Getting Back Into The Saddle

Okay then.  Let’s see long I remember to do this ;D

It’s been a rather weird week.  I cleaned as much as my creaky body could stand last week because on Friday my mum and her sister came for a visit for the first time in months. That was fine, it wasn’t too bad - until Friday when I sat on a hard chair while we had a rather scrummy lunch at our local pub. That set off my lower back, but unfortunately I had forgotten that I still had to start my mum’s mower (mine was having a time out at the local repair place) so they could show me how to get it going. Big mistake. The awkward pulling position, plus the low handles really chucked a spanner in the works. I spent Saturday with back spasms around the waist area, and it has only slightly improved since then. I’m using my Nurofen frequently, and if I didn’t have to do other things I might have considered cracking open the Panadine Forte for this.

But physical health aside, I was able to enjoy quite a few rereads - as well as discovering that one of my favourite shows has finally made it’s streaming debut on a platform I use! On the book front, I’m rereading the Kitty Underhay Mystery series by Helena Dixon. It’s an engrossing cosy mystery series set back in the 1930s. The characters are fun, and I just adore the setting of the Dolphin Hotel. A great series to curl up with on a chilly winters day. Then I made the mistake of starting to watch the remakes of Blithe Spirit and Rebecca yesterday and OMG, what a train wreck those are. I love the originals of both movies, plus the book/play, and I can’t believe how they screwed them up! So, I ordered the 80th anniversary edition of Rebecca (it was on special, and I couldn’t find my paperback) which should arrive by the end of the week *fingers crossed* for a reread. Thankfully I didn’t have to shell out anything for Blithe Spirit because when I moved my massive bookcase last week I remember tucking the small blue paperback of Blithe Spirit onto the shelf so I must dig that out (and my old dvd of the Rex Harrison adaptation) as a palate cleanser. The remake characters were not only totally over the top and cliched. It was truly a shock to watch these actors striving to recapture the magic of Rex Harrison, Margaret Rutherford, Kay Hammond and Constance Cummings and completely missing the mark! If you can’t improve on the original, then don’t touch it! Which then led me back down the rabbit hole that is YT as I searched for old videos I’d watched years ago as members of the booktube community ripped these to shreds - and rightly so. I honestly miss the days when Hollywood actually had original content and wasn’t full of shitty remakes, reboots or crappy sequels that nobody asked for *sigh*.

So that has been my week in a nutshell. Nothing exciting, just day to day life. Hopefully when I can get my butt organised and get a new desktop/laptop so I can start venturing back into making my little bookish videos. I do miss that interaction. And on that note, it’s late (for me) and my eyelids are just about dragging on the floor. So it’s goodnight, and until I see you next time,

Bookmail & Wrap Up

Sorry about the delay.  I've been having a few issues with the new Mojave OS ever since I updated my software from Yosemite.  It's been slow, and sluggish, and yesterday I couldn't force quit a program that was preventing me from shutting down the computer, so I had to pull the plug - oops, power outage.

Today I think I've gotten some of the kinks ironed out, but it's still so frustrating to feel like you're being held hostage by your iMac.  Finger's crossed I can actually shut down properly today.

Anyway, last week was quite a good week for me.  Two of the books I've been wanting to read - to see if I want to continue on with the series - were actually at my library.  I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but trust me, in a small regional country town, having any of my paranormal romance or urban fantasy series on the shelves is major.

I'm still on the fence in regards to Torpedo Ink.  I enjoy the overall story, but the messed up lives, the abuse, and the extremely graphic nature of these books is starting to get to me.  It's like the Anita Blake books all over again.  If you have any thoughts on the matter, let me know in the comments.  I'd seriously love to discuss this with anyone who is having problems with the direction the series is going in.

Thanks for taking the time to watch my videos, I hope to get more up soon.  And until I see you next time,

 

Making up for Lost Time

Apparently June was my reread Nora Roberts month!  Yep, once I hauled myself out of my reading funk with Shelter in Place, it opened the floodgates for rereading all my favourite NR novels from the last few years.

Birthright, Black Hills, The Search, The Witness, The Obsession. . . and Come Sundown?  I don't know how that snuck in there, but I didn't hate rereading it so. . . ?

However, this was only the first stop in my rereading binge.  Next I moved onto Ilona Andrews and had so much fun reacquainting myself with her Hidden Legacy books as well as the delightful characters in the Innkeeper Chronicles  *sigh*  Then it was onto Anne Bishop's A Novel of the Others series as I devoured all 5 books in two days - as well as ordering book 6,  Lake Silence - so I will have the complete set. 

I think I've gotten the rereading urge out of my system (for the moment), and have moved on to some new reads.  Last night I read Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer and found it to be a fun fantasy of manners book.  It's been sitting on my tbr shelves for at least 18 months, but I just haven't had the inclination to read it until yesterday.  So I struck while the iron was hot and read it while indulging by eating dinner in bed (yum!) and found it charming and sweet, in the nicest way possible.  Will definitely be looking for books 2 and 3 to add to my collection.

The weather here has been cooperating marvelously.  It's been very cold and foggy, with a couple of rainy days, which has lent itself to staying indoors and snuggling up on the couch with a couple of blankets - or making a nest in bed and whiling away the hours with a guaranteed comfort read, a couple of cats and a hot cup of tea.  Heavenly.

Anyway, that is all I have at the moment.  I need to get lunch in to oven so I'll say cheerio for now, and until I see you guys next time, 

 

Winter reading has cometh

A chilly Phrynekinns curious about the water on the INSIDE of the window!

Yes, my lovelies, Winter has certainly made itself known.  But in case I was in doubt the negative temperatures, freezing winds and excruciatingly blue skies were a bit of a clue.  On the plus side this has meant more time spent indoors - to escape the cold - snuggled up somewhere reading a book {at them moment I'm rereading the Guild Hunter series}.

In the past 4 weeks I have purchased a few items from Book Depository, but in small lots - none of those huge splurges I made last year, fun as they were.

Recently I bought two more titles from Susanna Kearsley's bibliography, The Shadowy Horses and Mariana.  Enjoyed both thoroughly.  While not action packed and full of adventure, they are a slow steady romance that always seems to comprise of a time travelling element.  Still quick to read as I need to know what happened, but not as exciting as my Urban Fantasy books.

Also added two new (to me) authors to my shelves.  Alice Thompson's The Book Collector, which sounds amazing, yet is rather on the shorter side, and Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers.  I have already started this Lord Peter Wimsey mystery as Sayers was a contemporary of Agatha Christies, whose Miss Marple books I'm reading this year.  Only a fraction of the way through this tiny book, but I'm cerainly getting my dose of snooty entitled upper-class attitudes with this little number.

Bought one pre-order this month, Shadow Rider by Christine Feehan.  Although I enjoy the way her books are written, they are all starting to sound the same - same alpha male, same in distress female... I don't know whether or not I will continue with this new series.  I'd like to read something different from her after all these years of same ol' same ol'.

Book Depository was full of good deals for me this month.  Found a heavily discounted edition of Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs.  I love the Mercy Thompson world.  The books are amazing, and full of the mystery, humor and romantic moments that I love.  However, this anthology of short stories was a little disappointing in that it only included one story from Mercy!  Yes, just the one - and it was tiny.  However, it is nice to have all the short stories from the associated series all in one bind up, so there's that at least.

Have been trying to stay away from the book section of Big W lately, but when you go through the checkout you have to pass a bin of bargain books.  So, while I was waiting in line, I caved and just started looking through it.  And, of course I spied a name I recognised.  Sarah Pinborough.  Luckily the title they had, Mayhem, looks to be the first in this series, trilogy?, and it sounded amazing, so for the princely sum of $5 it came home with me.

Oh, I did happen to win a book as well!  Yes, I seem to have had a little bit of luck with IG giveaways from Allen & Unwin ;-D This is only an ARC copy of The House Between Tides, and it's now on the shelves at my local Big W, but it looks, and sounds, so interesting that it's jumped up my TBR list and I'm hoping to get to it sometime this winter.

And finally, I picked up The Fireman by Joe Hill from Big W about two weeks ago.  This massive chunker of a book clocks in at 752 pages and has to be at least 2 inches thick!  A monster to be sure, but I am looking forward to reading it at some point in the future.

Which leads me onto my biggest disappointment on the book front.  It concerns the condition my AbeBook's items arrived in.  The first two to arrive, The Stand and Misery, were in fairly good condition, some tears to the cover, and yellowing pages.   However, I'd ordered the 'very good' condition copies so while I was annoyed, it was okay.

Then arrived Bag of Bones and Carrie.  This was the book that started me on the quest to get the six editions of the King Classics that Hodder released in these interesting covers.   Ah, Carrie... you weren't in 'very good' condition, and you reeked of cigarette smoke to boot!  Seriously, my whole unit smelled of disgusting smoke for days - and nothing I tried seemed to take the pong out of it.  Finally had to leave it outside for about 48 hours (sunny days and freezing nights!) but at least the smell came down to a barely detectable level.  Still not impressed as I am allergic to the smoke, so I had itchy eyes, scratchy throat and a stuffed up snoot.

So, that's what's been happening in my neck of the woods on the bookish front.  Making a new Book Depository order in the next few day - have my eyes on so many new stories.

Until next time,

First week gone already!

Hello fuds and duds!

I can't believe that the first week of 2016 has already gone.  It seems the older I get, the quicker it goes... {I really need to have a stern word with Father Time 'bout that}.  I was hoping to do more posts this year, but the carpal tunnel in my wrists, especially the right one, is putting this in doubt.  Hard to type with a wrist brace on, yet very painful without.  Will do my best however to get something up every now and then ;-D

On the book front, I've been busy re-reading Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling series.  Haven't touched it in nearly 2 years, but for some reason I had to read all ten books that are currently on my shelf (while putting the missing four on my wishlist!).  While I still have favourites (Lucas, Vaughan, Clay, Tally, Sascha, Sienna, Judd, etc), I have been enjoying every book.  Just borrowed Heart of Obsidian from my library - the only Nalini Singh book they had! - and have got a few more on Inter-library loan (ILL) just in case I can't find a copy in the mean time.  Can't wait to see what happens next.  Perhaps I'll start re-reading one of my other guilty pleasure series, paranormal romance of course, to pass the time.

In regards to my self imposed classics challenges, 'a year of Marple' has officially started, and although I'm only about 40 something pages in, I'm eeking it out.  It is so different from the adaptations that I've seen - and love! - because the POV is not from Miss Marple's perspective.  I suppose it will take me a while to get used to that, but seeing the world through the Vicar's eyes isn't that enjoyable at the moment.  He's a bit of a prat and I really don't like him that much.  Does not bode well for the rest of the book, but I hope that it improves once the hunt for the murderer is afoot.

My classic for the month is Playing Beatie Bow, and I won't be cracking that baby open until I've finished the Miss Marple.  Will try to get my hands on a copy of the 80's movie adaptation.  I have vague memories of it from Year 8 English.  More than a few moons ago. 

That about wraps up my reading week.  I will be ordering a few books tomorrow (3 at most) that I need to keep going with a series, or for my challenges.  Can't wait to get a few of them under my belt so that I feel more comfortable with mandatory reading lists.  Usually I'm just a read-what-you-feel kinda girl.

Anyway, I hope you're had a wonderful start to the year.

Until next time,

 

Christmas starting early this year

 

Hello my lovelies!

 

This is just going to be a rambling entry as I just can't seem to get myself into a bookish mood.  Still waiting for new things to arrive in the post, but I will show you three of my favourite non-bookish thngs I found this week.  

 

I'm getting into the Christmas Spirit early this year so I wanted to show you all my latest finds.  Firstly, I saw this online and immediately called my mum to see if she could find it in her area (I don't have a K-Mart here!) and yes, she bought it for me ;-D  I love it, and it is sitting on a box beside my computer desk until I decide exactly where I want it.  Then on Saturday I saw this cute Christmas ornaments, a little felt bird, and had to have it, then I remembered I'd seen some sweet hanging mason jars for candles a few days before, so I bought one to go along with the red theme I've got going this year.  I wanted things to decorate my bookshelves with, but they have instead found their way into my bedroom.  I've got the bird hanging from my lacy curtain, and the candle holder is currently on the box next to the ampersand light.

 

On the bookish side of things after the success of last weekend's TBR only reading binge, I just haven't really been feeling like picking up any other books from my massive TBR pile.  Instead I've been spending waaaay too much time on YouTube, and rereading some of my favourite books.  It's become a bit of a problem.

I was planning on doing something about that today, but it's overcast, and quite chilly for November!, so I'm sitting back on the bed, watching YouTube.  There  are plenty of things that really need to get done, but the weather has saved me from laundry duty, however I should have gone to the store this morning for a few groceries, but have decided to put that off until tomorrow so I can bask in the glory that is spending a lazy morning in bed so I can make the most of my favourite weather ;-D

Hoping that the postman delivers a book or two today - I ordered another handful of books, yeah! - and am still debating whether or not I should read the Song of Ice and Fire books before watching the TV series.  Yes, I still haven't read/watched it... and I own the books and seasons 1-4 on Blu-ray! {hmmm, a little off topic there}  So, I've got a myriad of bookish things to get done, read, or watch, but just can't seem to summon the enthusiasm to start any of it.  

Do you feel this way at times?  Let me know down below if you do, and what worked to get you out of your reading funk.

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

Time flies

via Shutterstock

I can't believe it's almost Halloween already!  This year is just flying by.  It seems the older I get, the faster the years seem to speed by.  I wish it would slow down... I wonder, who do I call about that?

Anyway, onto other things.  I've been a very bad bookworm the last few weeks.  I have more than a few books that have arrived in the mail - with a few still left to arrive!  And I get to pick up an armful of books over the next few weeks that I have had on layby at a local store (mostly mine, but a couple for Christmas presents).  Soon it won't be a case of buying a new bookcase or two, but moving into a bigger place so I can fit all the needed bookcases.

In other news, I have a few Christmas ideas gelling at the moment.  I want to get back into sewing and quilting (stupid carpal tunnel has prevented me from sewing nearly all year!), but I've found 2 smaller, and quite simple, projects that I will try before attempting something more complicated - and possibly painful.

Speaking of painful, I got in my annual redecorating funk and moved nearly all the furniture and bookcases around 3 weeks ago.  I like the new layout as I can experience morning sunlight in the lounge area once again, and I'm not in a dark corner hiding behind a bookcase when I sit on the sofa.  But I paid for this one-woman-effort with major nerve problems in my wrists.  Thankfully after a day or two the pain subsided - and it was worth it.  I love the open plan look.

Apart from that, not much else has been going on.  I'm waiting to see the surgeon at the hospital to see what they have to say about operating on my wrists (something I'm really not looking forward too), and in the mean time I'm going to try and catch up on some Halloween reading.

Speaking of, I finished the All Souls Trilogy this morning.  Absolutely adore it.  I have re-read the trilogy at least four, perhaps five?, times.  The only problem is that there are so many unanswered questions that I'm hoping Deborah Harkness is planning another book to resolve all the loose threads.  I don't care if it's 10 years in the character's futures... I just need to know! 

{Hmmm... note to self: perhaps a review is in order?}

Anyway, I'd better scoot and get on with my long list of chores.

Until next time,

 

PS - Oh, I forgot to mention that I won my first ever giveaway (online)!  Allen & Unwin were having a spring clean and I won a book on Instagram.  Was so excited.  I had nominated to get the book, Prick, but somehow ended up with Undermajor Domo Minor?  Caused a few minutes of confusion, but the synopsis sounded very intriguing.  Hope to get to it in November.

Freezing cold and a reading slump to boot

It's been about 2 weeks since I posted anything - sorry 'bout that - but I have just been so busy lately.  I've been a cleaning fiend, inspection by landlord, and between that, and the absolutely icy winds that have been howling in from the west, it's just been a really crappy time to read.  Now I know it should be the best weather for snuggling up in a blanket on the couch to read... however, when there is no heating in your home it's not really conducive for reading for any length of time.  So instead I have been bundled up in my quilted jacket, under some blankets, and watching old TV series that I like.  Yes, I'm under a blanket, but at least my hands/arms aren't out in the cold holding a book!

I'm hoping that this is either my last winter in this unit, or perhaps in this town (?), as although I do love the cool weather - I really do need either a warmer climate, or a place that has heating.  I'd even settle for a place that's draft proof.  But until then I've been re-reading some old favourites during the odd times that I've felt like reading.  I'm hoping to snap myself out of this little slump.  It's been so annoying.  I was so looking forward to Siren's Call by Jayne Castle to be released, but when I finally got a copy I read it and blah!  I've really enjoyed all the books in this futuristic paranormal romance, and yet this didn't do anything for me.  I'm hoping that it's just a result of being in a reading funk - and not that the book might be wishy-washy.

Oy, now I'm feeling blue.  Off to make some brownies I think.  Need a little chocolate-y goodness to cheer me up ;-D

Hope that your reading this month has been more productive than mine.

Until next time,

 

Mrs. Bennet - a realist and successful mother

After watching some of RonLit's YouTube videos about Jane Austen, I found myself longing to revisit the world of Miss Bennet and Mr. Darcy.  It's been about three years since I've picked up P&P, and I'd forgotten just how much I love this book.  

{Side note: Jane Austen must have been a most interesting person as the witty remarks her characters make, and her personal observations of their behaviour, are just as apt and amusing today as they must have been to her readers buying P&P hot off the press.}

Now, after watching these YouTube videos where the books are critically reviewed and picked apart on every underlying meaning, I feel a new regard for Mrs Bennet.  She has always been a character that I didn't really think much of - apart from the overwhelming relief that my mother is in no way like her! - and yet after thinking about it, out of all the characters who flitter across the pages it is she who is most sensible in her doggedly obsessive hunt to secure her daughters futures.

Just think in Austen's time a mother, daughter, wife or widow had no legal rights to remain in the family home after the death of the man of the house, especially if said estate was entailed to another distantly related male.  He has the power.  This unpalatable truth is brought home by the determination of Mrs Bennet to see her daughters married come hell or high water.  Why else would you consider forcing your daughter to marry the obnoxious Mr. Collins, or to blindly look the other way in regards to Wickham's deeds?  The fact that Mrs Bennet does shows you just how far a Regency mother will go to see her daughters futures secured.  I bet that if all her daughters were to have married men of Wickham's ilk she would not have thought of anything else but an overwhelming relief that her daughters were now married and she had done her job of seeing them all wed.

It is she, instead of her husband, who has the financial security of her daughters in mind.  Why didn't Mr Bennet put aside money for their futures?  Yes, he planned on having a son, but that's still no excuse as to why once it became clear that there was no son to inherit he didn't simply not set aside some amount annually.  Especially since he would have known to whom the estate would have been entailed to.  It speaks of a lack of understanding, and a selfishness in a way, that he just didn't think about their futures once he was gone.  He retreats to his library, escaping his reality and ignoring what he doesn't want to be true.  Yet, for all this Mr Bennet is a much loved character while his wife is not.

Thanks to RonLit and BooksandPieces videos, I now read Pride and Prejudice with a better understanding of Mrs Bennet, and although I think that she is still an annoying character of the highest order ... well, behind Lydia that is, I don't think I'll ever be able to read it without the understanding that out of all the characters, she is the only one that accomplishes her goals - to see your daughters wed.

Okay, that was way too deep and thought provoking for a sunny Tuesday afternoon.  I'm off to watch something lighthearted ;-D

So until next time my lovelies,