I've been reading

Because I mostly read ebooks, I don't have photos of book covers and don't want to take them from other locations on the web without permission. I apologise for the lack of pictures but it is, after all, a post about reading! LOL

 The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society is the one fiction book that I have read lately which stands out; not because the writing was particularly brilliant, but because it is set in post-war, previously German-occupied Guernsey -- something I've not thought about before. It's a simple story, told well enough to become compulsive but easy reading.

The book is obviously popular, over 10,000 people on LibraryThing have read The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society. The book was written by Mary Ann Schaffer, a retired librarian in her seventies who died before the book was published. The revisions were done by her niece, Annie Barrows. Written in the format of letters, it is an unusual format but works well in this case.

While travelling to my mother’s earlier this month, I finished the first section of Mao’s Last Dancer (by Li Cunxin), the autobiography of a poor Chinese boy who became a famous classical ballet dancer. I have not seen the movie and probably never will now that I am reading the book. I am actually reading this book in print format; perhaps that's why it's taking me so long to get through it! ;-0

While sitting around the motel room in Moree after mum's surgery, I read Head Over Heels (by Sam and Jenny Bailey). It is the biography of an Australian country boy who dreamed of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a farmer – and how he reached his goal despite becoming a quadriplegic in a dreadful car accident when he was just nineteen.

Currently I’m reading another Australian book: In Search of A Wild Brumby by Michael Keenan. Brumbies are wild horses, introduced to Australia and considered by some as pests.

I also have in my pile of non-fiction books, Life at the Edge and Beyond: Living with ADHD and Asperger Syndrome (Jan Greenman) -- this directly impacts on my family and I really need to take the time to read this carefully.

But wait .... there's more!

How can one go to the library and not borrow craft books, more specifically books related to stitching! At the moment I am being inspired by these four:

• French Girl Knits (Kristen Griffen-Grimes) -- a book of patterns, two of which I would like to knit
• Design Your Own Knits in 5 easy steps (Debbie Abrahams) -- I need more time to take this one in!
• Long and Short Stitch Embroidery (Trish Burr) -- also known as needle painting, thread painting or silk painting; I would love to learn how to do this but not right now!
• Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again (Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston) -- a book written by two well known quilters with two very different styles; I love it and have added it and its predecessor to my wishlist!

 If you're over at LibraryThing and want to take a look at my whole book-list (I am adding to it slowly), I am, not surprisingly, ellebee57.

What are you reading?
Did anyone give you books this Christmas? 

What have you read lately?

In between baby sitting and knitting, I have finally caught up with all 113 blogs that I follow. That is probably a bit misleading -- there are blogs on my reading list that have not had posts published to them for months. But there were also blogs on my reading list that I have since deleted -- I found I wasn't really reading their posts, just skimming to see if there was anything interesting, then moving on without commenting. It was time for those blogs to go! It's hard enough to keep up with the blogs that really interest me and still find time for my other hobbies!


I have discovered a site called librarything.com where I can record what books I am reading and get recommendations for further books based on the books I read. Of course, the site can do other things too, but at the moment I use it as a database of what I'm reading and have read.

I have finished The Distant Hours by Australian author, Kate Morton. This is probably the best piece of fiction that I have read in a very long time. If you haven't read it, and you like mystery/suspense (it's not a detective story nor is a "horror" story), then I can highly recommend this. I certainly look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Since then, I have read several ebooks which I have borrowed from my local library and read on my iPad.  The rest of this post is taken up with a  list of books I have read and my 'review' of them.

Feels Like Home by Maggie Shayne was listed as a "Silhouette Sensation" which meant nothing to me -- but I soon discovered it meant the author was a bit more detailed in descibing the couple's intimate moments than I feel is necessary. One particular scene could easily have been omitted and the main story would not have lost anything. Obviously, this is why the book is called "sensational"! The basic story line (romance/thriller) had me reading as fast as I could to the last page to find out how the story worked out. Of course I knew it would but just how was what kept me reading! Even though I enjoyed the plot, I will not be in a hurry to read a book by this author or from the "Silhouette Sensations" collection again!

Then for a change of pace I read Anh Do's biography, The Happiest Refugee. Ahn Do is an Australian comedian of Vietnamese descent. The book was his life story from his birth in Vietnam, through coming to Australia as one of the "boat people", to his childhood and teenage years in Sydney and finally to his successful career as a stand-up comedian. The book was always positive and upbeat, despite including some tragic stories; a light-hearted read that I easily finished in less than twenty-four hours.

After that, I read a detective story, Gently by the Shore, by Alan Hunter. This series of books has been made into a television series, starring Martin Shaw as Inspector George Gently. I quite like the TV series but I think the books are more rounded and bring more depth to the character. In this particular story, Gently's assistant isn't anything like the character we see on television. Nor is the story set in the north of England as the television series suggests. I enjoyed reading as Inspector Gently did his own thing, quietly and methodically collecting clues, following leads and finally, of course, catching the killer. I plan to read more of this series.

Not being one to stick to one genre of book, I then went on to read the novel, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. For some reason, I had thought that this was a light-hearted book, but it was soon apparent that this was not the case. It had me riveted to the storyline and I couldn't wait to read what happened next. I can see why it was turned into a movie but I don't think I'll ever see it -- movies of books I have enjoyed rarely turn out to do the book justice!

And finally, last Wednesday I finished an autobiography, Choosing to SEE: a journey of Struggle and Hope by Mary Beth Chapman, wife of Christian singer/songwriter, Steven Curtis Chapman. It is her life story but is centred around the loss of their five-year-old daughter through a terrible accident. I found it hard to put this book down. It has very short chapters and I would tell myself: "just one more chapter then bed". But I just couldn't stop reading -- and I finally went to bed at three in the morning!  I cried and cried while I read the second half of this book; real, heavy, sobbing tears. But that was okay, I had stuff I needed to deal with myself that I hadn't cried about -- so it was good to finally let go. The book is sad but it is, as the title suggests, a book about hope -- hope of eternal life and seeing their little girl again one day.
 
On Thursday evening  I downloaded Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's hard to believe that it's six years since this book was published -- but perhaps it only became popular after the movie came out in 2010. I haven't started reading this yet therefore I can't make any comment. I guess it will be a little like Under the Tuscan Sun; I found the movie a bit disappointing after all its hype so never read the book.

Well, that's what I've been reading -- what about you?

What's on your current reading list?

Just as with my knitting, quilting and sewing projects, I also have more than one "reading project" on the go.

On my iPad I was listening to The Wise Woman by George MacDonald, who was a favourite author of C. S. Lewis. This story was published in the nineteenth century and is described as a 'parable' or 'fairy story'. It was a little hard to get into because MacDonald's language is very descriptive but once the story got underway it was hard to stop!I finished it while doing some embroidery in Friday's beautiful spring-like weather.

I have since downloaded The Amazing Mind of Alice Makin by Alan Shea (read by Zoe-Anne Phillips), which is billed as historical juvenile fiction. Set in post war London, it follows Alice's imaginative life to which she retreats when her home life becomes unbearable.

Also on my iPad, I am reading The Distant Hours by Kate Morton.  This was recommended by Renee of "Sewn with Grace" and I am thoroughly enjoying it. It is described as a gothic novel but I'm not sure that's how I would describe it.

All three of these books were borrowed from my local library, as was the audiobook downloaded to my computer: Teacher Man by Frank McCourt (the author of Angela's Ashes). This as an autobiography about how he came through teaching to become a writer. It is a little hard for me to understand because it is being read by the author who has an Irish accent and I have to listen carefully - not ideal when I am using my sewing machine at the same time! Nonetheless, it is an interesting read.

My Kindle has all but been forgotten in the excitement of owning an iPad but there are books there too. I am in the middle of reading the classic Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. It's interesting but not compelling reading; perhaps that's why I left it several weeks ago. There are many other books stored on that device when I get to them.

And, yes, I still read books in print. At the moment I am reading two autobiographies: Mao's Last Dancer, which was loaned to me by a friend in my sewing class and Be Your Best, by Australian swimmer Geoff Huegill, which WM and I bought for DD. She has finished it and kindly loaned it to me.

I have dozens of books on my library wishlist, in my Kindle and on my "to be read" shelf. Oh for a few more hours a day! LOL

The current favourite book in these little guys’ house is The Red Tractor.

What's on your current reading list?

reality check

It's my own fault really. Not understanding the technology, I shouldn't have assumed; I should have checked the list of devices that I could use to read ebooks from my local library.

Kindle, my Christmas gift from my husband, is not one of them!

The Book Depository, my favourite online bookstore (because it has free shipping to Australia), also does not sell ebooks that can be read on Kindle.

I rarely buy books - the exceptions to this are gifts and craft books: I prefer those in printed versions so I can look at them over and over, in colour. Yes, I got one craft ebook for Christmas - I read that on my PC because the screen is larger so I could see the images in full colour but I would have preferred a "real" edition! (BTW, I'm not being ungrateful - I chose all four of those Christmas gifts myself and the ebook was the only format I could get of that particular book)

I had pictured being able to carry several books when I travel without the bulk of actual books. But I never planned on buying them: that's what my library membership is for, especially now I can download both audio books and ebooks (without leaving home).


So, what will I do with my Kindle?