Book Blogger Appreciation Week

So many books, so little reading time. How to decide which books to read and which one to read first.

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I visit a number of Book Blogs and have found suggestions for some amazing books. I also enjoy reading reviews of books I have already finished and to see how that reader's views compare with mine.

This is your chance to say 'Thank-you' to the writers of those blogs that you enjoy visiting.

If you are wanting to explore additional Book Blogs, then visit the 'Book Blogger Appreciation Week Blog' for a list of approximately 100 Book Blogs.

Zombie Chicken Award

Thanks to my friend Sherrie for conferring on me the 'Zombie Chicken Award'. I've been visiting Sherrie's 'Just Books' blog for the past year and have enjoyed reading reviews of an eclectic assortment of novels.

I'll paste in Sherrie's explanation of this award:

"The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken-- excellence, grace, and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all."


I would like to bestow this award on bloggers who's sites I enjoy:

Vivian at Green Cottage Gallery
joemmama at Life Happens While Books are waiting
Linda at Living, Quilting and Stuff
Mary at Ox
Elly at Mad for Patchwork

No Mad by Sam Moffie

Aaron Abrams has just spoken with his agent and has heard the best news a writer could hear. He rushes home to share it with his wife only to find her in flagrante delicto with his dear brother.

Distraught, Aaron grabs some basis supplies and his dog and drives off. After consulting with his agent, he sets off cross country to interview his college classmates for 'Yearbook', his next novel.

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I loved the premise of this book. While I have lost touch with most of my University classmates, I can't help but occasionally wonder what they're doing.

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Is it co-incidence or something more, that Aaron often hears songs that are appropriate to what he is thinking or experiencing at that given moment. Frequently during conversation with my children I have been known to break out in song that compliments the moment. There are approximately 45 song moments throughout the novel and I was pleased to find that I could recall and imagine most of them. The music is playing now, but Aaron recalls it from his past experiences. He realizes that his present life and his future is founded on his past, his history.

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I enjoyed meeting his kids and getting to know them through his calls to them while he was travelling. I didn't want his journey to end as I wanted to meet more of his classmates and find out what they had done in college and how that had led to what they were doing in the present. I was getting caught up in Aaron's book and at one point found myself thinking that I couldn't wait for it to be pusblished so that I could read it.

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This is definitely a fun book with the musical trip along memory lane, but also a moving story of a father and his relationship with his children. I was thinking that it would be amazing to have a CD with all the songs that Aaron mentions. Thanks to author Sam Moffie for this wonderful trip.

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And yes, the Crazy Horse Memorial is real.

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Read joemmama's review at Life Happens While Books are Waiting

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lional Shriver

When Deanna at the HarperCollins Facebook group suggested during July that we read this book free online at their Browse Inside feature, my first response was to give it a pass. I didn't really want to read about a kid killing his school mates. Out of respect for Deanna I decided at least I would go and read the cover blurb about the book.
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That's when I found out that the book wasn't about Kevin, rather it was about his mother and her thoughts surrounding her son and how she raised him and ultimately whether as his mother she was somewhat responsible for his actions.
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After the first few pages I was hooked. Yes, it is a tough subject matter, but it is part of our reality so I read on. I found that every so often I could identify with Eva. I suspect that many parents could if they are honest with themselves.
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I appreciated the way Ms. Shriver doled out the details of 'Thursday' bit by bit. Too much at once could have overwhelmed me. As it was I could digest the bits and was prepared when the next letter revealed more. The book is presented as a series of letters to Kevin's father.
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The last chapter was my undoing. The gift that Kevin gave to his mother on the two year anniversary of the murders had me crying. Up to this point I was convinced that Kevin was a psychopath with no chance of redemption and then he puts that box on the table. He does have feelings for what his did. I am convinced that he had been carefully listening to his mother all his life but that he had fought against her at every turn, now he was ready to end that fight and really listen.
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A very good read, though I won't recommend it for very sensitive readers or for someone who is feeling depressed.
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Browse Inside 'We Need to Talk about Kevin'
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Marie's review at Daisy's Book Journal

Thanks Deanna for suggesting this book.

Needlework Tuesday

Will I surprise you all if I tell you that I have started on a new scarf?

Well, I did. This is going to be another very colourful one. I am using more of the small ball of bits and pieces that I used for my daughter's scarf that I showed you last week. Difference is that there are 70 stitches, using 5mm 40cm long round needle. Every 10 rows I switch yarns. So 10 rows of the colourful stuff and then 10 rows off one solid ball.

Most of the yarn is worsted weight.

I am trying to knit 20 rows a day. Don't know how long I want this scarf to be, but as its rather bulky in my mind that means it has to be longer. And this one will have fringe on the end. Since its a tube, the fringe will serve to keep the ends closed.

Its going to be a nice snugly scarf for someone in the family...

I hope to get back to some sewing this week. Its been ages since I have put any blocks together. All I've done lately is a wee bit of mending and that's not really satisfying.

The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini

Lindiwe's neighbour, 17 year old Ian, has confessed and is convicted of killing his step-mother. After a year and a half, the conviction is quashed and he is released. Lindiwe and Ian meet up again and establish a sort of relationship. It all seems very casual and innocent, except that this is the period of Zimbabwe independence and there are tensions everywhere. Between whites and blacks, between blacks and coloureds, between army and non army.

Lindiwe is coloured and Ian is white. She is still a school girl and Ian is an ex-con. Lindiwe continues with her education at University while Ian travels to South Africa and finds himself work as a photo journalist. Years later Ian returns to Zimbabwe and bumps into her and they resume their 'friendship'.

I loved reading how these two develop their relationship. It just sort of seems to happen. A meeting and a soda, a visit to a museum, another day, a drive home from school. Other seeming random meetings.
There didn't seem to be any one moment when it went from a casual friendship with a neighbour to a 'relationship'. That matched how there were no specific rules for how the whites and coloured citizens related to each other. Each character in the story seemed to follow their own set of guidelines of how they chose to interact with each other.

Lindiwe attended a mixed school and by the time she was a University she had a very mixed assortment of friends from a number of countries. She is very secure in her interactions with them regardless of their race or career. When it comes to Ian , she is wondering if he finds the white girls and their smooth hair more attractive than her black hair. I didn't view this as a racist issue, rather of one woman comparing herself to others woman and wondering how she ranks in her lover's eyes. I enjoyed their moments of tenderness and Ian's concern for Lindiwe that was always evident. I felt that together they made a terrific pair that was much stronger than the two of them separately.

While many secrets were revealed in this book, why Ian's mother left him, what both fathers did in the military, others we were only left with clues. Rather like the country itself, it was still in the building process at that time and it had secrets that would only be reviewed in time.

For a reading guide, visit Irene Sabatini's site and click on links.

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Having started fencing in the past year, I decided that I needed to read some novels with fencing as a main theme. Where better to start than with the famous classic "The Three Musketeers". I downloaded and audio copy from my library and followed the many adventures of the four men.

This is such a well known novel that I'm going to assume you know the basic plot. The King of France, Louis Thirteen is on the throne, Anne of Austria is his wife, and Cardinal Richelieu is at the head of the church. The King's guards are headed by M. de Treville and the Cardinal has his own guards who ever seem to be in opposition to M. de Trevillle. D'Artagnan has travelled to Paris to seek out M. de Treville in order to petition to join the guards. If you want to know details of the plot and other than main character, please visit the Wikipedia site.

D'Artagnan seemed to me to embody all the good that one might hope to find in a young man. He was intelligent, generous, kind and chivalrous. I loved each of his companions, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. The other character who most caught my attention was Lady de Winter. She was the most despicable character I have encountered in many a book. As I was listening to the audio, I would mutter to no one in particular, "Kill the Bitch, stab her through her black heart'. It was my daughter who pointed out to me that the author must have been a really good writer to have created such a character that I could hate her that much.

I did have some interesting discussions at fencing class. I wanted to know if a fencer could sustain multiple thrusts through his body and live to fight another day. My coach determined that it would depend on where the hit occurred. That many would indeed be survivable barring infection.

This was a very long book (over 20 hours audio), but definitely worth the read. Now on with my quest to find more fencing novels.