first read Tolkien I was so taken by the other-worldliness of Middle Earth I thought I’d like to create my own world. I had great ideas for the most wonderful leading man (based way too closely on Strider) and a grand quest theme. It did not take long to work out that Tolkien possessed a genius that few people have and that the great novel just was not in me (I was about 13/14).

It took another 35 years for me to actually have the skills to write and the knowledge that I am not a writer. I’ve heard enough authors talk to know that their inner life needs expression, they have a compulsion to write. I understand it because I get antsy when I’ve been deprived of creative time. I think I need to make jewellery and beads and cards in the same way as a writer needs to write.

That’s not to say I didn’t absolutely love my creative writing classes and the process of writing, I did. But I know that anyone who can say ‘one day’ about putting those stories I’ve got floating around in my head down on paper is not an author. What about you have you managed to take the step from reader to writer?

Puzzel: On a cold day in April what time were the clocks striking

No! not another book…I’m not listening

2009-07-10T15:56:00.003+10:00

BTT is a long running bookish meme. To join in pop over and read the 100's of interesting comments. This week's proposition ...

Is from The Toddled Dredge (via K for Kat). Here’s what she said:

“So here today I present to you an Unread Books Challenge. Give me the list or take a picture of all the books you have stacked on your bedside table, hidden under the bed or standing in your shelf – the books you have not read, but keep meaning to. The books that begin to weigh on your mind. The books that make you cover your ears in conversation and say, ‘No! Don’t give me another book to read! I can’t finish the ones I have!’ “

I’m coming late to BTT this week as someone had my camera just when I wanted to use it, isn’t it always the way? Your stuff sits round idle for months and then when you loan it out you find you need it too.

Anyway here is by bedside TBR. It once sat in a neat pile on my bedside table but it became to ungainly and kept toppling off the edge. I wanted to keep them close and the only shelves that would fit was a CD stacker bit it works.

Bedside table is now reserved for my current reads (see side bar).

On the Shelf

The Girl with the Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier
Exploring English Ronald Horan
Long Way Round Ewan McGreggor
Blooming English Kate Burridge
When he leaves Kari Quinn
The Other Boleyn Girl Philippa Gregory
The Boleyn Inheritance Philippa Gregory
Harlequin Bernard Cornwell
The Dragon at Noonday Edith Pargeter
Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert

recommended by others (RBO)
* Good Omens Terry Pratchett and Neil
Gaimaon
* The Eyre Affair Jasper FForde
Started but not finished
* Mrs Dalloway Virginia Wolfe
* Tales of the Unexpected Roald Dahl
* Kiss Kiss Roald Dahl
* Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil John Berenot

Balancing precariously on top: the quartos

Reunion Andrea Goldsmith
The Historian Elizabeth Kostova
The Return of Merlin Deepak Chopra
The Devil's Brood Sharon Penman
Character (bible study work book)
Seven Ancient Wonders (quarto RBO)

* The Politics Aristotle
* Persuading Aristotle Peter Thompson
* One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
* The Unbearable Likeness of Being Milan Kundera
* The Pillars of the Earth Ken Follet

As if 27 books beside the bed is not enough at the foot of the bed this shelf beckons…

2009-07-07T13:08:00.001+10:00

Mel is a strong 16 year old fleeing from schoolyard tormentors…

Cars stop for me at the Salisbury Road crossing, and I almost cry with gratitude. It feels as if the drivers are being incredibly kind to me, as if they know my leg and head are stinging from the stones and my knees are wobbling, and they’re stopping to help me escape, and maybe block the way if Brenner comes after me again.

p12 The Best Thing, as always Margo Lanagan is outstanding.

2009-07-07T02:29:00.001+10:00

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about library company…

Buddy borrowing Becca asks…Who, if anyone usually accompanies you to the library? Is it somewhere you go alone? Or is it a regular outing with family or friends? Which do you prefer?

Hmmm library company…? I can think of one person with whom I’d share a library trip (having been there several times with my buddy borrower) but actually not that many other people. I talk a lot (ask anyone who knows me) and I get too distracted doing that to concentrate on book blurbs, so my borrowing is not all that successful with a friend. I prefer alone.

When the tin lids were little I'd have lots of company but the visit was for them so it didn’t matter if I was distracted as I wasn’t really trying to find something for me. When I think about it those were my fav times in the library… with my kids, getting them fired up about books. My son would always take longer so that gave me time to read some books to my girls and exchange them on the spot for new ones.

The library and my kids what great memories…

So here’s what I’m going to do…

2009-07-06T17:33:00.001+10:00

There has been some very sketchy contributions on WeRead lately, you all know why, nothing I do has helped me get back to reading/commenting on everyone’s interesting blogs (that I love btw) and I’m starting to put too much guilt-pressure on myself to keep up …

So here’s what I’m going to do:

stop worrying.
go monthly (instead of weekly) for things like Friday Firsts and Top 3.
read more/comment less (so I’ll be lurking a lot).
focus on my fav memes – Musing Monday & BTT (I hope Becca’s okay there’s no Musing up yet and she’s never late).
stop worrying.

Eventually I’ll do those reviews, make those comments, get back into the blogosphere with gusto and I know you’ll all still be there and I am NOT going to obsess any more (I’m not, I’m not, I’m NOT!).

2008 BookFreaks

2009-07-01T17:30:00.000+10:00

May
Atonement - Ian McEwan

June
Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult

July
The Book Theif - Marcus Zusak

August
P.S. I Love You - Cecilia Ahern

September
The Mist - Stephen King
Black Juice - Margo Lanagan

October
Cloudstreet - Tim Winton

November
The Devil's Dictionary - Ambrose Bierce
The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

December
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

where did Tuesday go?

2009-07-01T16:46:00.001+10:00

I can’t quite seem to get back to normal, it’s frustrating and I miss the blogosphere. I haven’t visited anyone lately except Just One More Page, on Monday. I actually sat down just now to write my MM post a bit late and then I realised it is Wednesday! surely Wednesday’s too late but where did Tuesday go?!?

So I decided to catch up a bit by showing off my purchases (& my reason for buying them) on my birthday-treat shopping day to the Blue Dragon my new favourite second-hand bookshop. The shop owner is, I’ve been told, a librarian and she did very well not to shush us as we buzzed around her shop like kids in a lolly-shop.

The shop doesn’t have that sometimes yucky second-handishness, you know where you look at a book and wonder if someone’s been reading it on the loo, it’s more library-meets-new-bookshop with second-hand prices. All my purchases were in excellent condition some of them look like new. Next time i go I’m going to TRY and part with some of my treasures because of course she buys too and that way the bottom line is even smaller (I’ve never been able to part with a book voluntarily - we’ll just have to see about this plan!)

here’s what I got…

One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez (the fantastic title)
The Historian Elizabeth Kostova (the blurb)
The Best Thing Margo Lanagan (Margo Lanagan is my fav aussie writer)
The Time Traveler’s Wife Audrey Niffenegger (the nagging – Becca! I’ve read it and she was right to nag)
Persuading Aristotle Peter Thompson (I desire to be persuasive)
The Return of Merlin Deepak Chopra (the author’s gorgeous name)

And on the same day, in the post, arrived this book written by a distant rellie & dedicated to closer rellies (MGM’s cousins Roger and Jan)…

Reunion Andrea Goldsmith.

I’d call that a good day!

yes they are talking about eating each other!

2009-06-23T19:22:00.002+10:00

hosted by MizB @ Should be Reading.
* Grab your current read & let it fall open.
* Share 2 “teaser” sentences, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
* Share the title of the book… remember... **************************avoid spoilers please****************************
Please leave a link to your Teaser in my comments or pop on over to Should Be Reading and get tantalising glimpses of other reads.

This Teaser is from my current read – Time Traveller’s Wife Audrey Niffenegger (which I am totally enjoying!) p132

‘what about the Categorical Imperative?’ asks Henry.
‘Say what?'
‘You know the Golden Rule. Don’t eat other people unless you are prepared to be eaten.’

Okay, trying to get back to normal…must do weekly memes…

2009-06-22T16:14:00.001+10:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own.

Today, busy-borrowing Becca asks about library borrowing habits…

Do you restrict yourself on how many books you take out from the library at a time? Do you borrow books if you already have some out? Do you always re-borrow books you don’t get to?

I’m hopeless library borrower. I love libraries & have spent most of my working life in them, which is helpful when you’re also a hopeless returner. Working in libraries allows certain advantages; seeing all the new books come across the desk (& into my carry-bag), seeing interesting books returned (& into my carry bag), scanning the spines whilst shelving and finding many interesting reads that find their way into my carry-bag…you get the idea.

AND being able to renew all said carry-bag books without incurring fines is very helpful for a slow reader.

I find when I’m not working in one (as I am right now) I don’t borrow from libraries much because I hate the due-date pressure. I read so slowly (am amazed by bloggy friends who read multiple books in a week) and mount TBR is so huge – I have plenty to be getting on with without a visit to the library.

That’s not to say I don’t miss the library like an amputee…

I’m not back yet, but nearly…

2009-06-16T13:12:00.003+10:00

Just popping my head up to say thankyou for all your kind thoughts. My mother-in-law died last Friday. She was that rare breed of in-law who manages to walk the fine line between overbearing and disinterest.

Her amazing capacity for unconditional love allowed me to feel loved like a daughter rather than daughter-in-law. She was a woman of definite ideas that were tempered by her ability to accept other points of view and alternate life-styles. Even when her grandchildren didn’t do things in the ‘right’ order she never judged – just loved.

It’s time like these when one relies on faith – could not get out of bed in the morning without God by my side; books – to take me some place safe, distant and distracting; and friends.

My friends (you all included) have been praying for us, I know because I can feel it, and helping out in practical ways too. We’ve had meals dropped in, and flowers and people stepping in to do things we’d normally do to give us time to catch our breath.

And then there are days like yesterday that will stand out in my memory as beacons of hope in a fog of grief. Two of my booky friends took me out to a bookshop and craftshops and lunch. This was to celebrate my birthday which happened to be just four days after Mum died. It was so good during last week to have something to anticipate, and now to look back on, as not only brief respite but a reminder that it is okay to smile and laugh and one day smiling and laughing will come naturally.

- will share my book purchases soon (seven books in one go – The Blue Dragon second-hand bookshop is my new favourite bookshop!).

R.I.P.

2009-06-09T12:11:00.001+10:00

We read has had a death in the family so things here will be quiet for a while. Will see you all when I come out from under the cloud of grief.

Sunday too far away

2009-06-08T02:32:00.001+10:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own.

This week not before-bedtime-Becca’s post is about reading time…

Do you have a set reading time (before bed, perhaps)? Do you read more at night or during the day? Is there a day of the week, perhaps, that you set aside to catch up on reading?

When I was studying my reading day was Sunday. Up early-ish, off to Church, family lunch and then I’d high-tail it up to my bedroom sanctuary for unadulterated reading. It is a practice I’ve continued.

My family got so used to my departing with book (sometimes with unseemly haste) that they don’t seem to mind me disappearing on Sunday afternoon – so long as I resurface in time to cook the Sunday roast for our evening meal – Sunday dinner is sacrosanct.

I don’t have a lot of time at my disposal in the daytime for luxurious reading so I’m inclined to read anywhere, anytime. I’m never without a book…picking up the kids, waiting for the kids, watching the kids play sport (not popular if caught in the act), waiting in line, brushing my teeth, drying my hair, well you get the picture.

And then there’s bedtime, can’t go to sleep without reading. I do sometimes go to bed early to read although that usually means I’m still reading in the wee small hours. At other times I can only mange a couple of lines.

what about you when do you read?

Friday Firsts is now monthly…on the First Friday of course!

2009-06-05T14:09:00.001+10:00

* Copy/paste the question and button.
* leave a comment and link to your post.
* Join in with the intermittent puzzle, (look for the answer the following FF). First correct answer = 1 pt. A prize will go out on FF 1st anniversary ! (track your progress on my sidebar)…

When was the first time you thought ‘I can do that’ and put pen to paper for your first work of fiction? Care to share yours I’d love to read some new stories.

Puzzel: On a cold day in April what time were the clocks striking

only fifteen?!!!

2009-06-04T23:55:00.003+10:00

BTT is a long running bookish meme. To join in pop over and read the 100's of interesting comments. This week's question ...

This question inspired from Shelley’s blog, and what a great question it is too! “This can be a quick one. Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.”

So here goes 15 books in no particular order that will stay with, I’ve got the timer going, 15 minutes starting now…

1. To kill a mockingbird (always my go-to book)
2.The Bookthief
3. The Great Gatsby
4. The Lord of the Flies
5. The Lord of the Rings
6. The Crystal Cave
7. The Lymond Chronicles (okay, I know, not one book but Lymond is inside my head complete and gorgeous)
8. The Year of Wonders
9. Dune
Am panicking now because I don’t want to forget something special before I'm out of time!
10. Rebecca
11. Here be Dragons
12. Sense and Sensibility
13. The Belgariad
14. The Potter’s Field
Last one... oh oh which other of my loved ones makes the grade….
15. Watership Down

this was fun, I love thinking about my treasured reads but I’m sure I’ve left some off the list and they’ll be all ‘boo hoo you don't love me anymore’ – really I’m not that weird but I am convinced that inanimate objects have feelings.

What about you, what are your first fifteen favourites? Bye now I’m off to read everyone else’ s over at BTT (to see what I forgot).

coming late to the party

2009-06-02T17:11:00.002+10:00

hosted by MizB @ Should be Reading.
* Grab your current read & let it fall open.
* Share 2 “teaser” sentences, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
* Share the title of the book… remember... **************************avoid spoilers please****************************
Please leave a link to your Teaser in my comments or pop on over to Should Be Reading and get tantalising glimpses of other reads.

My teaser, from a book everyone already seems to have read…

However, my positive opinion of his looks was damaged by the first words out of his mouth. ‘You’re Isabella Swan aren’t you?’ It was like the first day of school all over again

Twilight Stephanie Meyer p 103

Save me from the Epic Fail

2009-06-01T18:17:00.001+10:00

Musing Monday is hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own.

This week Bored-before-the-end-Becca’s post is about sticking with it…

How much time (or how many pages) do you give a book that you aren't really enjoying before you'll set it aside? If you're reading it for a book group discussion, or for review, will you give it more of a chance then, say, a book you're reading for your own interest? Why, or why not? (courtesy of MizB)

My friend Renae says there’s too many books and not enough time to punish yourself with a book you’re not enjoying and I DO try and follow this sage advice. Now you know there has to be a BUT coming didn’t you?…okay…BUT I often find myself slogging it out because of the epic-fail thing, I just hate giving up , on anything.

Becca commented on our last book club where some of us didn’t read the book. I finished it for a number of reasons:

1. it was a Booker prize winner and I’ve found award-winning books are worth the struggle. This theory was proven by The God of Small Things because it’s one of those books that stays with you and gets better the more you think time you spend in contemplation of its merits.

2. I don’t like going to bookclub with an unread book because of the teasing :) we didn’t tease each other about The God of Small Things though because so many found it a struggle and it’s a credible response to a book – no I didn’t like this one. (AND it’s a very laid-back bookclub full of lovely people who really just want an excuse to get together).

3. It was recommended by my good friend Tracey who seems to know what I’ll like because all of her recommendations have been right on so far.

4. I hate the feeling of failure when I can’t get through a book.

There are some books I can happily apply Renae’s rule to and give up on with a feeling of liberation. If the writing’s bad, moat small r romance, if it’s formulaic, has abundant swearing (b-o-r-i-n-g), or if there’s too much sex (yawn) I don’t waste my precious reading time. If it falls into one of these categories and is a bookclub nomination I’ll give it more of a go than otherwise but that’s so I can argue my point with conviction – I’m also a firm believer in never condemning a book I haven’t read.

Friday First NOT!

2009-05-29T19:06:00.001+10:00

sorry Friday Firsters too much life not enough living going on at We Read will be back next week…hopefully!

take it or leave it but I know Freda so this was a MUST read

2009-05-28T02:47:00.003+10:00

Freda: A Biography of Freda Whitlam by Noelene Martin
Length: 319 p
genre: biography
Tone: conspiracy
Rating: **Shrug**

Fav lines: For moments like this, I always kept a supply of books that I had read before on hand. They included dome children’s books, but all were books I had previously enjoyed. I knew when I read them again, they would lift my spirits. p267

Freda has lived an amazing life and not just because she was the sister of the Prime Minister of Australia, although she did enjoy some perks that went with that relationship. She studied at Yale, spent missionary-time in France, was the principal of PLC Croydon for 19 years, and was a leading light the Uniting Church. She speaks at least for languages, has multiple degrees including an honorary doctorate from the university she helped establish – UWS.

She has had great highs – travelling the world, meeting important people Indira Ghandi for example and great lows usually at the hands of the unscrupulous or the petty-minded. Some of the lows she’ brought on herself but equally she can claim to having made the highs happen too for if nothing else Freda is an independent woman.

Knowing all of this make me feel a voyeuristic because Freda goes to my church and sits on several committees with me. Like many who meet her I’ve at times been a bit intimidated by her intelligence and position. At other times I’ve been angered by her handling of certain situations and then again I’ve rejoiced at having her in our midst because she is wise and clever and willing to lead. But now all of these responses fall into place because, after reading this book, I feel I know her a little better (or a little too much).

Not being a fan of the genre It’s hard to judge how this book sits within the context of biography. I know the author too and while I think Noelene did a great job capturing Freda ‘warts and all’ I think her editor let her down. Maybe I have expectations too high in this day and age of texting and general mutilation of the language but the syntax is just too lax, there’s some typos and there’s some jarring subject leaps that detract from the overall cohesiveness. This is a pity because Freda’s story is an interesting one…from the jacket blurb ‘she has been a leader in education and the Church, a leader of women and a force to be reckoned with in Western Sydney…pithy, witty, intimidating, sometimes eccentric’ Freda will inspire you so I’d recommend this if you like biographies and are not too much of a pedant about the writing.

To buy or not to buy

2009-05-25T14:08:00.001+10:00

Musing Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Becca of Just One More Page. Pop over and read lots of interesting comments & post your own.

This week Birthday-Book-Buying-Becca asks…

Do you give gift certificates to book stores as presents? If so, do you give for actual stores or online stores? Do you like to receive them yourself?

In general I’m not a big fan of the gift certificate which I regard as a lazy present giving. I like to surprise people with a gift that suits them but if I’m stuck I’d rather give up on the surprise, ask what they want and get it rather than giving a voucher and letting the receiver slog it out at the shops. This probably comes both from my loathing of shopping and living with a Mum who put a lot of thought into what she gave. She never had much money and it was always a challenge for her to get something the receiver would appreciate without wasting precious, scarce resources on something that would be admired once and quickly cast aside.

For book-lovers, however, I do break my self-imposed gift voucher ban, always for actual shops rather than online. Firstly because I can see the charm of book shopping as part of the gift and, secondly, I can appreciate the guilt-free-ness of going into a bookshop armed with the means of purchasing a much desired book (without having to dive into the grocery-shopping money).

This is not a general rule for book lovers though. For younger ones I like to buy a book for them and am honoured when they read it and are amazed. My son preferred me to choose books, rather than vouchers, for a long time because he said I knew better than he did what he’d like.

I L-O-V-E getting bookshop vouchers and can totally relate to Becca's love of just having a voucher. I feel empowered by knowing I have a voucher in my wallet because, when I’m browsing, I can pick up a book knowing I can possess it – which makes a difference even if I don’t go home with said drooled over book. I can’t manage to hold on them though, if I’ve got one I try to make it last over several shopping visits but can only stand back in awe at Becca who seems to be able to hold on to one for 12 months!

Top 3 by the C

2009-05-25T01:06:00.001+10:00

My top 3 responses by the commenters extraordinaire on my blog.

1.Mary said: Looks like I may need to add Roger Ackroyd to my TBR list.

Mary if you’re a who-dun-it fan this is a must for your TBR shelf!

2. Nise' said about my TT: A great teaser! We have a wonderful lady at church who is in her 80', has never been married and says she never felt the need for a man. It must be a generational thing because Freda is also in her 80s, part of my church family, sister Australia’s 21st Prime Minister. Strong, independent & happily single.

3. Whilst I lovingly refer to my good friend Becca as the Guru she, somewhat deflatingly, refers to me as ‘dork’ you didn't have to go back and edit it, you dork…of course I had to edit I’d hate to disappoint!

First-to-hand first

2009-05-22T16:03:00.001+10:00

* Copy/paste the question and button.
* leave a comment and link to your post.
* There'll a puzzle, sometimes, answers next Friday. First correct answer = 1 pt. A prize will go out on FF 1st anniversary ! (track your progress on my sidebar)… *Lastly let me know what you think... got ideas for improvements?

I was in the bookshop last night (I know you’re all surprised & shocked) and I had 19th Wife by David Ebershoff in my hand and the first line is DDG (Drop Dead Gorgeous) r-e-a-l-l-y made me want to read it was such a great teaser. So this week, as I’m so late getting this up, let’s have an easy FF…grab the closest reading matter to hand and let us have a first line teaser. I can’t give you the 19th Wife first line because I put it back …I know… can you believe it! Poverty has reduced me to pragmatism.

So this is mine (from my .20 purchase). Still I remember that homecoming we had, when we rode back to Aber from the assembly of all the chieftains of Wales, in the spring of the year of grace, one thousand and fifty eight.

The dragon at Noonday Edith Pargeter

Last week we had a choose your-own-adventure first line and this is what the contributions from Dianne, Nise', Becca & Vicki (no link - sorry I can’t access your profile) add up to…with a bit of help from me…

Andrew was worried about the piercing because the warning gave him a terrible sinking feeling that perhaps he shouldn’t have attempted pierce that part of his anatomy on his own.

What fun & it’s a good start which I’ll work on towards a short story.

Puzzle: who has ‘just returned from a visit with his landlord’ having found himself in desolate countryside far from the ‘stir of society’? A: Nise’ was correct, it was Mr Lockwood. Dianne was on the right track, the quote was from Wuthering Heights but as it was a ‘who’ question I’m giving the point to Nise’…ah the devil’s in the details. :-)

I can always pretend

2009-05-21T23:42:00.001+10:00

BTT is a long running bookish meme. To join in pop over and read the 100's of interesting comments. This week's question ...

What book would you love to be able to read again for the first time?

I’ve never thought about this before, usually I’m more focused on what can I get out of a re-read that I missed the first time. The first book the comes to mind is The Booktheif . Zusak’s brilliant turn of phrase and imagery to die for (bit of a pun there) is so refreshingly different that it blew me away and I’d like to have that feeling again although it’s so good I’d probably come at it for a re-read and still be blown away.

If I was into who-dun-its then I suppose reading Christies’ The Murder of Roger Ackroyd would be a good one to read again for the first time.

Spoiler alert….

I totally did not see that ending coming and I will never completely trust a narrator ever again. I’m not a fan of the genre, I find it a bit too formulaic.

I would like to read LOTR with fresh eyes though. It was such a great experience being in Middle Earth for the first time, ah but then it’s always good to go back – & I can always pretend I don’t know who Strider is!

2009-05-21T15:45:00.001+10:00

This is a great time of year to be booky in Sydney. The SWF brings all things literary into the mainstream media. You’ll hear famous authors who’ve travelled to the antipodes being interviewed on the radio & see them on the tellie.

Germaine Greer is on town, heard her on the radio yesterday what a fascinating woman she is; David Ebershoff, who wrote the international best seller 19th Wife (can’t wait to read that); Kazuo Ishiguro and a host of international clever people mix it up with our clever locals to present lectures, workshops, conversations enough to inspire anyone.

If I had my druthers I’d go and see those I’ve already mentioned and Margo Lanagan, David Malouf, Garth Nix, David Williamson. This year, as I’m not working, I promised myself a SWF emersion but it all looks good on paper. When it comes right sown to it, fitting all this culture into my Mum-schedule isn’t easy. I did go last night with my good friend Becca to listen to Catherine Jinks in discussion with Phillip Gwynne at our local library. I love listening to writers talk about their art.

While I was there, or more importantly while Becca was with me, I had to check out the sales shelves. You know how some people get all the great stuff at sale price and then get extra knocked off the price because they fronted up at just the right time? Well that’s NOT me. Not only am I a terrible shopper – I often don’t find anything at all to buy.

Not Becca! She finds all the must-have books at .20 or less, it’s okay because it couldn’t happen to a nicer person. So last night I used her shopping skills to the full and came home with 4 books for under a $1.

Victorian Literature: Selected Essays Robert O. Preyer ed. The English Novel: Form and Function Dorothy Van Ghent. Eat Pray Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Elizabeth Gilbert. The Dragon at Noonday Edith Pargeter

who needs men? well me… but Freda stands on her own two feet!

2009-05-19T13:15:00.001+10:00

hosted by MizB @ Should be Reading.
* Grab your current read & let it fall open.
* Share 2 “teaser” sentences, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
* Share the title of the book… remember... avoid spoilers please
* leave a link to your Teaser in my comments or pop on over to Should Be Reading and get tantalising glimpses of other reads.

My teaser

Once when asked about her single status and if she had any regrets at never marrying, Freda simply shrugged. ‘After the war there were so few men around, I decided to leave them for the women who needed them’, she said.

Freda: a Biography of Freda Whitlam by Noelene Martin.

We Read

Rebecca

2010 so far

Becca reminded me

Tomorrow When the War Began

84 Charring Cross Road

think Wendy THINK!

confessions of an ersatz blogger

The Other Boleyn Girl

too many books, so little time

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

Happy New year

2009 wrap up

If you use a circular saw blade as a book mark I’ll waive the overdue fees.

read the signs…please

‘Tis the season

a whole new world at my fingertips

all about the shabby

Burn baby burn

My Christmas cunning plan

christmas present potential

Wicked Cover

school days

classic characters

Teaser Wednesday - doesn't have quite the same ring does it

Musing on Monday

life IS too short

Cover attraction

more shelves please

10 best(?) firsts

It’s all about them

Teaser Tuesday

In the book I’m reading at the moment…

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

cover attraction

Reading or the book

Teaser Tuesday

Musing Monday

Death Sentence

love a good list

If wishes were horses…

If wishes were horses, poor men would ride

Fabulous Firsts

under construction

wish-list wonder

covers of covers

a Fairy for Becca

life's a puzzle

First Friday Firsts

could it really be only Tuesday?

library thing

Top 3 by the c

The Best Thing

stand back I’m on a mission!

Guru, you may regret asking this question…

pop quiz

Cover detracttion

2009

Time Traveller’s Wife

I know it’s Friday but…

cover attraction + blurb attraction = purchase

Now monthly on the First Friday (of course)

* Copy/paste the question and button. * leave a comment and link to your post. * Join in with the intermittent puzzle, (look for the answer the following FF). First correct answer = 1 pt. A prize will go out on FF 1st anniversary ! (track your progress on my sidebar)…

No! not another book…I’m not listening

So here’s what I’m going to do…

2008 BookFreaks

where did Tuesday go?

yes they are talking about eating each other!

Okay, trying to get back to normal…must do weekly memes…

I’m not back yet, but nearly…

R.I.P.

Sunday too far away

Friday Firsts is now monthly…on the First Friday of course!

* Copy/paste the question and button. * leave a comment and link to your post. * Join in with the intermittent puzzle, (look for the answer the following FF). First correct answer = 1 pt. A prize will go out on FF 1st anniversary ! (track your progress on my sidebar)…

only fifteen?!!!

coming late to the party

Save me from the Epic Fail

Friday First NOT!

take it or leave it but I know Freda so this was a MUST read

To buy or not to buy

* Copy/paste the question and button.
* leave a comment and link to your post.
* Join in with the intermittent puzzle, (look for the answer the following FF). First correct answer = 1 pt. A prize will go out on FF 1st anniversary ! (track your progress on my sidebar)…

* Copy/paste the question and button.
* leave a comment and link to your post.
* Join in with the intermittent puzzle, (look for the answer the following FF). First correct answer = 1 pt. A prize will go out on FF 1st anniversary ! (track your progress on my sidebar)…