Humouress in 2017

1 of 10

Phew - made it safely over. Happy New Year everyone. Welcome in while I set up.

ETA: sorry - still on holiday and learning to cope with a new puppy. Will set up slowly.

25) Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken

July
✔       24) Jamie's 30 Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver
✔   23) Sky of Swords by Dave Duncan
22) Kingmaker's Sword by Ann Marston

June
21) River Secrets by Shannon Hale
20) Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken
✔       19) Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
18) Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith

May

✔       17) The Song of Homana (omnibus Shapechanger's Song) by Jennifer Roberson
✔       16) The Iron Trial by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
✔   15) Tashi by Anna & Barbara Fienberg
✔   14) King's Shield by Sherwood Smith
✔   13) Shapechangers by Jennifer Roberson
12) Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

April

✔   11) The Fox by Sherwood Smith

March

✔   10) Inda by Sherwood Smith
✔   9) Court Duel by Sherwood Smith
✔   8) Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith
✔   7) Lord of the Shadows by Jennifer Fallon

February

  6) The Head of Kay's by P. G. Wodehouse
✔         5) A Sorceror' Treason by Sarah Zettel

January

✔       4) Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
✔   3) The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
2) Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass
✔       1) Her Majesty's Wizard by Christopher Stasheff

July
23. 24.

June
19.

May
13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

April
11.

March
7. 8,9. 10.

February
5.

January
1. 3. 4.

The constellation:

  You have got to read this one!                          
  Really good; worth reading                                
      Good, but without that special 'something' for me  
       Very nice, but a few issues                                   
           An enjoyable book                                                                        
           Um, okay. Has some redeeming qualities                  
                Writing is hard. I appreciate the work the author did    
               (haven't met one - yet)                                               
                     Dire                                                                            
                     Rated only as a warning. Run away. Don't stop.               

ETA: huh - deffler stars aren't working. Will have to look into that one.

9 of 10

10 of 10

I'm in a bit of a rush and posting on my phone, but I vaguely remember that I used 10 posts setting up my last thread. Could be wrong.

Come on in, if you don't mind the mess, while I continue to set up.

Happy reading in 2017, Nina!
I will be back later to see what you have put in those 10 posts.

Happy reading in 2017! Dropping off a star :-)

Dropping a star, Nina!

Welcome back!

Happy New Year, Nina!

Happy new year, humouress!

I am part of the group.
I love being part of the group.
I love the friendships bestowed upon my by dint of my membership of this wonderful fellowship.
I love that race and creed and gender and age and sexuality and nationality make absolutely no difference to our being a valued member of the group.

Thank you for also being part of the group.

Happy New Year and happy reading 2017, Nina. Dropped a star.

Hi, Nina. Just stopping by to drop a star.

Adding my star to the pile, Nina.

1) Her Majesty's Wizard by Christopher Stasheff

(First of 8 : A Wizard in Rhyme series. Fantasy.)

(Re-read)



Set in an alternative universe where Remus founded the city instead of Romulus, magic is real and is fuelled by faith; therefore, saints and demons are real too and good and evil are real and active forces. Matt Mantrell is dragged here from our own universe and discovers he has a talent for magic. Along with a talent for poetry, which gives magic direction, this makes him a wizard. He discovers Alisande, the true heir to the kingdom of Merovence, and rescues her from the dungeons of the evil king Astaulf. Then it's a race against the dark forces to gather their allies and see Alisande proclaimed queen.

I was looking for something light to finish off the year, but this dragged a bit for me, I must confess. I think the fact that everyone spoke in archaic language (think Shakespeare) tended to slow it down. Plus, I'm not the world's greatest poetry expert, so I couldn't always tell when Matt was quoting or when he was making up his own so I probably missed quite a few references. Not one of Stasheff's best, I feel.

3-3.5 ***

Sorry folks; still busy settling the new little guy in. Our puppy is in the nippy, teething stage at the moment. He's friendly and just wants to play - but ow! those teeth are sharp. My eight year old tends to get nipped a lot because Jasper probably sees him as another puppy (I've been saying for years we didn't need to get a puppy because we already have him) and he can't stay still, so he kind of feeds Jasper's excitement. Any tips gratefully accepted!

>22 humouress: Get your eight year old some boxing gloves! Seriously though their bonding time is now and they'll probably be inseparable later. Puppy should have a few toys to chew instead of your eight year old.

>22 humouress: Puppy pictures? Daisy was a nightmare at the teething stage for a few weeks - she seemed to think that J's toes were the ideal thing to chew. They do get over it!

Nina--Good luck with the teething!! Found you and have you starred now. Happy 2017!!

2) Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass

This is a book of short stories exploring some of the secondary characters from her The Selection series which chronicles a process modelled after the "Batchelor" TV series, where the prince of Iléa chooses a princess from amongst the masses.

a) "The Queen"
The story of when Amberley (the queen in The Selection series) was herself selected. Basically the same story with the names changed except that she's been in love with her prince ever since she used to collect postage stamps with his face on them.

Passes the time.
3***

Quiet over in Singapore, Nina.

Hope everything is good and that I can get down for a meet-up before we move back to the UK.

3) The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

(First of 4: Books of Bayern series. Fantasy, fairytale, junior fiction)
(Re-read)



Grimm's tale retold, with princess Anidori as the heroine and the adventure fleshed out with heart warming stories of friendships.

Princess Anidori of Kildenree is betrothed at birth to save her small kingdom. Her mother, the queen, is distant but her mother's sister - reputed to be a witch - comes to the palace to help bring up Ani. She teaches the little princess and loves her, but when it is discovered that Ani talks to birds, the queen's sister is sent away. Ani grows up to be a dutiful princess and at sixteen, goes over the mountains to Bayern to meet her prince. On the journey, however, she is betrayed.

Eventually she reaches the palace of Bayern, but hasn't the courage to speak against her betrayers, feeling that she would not be believed. Hiding her distinctive hair, she gains a position as a goose girl, herding the royal geese, and gradually makes friends with others of her age in similar positions. Their friendship and loyalty stand her in good stead when she later saves Bayern.

Sweet and gentle, lovingly and delightfully written. Well worth reading. And re-reading....

4.5

Waving hello quickly and belatedly to Anita, Katherine, Mamie, doc, Diana, blue, Paul, Barbara, Robin, Micky, Rhian and Kim. I'll return your visits - soon - and take some puppy pictures.

They're a bit hard to take as Jasper is constantly on the move unless he's sleeping. I did get one (not a terribly good one, though) of a very muddy puppy. He takes any opportunity he can to get wet (though he's still suspicious of our pool) and has dug a small hole in our lawn where he stores his chew toys and our shoes. The other day we had to tie him up as we had workers in the garden, so he decided to nap in the hole, which was rather muddy at the time.

4) Enna Burning by Shannon Hale

(Second of 4: Books of Bayern series. Fantasy, junior fiction)



Following on from The Goose Girl but this time an original tale, this story focuses on Enna, who befriended and defended Ani/Isi in the first book. Not as gentle as the first book as there are deaths and killing (so it's more suitable for a higher age group).

Enna has returned to the Forest after her adventures of the first book. Her brother Leifer discovers how to talk to fire and uses it in defense of the realm when the neighbouring country of Tira attacks Bayern. Enna learns it from him but finds it harder and harder not to give in to the desire to burn. Fortunately, even through the intensity and confusion of war, her friends prove to be as loyal to her as she was to Isi in The Goose Girl.

A good sequel but, with the war and Enna's fire, more harsh than the first book.

3.5

I really enjoyed The Goose Girl so I'll have a look for Enna Burning. I hope you're all enjoying puppyhood - it's exhausting but it goes so quickly and they are so much fun!

Hi folks, I'm still around but life is still busy. Thank you for your messages Jenny and Diana. And my parents fly in tonight. They'll get to meet Jasper for the first time.

Reading is also going slowly; I'm currently reading Sarah Zettel's fantasy debut, A Sorceror's Treason which is written well enough but I keep putting it down. I think there's too much double dealing and missed opportunities for it to be fully palatable at the moment.

>33 humouress: Enjoy the meet-ups Nina - the new ones and the reunions. xx

Thanks, Paul.

5) A Sorceror's Treason by Sarah Zettel

(First of 4: Isavalta series. Fantasy)
(Re-read)



Bridget Lederle, whose mother disappeared only to come back to East Bay to give birth to her and who herself gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, keeps the light on Sand Island on the shores of Lake Superior, following in her father's footsteps. In the winter of 1899 she rescues a man from the lake who will change her life forever. When he tells her that she, and the magical power she has inherited, are needed to help save the dowager empress Medeoan of the fantastical land of Isavalta from her enemies, Bridget agrees to go with him. Her parents and daughter are dead and she has no family to leave behind except her mother's sister and no friends amongst the gossip mongers of Eastbay.

But it seems, when she reaches Isavalta, that Lord Sorceror Valin Kalami, has not been completely truthful with her.

This was quite a gently-paced book. I found myself putting it down quite often, probably because of the tension the double dealing and missed opportunities created in me. I felt as though the dowager empress was more pitiable than evil. The denouement was much faster to read as I raced to see if things were put right finally and I'm quite looking forward to reading the next book. I get the impression that this will cover Bridget's parents' story and the choices that Medeoan made in her youth.

A well-told story, worth persevering with. Isavalta seems based on Russia (with neighbours correlating to China and India), with recognisable elements of Russian fokelore, such as Baba Yaga with her hut on chicken legs.

3.5

Jasper photos; let me see if I can bring them across from my gallery ...



Jasper, 5 days after we brought him home.

Jasper this afternoon. Sorry - not sure how to rotate the photo.

Sorry, I still haven't managed to spend a lot of time on LT and still haven't come over to visit people. At the moment I'm trying to frantically catalogue the books in the club library that I volunteer in and trying to dragoon the boys into helping. We have a meeting with the general manager, president and vice president tomorrow and I've been hearing rumours from all directions that they want to close our library - so you can imagine that I'm rather upset, appalled, aghast and so on.

If you'd like to drop in at the HollandseClub home page on LT and leave a message of support, it might help. I've sent e-mails to patrons who borrowed books last year and their letters of support have started coming in - let's see what happens.

Jasper is adorable!

Lovely photos, Nina. Thanks so much for sharing them.

>39 humouress: I am sorry for the troubles at the library, what kind of support message would help?

Jasper looks lovely!

Thanks Micky, Barbara and Rhian. He does look cute; but - oh! - he's such a naughty boy. He's currently chewing his way through my doormat (which I'm fairly sure I brought all the way from Australia because I couldn't find the type I liked here), the charcoal from my orchid pots and occasionally my younger son, amongst other things.

Anita, thanks for your support. Actually, maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to leave a message on the club's page. The management weren't happy that we wrote to library patrons.

It does look like we're going to lose the library as it stands. Instead, they propose putting shelves of books in different locations around the club to 'increase access to books'. In a sense, I suppose it would, but they would have to drastically cull the collection and, as some of those locations would probably be outdoors, the condition of the books would deteriorate.

Myself, I can't see it, but maybe I'm too close to the issue. What do you think?

>44 humouress: Sorry to see that there are issues with libraries, Nina. Our part of the world is hardly a paragon when it comes to libraries - hence my bookstore adventures.

Have a lovely weekend.

>44 humouress: I think the only option is to get more people interested & active with the library to keep it. If numbers go up, it might turn the managemet around. Because it does sound like they don't care much about the books...

Thanks Paul and Anita. Looks like I'll have to get my brain in gear!

6) The Head of Kay's by P. G. Wodehouse

Just the tonic to sort out my headspace! I like PG's school stories better, probably, than his later books. It may be that the humour shines through to more advantage because the focus (by both reader and writer?) is on the story rather than the comedy.

Lots of fun. Made me chuckle.

5*****

Just catching up here! Love your trouble-maker--so cute! Good luck with the library. If it gets more people to take a book, great, but I would think it will be harder to track and manage.

Thanks Kim.

Well, the AGM is in a couple of weeks, so we'll see how things work out.

Thoroughly enjoying Jennifer Fallon's Lord of the Shadows, the third of her Second Sons trilogy. It's really got me back in the reading groove even though it's quite a chunkster. Looks like all the plots are coming together, even though they're still taking unexpected twists and turns, helped along by a few idiots who think they're cleverer than they really are.

7) Lord of the Shadows by Jennifer Fallon

(Third of 3: Second Sons trilogy. Fantasy)



The third and final instalment of Fallon's Second Sons, which focuses on Dirk Provin, the second son of the Duke of Elcast, and to a lesser extent Kirshov Latanya, the second and favoured son of Antonov, the Lion of Senet. The kingdom of Senet holds the kingdom of Dhevyn - of which Elcast is part - and the boys are first cousins through their mothers. Dirk, whose ambition had been to become a physician and heal people, is now unwillingly embroiled in politics because of Antonov's plans for him. However, Antonov is a fanatical follower of the cult of Shadowdancers which was created by their High Priestess Belagren to further her bid for power. One of her Shadowdancers is Marqel, an otherwise nameless Landfall bastard with whom Prince Kirsh is besotted, who will use any influence she can to claw her way to a position of greater security than she has heretofore enjoyed.

Dirk has also been recognised as a mathematical genius and the only other person apart from Neris Veran, who predicted the emergence of the second son from behind the first which 'miracle' Belagren used to found her cult. He plans to use the information to bring down the cult and end the rites she and her cronies created to perpetuate it which spread misery amongst the people of Senet and now Dhevyn. Marqel, while not as clever as Belagren, is just as ambitious and can see her way to using the same lies to climb to power, using anyone she can as she goes. Dirk has to manipulate these personalities and incorporate them into his grand plan to save the world, having to think on his feet when some of them have their own ideas. He is fortunate that the people who love him best trust him, even when it looks like he has betrayed them in a game they don't understand as he plays his cards close to his chest in an attempt to protect them.

While we don't see much of Kirsh, two characters we haven't seen much of before become major players in this book. One of them is Misha, Kirsh's older brother who is referred to as the Crippled Prince as his left side is weaker than his right due to a stroke in childhood.

The book rolls along at a rollicking pace and had me hooked, although I felt it tapered off a bit after the major religious event in the middle. Most people get their 'happily ever after's but some don't. The ending is quite satisfactory while indicating that life still goes on.

I found the entire trilogy gripping and I must admit to curiosity about the ruins at Omaxin, which indicate that the history of this world is linked to the future of our Earth. Worth hunting down.

"...Dear Goddess! What else is there left to do?"

"I want to find out if lions are real," he said.

I have to say I was disappointed that I couldn't get this last book of the trilogy with a similar cover to my first two. I really like the artwork on those, by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law.

4.5 stars

Missing you again Nina!

>52 humouress: I will have to check out the Fallon series. Thanks for the recommendation, Nina!

Hi Paul! Fingers still crossed for an actual meet-up sometime.

ETA: I shouldn't tell you, but I'm sure you've already found out, Kino celebrates 90 years in business this year - so hopefully that means more sale days and offers. They've expanded their main Singapore store - but the Sci-Fi & Fantasy sections seem to have shrunk :0(

Hi Satasia! It's good to see you back again. I'll have to finish my review properly. According to what other people have written, her Tide Lords quartet is even better, so I'll be looking out for that one. She's an Australian author, so I hope you can find her works.

Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith

(Omnibus edition. First and second of 3 (+2 prequels): Crown and Court series in the Sartorias-deles universe. Fantasy, YA)

(Re-read)



8) Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith

Told in the first person by Melissa, Countess of Tlanth, who has just inherited her duchy along with her older brother at the ages of 18 and 21. Though her education has been deliberately neglected and their duchy is poor, they decide to fight to save it from their corrupt king's policies - and end up taking on the kingdom. I like Mel's character, she's caring, determined and brave - if a bit stubborn.

9) Court Duel by Sherwood Smith

Having achieved her objectives, Mel retires to her castle to make repairs, indulge her passion for reading to fill the gaps in her education and put Tlanth to rights while her older brother, Bran, goes to court. But then Mel is asked to come to court, too, to see for herself how the kingdom is run and she has to learn to face new difficulties and dangers, including those of the heart.

5 stars

10) Inda by Sherwood Smith

I thoroughly enjoyed the previous duology and decided to continue on a Sherwood Smith kick. Though the flavour of this one is very different, it's just as captivating. (Still reading)

ETA: I had lots in my head to say about this book, but we went on holiday (to Bali - one of the advantages of living in The Region) before I could finish it. Since my books are too precious to take on holiday, I had to wait until we came back to read the last chapter. There are occasions when I wonder "Why would they do that?" But it's still a five star book for me.

5*****

See >63 humouress: below for the review I finally wrote

You are on a roll! Hope you like the third Smith book as much as the first two...

>58 Berly: I did, thanks Kim. Though set in the same world as the previous two, it takes place in a different country and earlier period of time and is quite different in ambiance, but still very well written.

It's the first of four books and a re-read for me, though I didn't continue reading the series last time - I can't stay in a world for too long or I get immersed in it and start applying it to real world situations. But this time I will be carrying on, even if I have to stagger my reading.

Or just Happy Sunday if that is not your thing. : )

Thanks Diana. Thanks Kim. I've missed it now, but belated Happy Easter to you too.

10) Inda by Sherwood Smith

(First of 4: Inda series. Fantasy, epic fantasy) (Re-read)



Set on Smith's world of Sartoria-deles, this series follows a time period in the history of the country of Iasca Leror. The first book focuses on Inda, son of the Prince of Chorad Elgaer, from the age of ten upto about sixteen. He lives in a martial society, the Iascans having recently (though not in living memory) been conquered by the Marlovans. Though the two races are now integrated, the nobles are descended from the Marlovans, and Marlovan is only spoken as a battle language. Marlovans specialise in cavalry warfare and are constantly fending off attacks by pirates and the sea-faring Venn (similar to Vikings), with whom they share their ancestry.

Inda comes from a noble family and, as such, his life path is very structured, including being brought up with his future wife (from another noble family) who will help organise internal castle defences, should the need arise. As the second son of a noble, Inda expects to grow up to defend his brother's castle while his brother defends their lands. As such, his older brother goes to be trained at the Royal Academy to learn to defend the country with the other land heirs while Inda stays at home. Traditionally, of second sons, only the king's second son is trained at the Academy - but when he is due to start, the king makes a surprise announcement and orders a group formed of noble second sons of a similar age to join him at the Academy. So Inda makes friends with Sponge. He also gets to see more of his own sister, Hadand, who is betrothed to the king's heir (known by his title of the Sierlaef).

This book is well written. Though it focuses on Inda and his friends, the war games they learn at the Academy and the pranks they pull, it is told from many points of view and gives an all-round perspective of the kingdom. We get to see some of Hadand's life and her training in martial arts and politics in defense of the kingdom. We see the thinking of a person in a position of power who, while unquestionably loyal to king and country, has their own ambitions and ideas of the future direction of the country. Though other people realise this, they cannot overtly move to block them. This person holds a secret grudge against Inda's family and, along with their plans for the Sierlaef, makes life difficult for Inda and for Sponge, who is the Sierlaef's brother.

Engrossing, very well worth reading. Epic and well written. At one point I found myself chuckling at a funny incident, and I realised it was probably the description of the ten year boys' reaction rather than the incident itself that got me laughing. I have almost finished the second book and am thoroughly enjoying it.

5 stars

11) The Fox by Sherwood Smith

(Second of 4: Inda series. Fantasy, epic fantasy)



I carried straight on to this book after finishing Inda, the first book in this quartet because I was enjoying it so much. Smith does characterisation very well.

This book takes Inda from the age of sixteen to about twenty. Now that Inda's life has expanded from his father's castle to his shipboard life, we get to see more of his world too. He applies the military genius that was evident from an early age to his new life, young as he is, and turns it to defending against pirates. His daring and success earns him a formidable reputation as 'Elgar the Fox' as he adopts the fox banner of the Royal Academy of his childhood.

In the meantime, we continue to see Inda's world through the eyes of other characters which initially keeps us in touch with events in Iasca Leror - the country, family and friends from which Inda has been exiled - and then introduces us to the politics of other courts on the Sartoran continent (which seems to be in the southern hemisphere as the warmer climes are in the north).

There is a bit of clearing of the decks in the middle of the book and one or two characters finally come into their own. I would have liked to have seen more of them, as they seem quite interesting; there was a throw-away (though plausible) explanation of why they are now so capable after having been non-players for so long.

5 stars

Glad you are enjoying the series so much!! Carry on...

Thanks Kim.

Today (Monday) was a public holiday, so I took a break from the series (I knew I was starting to get too immersed when I was listening to the news talking about wars and I was thinking about the story instead of real life) and I read Lola and the Boy Next Door, which is the sequel to Anna and the French Kiss that I read a few years ago. So that was fun and I think I'm ready to get back to the Inda series. I don't want to leave it too long so I don't drop any of the many threads of the narrative.

Sounds like you have your hands full with Jasper. Sorry to hear about the library problems!

Hope your weekend is going well, Nina.

>67 rretzler: >68 rretzler: Omigosh! I missed May the 4th! Well maybe we'll watch Rogue One again tonight. Thanks for dropping by, Robin. Jasper is learning, gradually, as are we. We've got a dog trainer now, and have instigated timeouts, which seem to have some effect but we still have a way to go.

As for the library, we had the AGM in March and have heard nothing else yet, so I'm not in quite such despair about it for now. We'll see what happens and until then I'll try my best to make it more exciting for people to come and visit.

>69 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Good to see you. The boys are a bit under the weather at the moment (coughs and colds; nothing major), which has actually resulted in a quieter weekend for me, since they didn't have to be chauffeured to their various activities.

Oops sorry - I'm urgently needed elsewhere....

12) Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

About Lola, whose heart is divided between Max, her bad boy older boyfriend, and Cricket, who comes back into her life after breaking her heart a couple of years ago.

13) Shape Changers by Jennifer Roberson

( First of 8 : Chronicles of the Cheysuli series. Fantasy, high fantasy) (Re-read)



This is the first book in the dynastic saga of the Cheysuli race and their drive to fulfil a prophecy that will see them restored to their full blood rights including throne of Homana.

Alix, a crofter's daughter, and Carillon, prince of Homana and heir to the Mujhar, are captured by a Cheysuli warrior and his wolf. Carillon's uncle, Shaine the Mujhar, declared a qu'mahlin (purge) of the Cheysuli race twenty five years ago and they are now considered demons in Homana. The Cheysuli men are warriors and share a bond with an animal familiar (lir) which allows them to take the shape of an animal of the same type as their lir. As war between Homana and neighbouring Solinde and Atvia looms, Carillon is allowed to return home but Alix remains with the Cheysuli where she finds a new life and learns how her tahlmorra (or fate) is intertwined with theirs and their prophecy.

I read this when it first came out and absolutely loved it. When I re-read it recently, I found it not quite as magical. However, rereading it again now, without the expectations inherent in rereading an all-time favourite, I see why I was enchanted with it the first time around. Of course, that frisson of danger, not knowing what is coming next, is gone, but I still thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and looked forward to getting back to it whenever I took a break.

Having said that, though, despite the feisty heroine, I wasn't thoroughly comfortable with women's role in this society and I did think Alix, at about eighteen years of age, is a bit of an idiot at times. Quite a few times, actually, but she does get things done. I thought the sibling mock-rivalry was nicely done.

Family tree (there's a bit of a spoiler, but that's revealed in the first 1/8th of the book anyway, so not a big one)

                                ___l___
                                |          |
                          Shaine   Fergus
                                |          |
      Raissa   Hale   Lindir   Carillon
|____| |____| |____|
    |          |        |
Duncan   Finn   Alix
hawk     wolf
(Cai)    (Storr)

4.5 stars

Sorry for the break; I had to rescue a shelf in the boys' room as the wood is breaking. And now my battery is down to 2%, so I'll have to disappear again soon.

I've been meaning to say we watched The Gods Must be Crazy a few weeks ago. And though the boys grumbled that we forced them to watch it as they went back to their room afterwards, we've all been recounting our favourite scenes and giggling hysterically ever since. Anyone remember it? The fashions (from the 80s) look dated, but the humour is timeless!

Nina! Somehow I never got your thread starred at the beginning of the year. Thanks for coming by and saying hi, so that I could find you.

>71 humouress: I loved all three of those books. Maybe a reread is in order. I hope you enjoyed it as well.

>74 ronincats: Hi Roni and welcome! I haven't been posting on LT much this year because real life has me quite busy. I'm making time to start going through the threads now, but I have a feeling I'll be lurking a lot even after I've finally made my new year greetings :0) Hopefully I'll still be able to pop up now and then.

>75 MickyFine: I think you were one (of a few) LT readers whose enthusiasm for the series made me start reading these books, Micky. I was thinking I might reread Anna, since it's been a while, but I've also got Isla waiting for me on my shelves.

>76 humouress: Either book is a good choice. :D

>72 humouress: Aha, Nina, I see you somehow got the tree working (without HTML)! It looks like you just used the | thingy with a bunch of ____ s. Very tricky!

>77 MickyFine: No help for an indecisive person like me. ;0)

>78 rretzler: And a heap of '& nbsp;'s! It works for now - but this is just book 1 of 8. As I remember, the tree is fairly linear, vertically, but it may get too wide later. Let's see how it goes.

>79 humouress: OOH! That's a new one for me! I'm adding it to my personal HTLM guide! Now I think I can indent at will! WooHoo!

>72 humouress: Nice tree you've got there! I was following along on the LT how-to page. ; )

Hi neighbour!
Hope your weekend goes swimmingly.

>80 rretzler: Just a word of warning; it doesn't always seem to give the same size indent, so you have to muck around with it a bit, and accept that things won't always line up. (And, of course, use it without the space between & and nbsp;)

>81 Berly: Thanks Kim. I suspect it's going to be frustrating me as I get further along, though.

>82 PaulCranswick: Howdy Paul! Coincidentally enough, the kids took a scuba diving trial lesson while I was sent off to the spa (I know; poor me). How about you? Have you also been getting lots of rain?

I have to confess, I was going to come over to your thread when I saw that you had more than 200 odd posts, so I thought I'd wait until you started a new thread and I wouldn't have to read through all the posts (let's not mention all your threads this year). But I step away from LT for a couple of days and everyone starts posting like crazy! No matter; by the looks of it, by tomorrow you'll be onto yet another thread and I'll be able to visit in safety :0)

14) King's Shield by Sherwood Smith

(Third of 4 : Inda series. Epic fantasy)



Impelled by the information that the Venn are going to launch their long-feared invasion against his Marlovan homeland of Isaac Leror now, Inda has decided to break his nine year exile and go home to warn them. And although we (as readers) have kept abreast of the situation there, Marlovans don't seem to be well regarded in the rest of Sartorias-deles, so their news doesn't travel far and there are shocks in store for Inda as he catches up on everything that happened in The Fox during his nine years away.

And then, as much as things changed in the second book, it's all change again as the Marlovans prepare to go to war. Instead of returning into exile or being executed or imprisoned, as he had expected, Inda is asked to join the war effort and contribute his innate military genius and the experience he gained fighting pirates on the world's seas.

I like the way Smith can take the two sides of Inda's heritage - land and sea - and alternately combine or contrast them. Some of Inda's sea faring friends travel with him and there is inevitable awkwardness between them and the friends of his childhood - to which Inda is, of course, completely oblivious. Inda has missed nearly a decade in his homeland and it is fun for the reader to see how his friends have changed, or not, from their academy days.

Though the motivations of the Venn are incomprehensible to the Marlovans, despite their common ancestors, we are shown characters on the other side, some of whom we can admire, and the politics and history behind the decisions that are made. And we get to see a bit more of the mysterious, sinister Norsunder magic.

So then, of course, war breaks out and inevitably some of Inda's newly rediscovered friends are lost and both sides have to deal with the aftermath of war.

Good world-building. Good character-building; despite the huge and varied cast, each character has their own voice.

4.5

So tonight I asked my eldest to read me his bedtime story instead of my reading to the boys (I wanted him to brush up on his reading aloud skills). He picked Tashi by Australian mother and daughter authors, Anna and Barbara Fienberg from The Great Big Book of Tashi. And then, of course, my younger son had to get in on the act and read 'Dragon Breath', which is the next story.

Now, I know I didn't read it myself and it must be about the third time (at least) that we've read it, but I'm adding it to my tally. Though I may have to concede that it only counts as one book, since the individual 'Tashi' books seem to be published with pairs of stories. And I'm also going to cheat and paste in my original reviews. :0)

15) The Great Big Enormous Book of Tashi by Anna & Barbara Fienberg

(First & second of 32: Tashi series, omnibus edition. Fantasy, juvenile fiction)



(04-01-2012)
Over the past few months, my eldest and I have been working our way through The Great Big Enormous Book of Tashi by Anna Fienberg, Barbara Fienberg & Kim Gamble. I think the Tashi stories were fashionable in school for a while, which is how we discovered Tashi. I found this tome, which is the 32 individual books collected into one volume, and had to buy it.

Tashi is Jack's neighbour and best friend (they are both about nine years old), and he's escaped by the skin of his teeth from some exotic country (which seems to me to lie somewhere between Russia and China. Where would that be? Mongolia? Uzbekistan? My geography isn't up to the challenge).

Each story involves Tashi having to extricate himself from a convoluted predicament, usually with help from some of his myriads of relatives (with names like Third Uncle or Second Aunt). The situations range from magical (dancing shoes that let Tashi fly) to more mundane (being caught by a gang of robbers) and the villains and helpmeets, who can also be mundane or magical - such as demons - involve a cast of sometimes recurring characters, such as the evil local Baron or the good Princess Sarashina. Each story is richly illustrated with several pencil drawings by Kim Gamble.

I like the way that Jack's parents are always eager to hear the next Tashi installment, and the way, after several passages that set the day-to-day scene (everyone chatting around the breakfast table, for example), you know that the Tashi story is about to begin when either Jack or Tashi utters the words "Well, it was like this ..."

The stories are all fun, and draw you in without, I think, being too scary for young readers. You're always rooting for Tashi, who is a likable hero, and you know he's going to outsmart the villains somehow, in the end. I'm finding that they are good stories for 6-10 year old's to read out loud; long enough, but not too long.

(02-10-2012 : we're re-reading)

From something a friend said, I now suspect Tashi comes from somewhere like Tibet or Nepal.

Kim Gamble deserves a mention for his clever pencil illustrations, which are interspersed throughout the text, or sometimes take a whole double page.



1- Tashi

This is the story that introduces us to Jack and his new friend Tashi, he of the enormous quiff, who comes from an unnamed, exotic country. With the phrase "Well, it was like this ..." we know we're going to hear another instalment of Tashi's adventures. There's a good mix of everyday life, such as when Jack and Tashi share their school lunch, and outrageous adventures that are told matter-of-factly, for which you need to willingly suspend disbelief. Perfect for the target audience, as attested by the fact that Tashi books are very popular in my kid's primary schools.

Not to mention that Jack is constantly exasperated by his dad (oh, so familiar). It's a short story, wonderfully illustrated (we like the invisible Tashi), though probably not as cohesive as the stories that follow.
(3.5****)

2- Dragon Breath

Tashi meets a dragon who is lonely because he's eaten up his family, but maybe a taste of little boy might cheer him up ...

Again, the outrageous is stated matter of factly, and the illustrations are wonderful. I like the last one, where the characters of Tashi's story wander through the garden as Jack and Tashi walk home oblivious. Hmm ... so maybe Tashi does make up his stories.
(5*****)

On balance, that evens out at 4.5

>85 humouress: Mmm takes the audio book principle and expands it somewhat!

>86 PaulCranswick: :0D

Good point. So it does count.

>85 humouress: Love, love, love having the boys read to you. My boys and I have been reading together since they were born, it used to be every night, but now that my older son is in HS, it is whenever we can find time. Mostly I read to them because my younger son seems to prefer me to his older brother and dad, on occasion, and we'd have too many disagreements if we attempted to do it any other way!

>88 rretzler: They used to (have to) read to me a lot when they were learning to read, but once they were fluent and their evening activities got later, I took over all the bedtime reading, with all the lights turned off except one lamp in the corner (otherwise they get more involved rather than winding down for the night). So this was the first time we've done it this way, with both boys reading. And you're right - we should do it more often, on nights when we have more time.

17) The Song of Homana by Jennifer Roberson
(Omnibus Shapechanger's Song)

(Second of 8; Chronicles of the Cheysuli. Fantasy, high fantasy.)(Re-read)

 

Warning : spoilers for the first book ahead!

This is the second book of the Chronicles of the Cheysuli and is told in the first person by Carillon, exiled Mujhar (king) of Homana. We pick up the story five years after the end of the previous book, as Carillon is returning from exile to reclaim his kingdom from Bellam of Solinde and Tynstar, the sorceror of the Ihlini. With him comes Finn, his Cheysuli liegeman.

Their plan is to recruit an army, starting with the Cheysuli, the last clan of which currently resides in the neighbouring country of Ellas. The Cheysuli, the men of whom are warriors who each share a bond with an animal familiar which allows them to change shape to a similar animal, are invested in seeing Carillon on the throne of Homana as that will be a part of seeing the prophecy of their race fulfilled. So we follow Carillon as he makes allies, fights battles and discovers enemies on his path to the throne. He is also accompanied by a bard, Lachlan, observing on behalf of king Rodri of Ellas and 'The Song of Homana' is used to inspire the resistance.

To be honest, I found this book a little slower than the first. Shapechangers sets up the world for the next seven books, but could almost be read as a stand-alone - if you didn't want to see how (or whether) the prophecy is fulfilled - whereas this book fills in more of the story. It does pick up in the second half, when we see more of the characters rather than the battles. Still good and, I think, innovative for its time.

                                ___l___
                                |          |
                          Shaine   Fergus - Gwynneth
                                |          |_________ |
      Raissa   Hale   Lindir           |          |
|____| |____| |____|        Tourmaline   Carillon
    |          |          |
Duncan   Finn     Alix
hawk  |   wolf       | 'old blood'
(Cai)  |   (Storr)   |
         |_________|

Kinspirit

A short story about Rowan and Carillon's meeting as prisoners in the Atvian war camp, told in the third person from Rowan's point of view.

3.5

16) The Iron Trial by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare

(First of 5? : Magisterium series. Fantasy, juvenile) (School library book)



The premise of this one is a bit like Harry Potter; Callum (Call) is a young boy, crippled as a baby in an event that affected all magic users when they battled the Enemy, who gains entry to a school for wizards despite his father's antipathy towards magic. The Enemy, though weakened, still threatens and the mages hope that one of the children will be a Makar (or maker) since that is their only hope to be able to fight him when he returns.

However, after the first few pages, I forgot all about Harry Potter comparisons because the feel of this book is very different. The story is set in America (though it took me a while to set that in my head because Call's father wears tweeds, drives a Rolls Royce and tends to have a pipe in his mouth) so the kids behave differently, somehow. Callum, resenting his differences marked by his disability, tends to act out by usually choosing the most antagonistic option.

We get to see school life and different lessons, but the magic system here is different, having more to do with elements and elementals; elementals (disguised as, for example, glittery lizards) tend to pop up along the school corridors and can be dangerous if you interact with them. The five elements are fire and water, earth and air and chaos (wielded by Makari) which is balanced by soul.

There are a few unexpected twists in the story, including a big one at the end which changes the whole concept and has me wanting to read the next book in the series.

3.5-4

Hi Nina, happy sunday. I'm just passing through and waving. RL was/is busy.

>91 humouress: Holly Black's writing doesn't always work for me but I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

Glad you liked The Iron Trial. I've never read anything by either of the authors - I don't know why. They seem to be popular.

18) Treason's Shore

Feeling a bit flat, having followed Inda from 10 years old to mid-twenties. Lots of things to say; will have to come back later & hope I remember them all

ETA: At the end it felt a bit like, after the intensity and build up of the first three books and even this one, 'they had a war and then they all went home'. Though she does go forward in time to add to a couple of the characters' stories.

19) Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

(First of 7?: Harold and the Purple Crayon series. Children's picture book.)



Kept seeing this. Seemed to be a classic that I hadn't read

Cute story, simply illustrated. A baby starts drawing with a purple crayon and has adventures, until he gets tired and tries to find his way back to bed. I like the part where he accidentally draws the sea and then falls in. Or where he draws a monster so scary it frightens him. Or when he gets hungry, so he draws (different flavoured) pies to eat. Or ...



The illustrations are simply the baby, in black and white, with whatever he has drawn, in the style of chalk drawings, all in purple.

A nice book to read to children while showing them the pictures. A good bedtime book.

4

Hi Barbara, Micky, Rachel. Will com back & chat properly. Thanks for visiting.

>91 humouress: Sounds like an interesting book. I may have to add it to my list (like I need another book on my list.)

>96 humouress: One of my favorites! A classic. Happy Sunday, Nina.

>96 humouress: Haven't heard of that one actually, Nina, but I do have a purple crayon.

Thanks Kim. Thanks Paul. If only it were so easy to make our dreams come true.

Morning, Nina! We are also fans of Harold and the Purple Crayon - that was one of Rae's favorites when she was young.

Hi!

20) Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken

The second in her Wolves series; picks up Simon, the goose boy's story. Fun, well written. Gives the imagination a good old romp.

21) River Secrets by Shannon Hale

I like Hale's writing style; it looks, at first glance, direct and straight forward but she gives you a lot of details without belabouring them. I really liked the way this book ended, not with 'they all lived happily ever after' but discussing the adventures they were planning to go on to have. So rather than the sudden wrench of leaving characters you've grown to love at the end of the book, it's a gentle drifting onwards and slowly apart. It left me smiling as I fell asleep.

About Rezo, Isi's and Enna's friend. Unlike his friends, he doesn't have magical powers. What he does have is a talent for friendship - and that can change the fate of kingdoms.

Delurking on my own thread to say the holidays have started; I don't know if that means RL will be more busy than usual or less. Have retreated briefly to my room to recoup; have added two more small boys to the menagerie for the day ....

Thanks for dropping by here. Will pop round threads as soon as I can. I'm keeping abreast of most of you, except the really fast movers, but not posting much. Must catch up with my reviews, too.

Ah well; we've just been informed by the Club management that the Library, where the kids and I volunteer, is to be closed after more than 40 years, at the end of the month. I'm just too fed up with the whole situation to care at the moment.

>107 humouress: Sorry to hear that, Nina. I'm assuming there is no public library system there?

>107 humouress: I am sorry it came to that, Nina.

>107 humouress: Bummer about the library, Nina. We are not inundated here with libraries either.

Thanks for the sympathy Roni, Anita and Paul.

To be honest, there is a public library system here - the National Library of Singapore, which covers the whole city-state. However, especially when I first came to this country, reading fiction seems to be frowned upon and only to be done behind closed doors; bookshops tend to lump all fiction onto a single book shelf even now. Except for Kinokuniya and Borders (which closed many years ago). Kino recently expanded, but the SF/F section seems to have shrunk; but at least they have one.

But it really annoys me when I walk into a public library here, because they shelve by the first 3 letters of the author's name. Even our little library of about 5,000 books uses the first 4 letters. And when you consider that all fiction is lumped together, you'd have to look for an Anne McCaffrey book in 3 or 4 bookshelves of 'MAC's - leave alone that it should be in 'MCC' - I usually walk out again in irritation. There's no browsing pleasure to be had.

So. Our club library. I thought I'd already vented about the whole sorry saga on LT, but obviously not on my own thread. This library, which has grown over 40 years from a small cupboard to the aforementioned 5,000 + (and I know because the boys and I personally entered them all manually onto LT) is being closed because the club is in financial difficulties and believes they can use the space to generate income. While I can see that, I don't think that what they have planned is going to work, either for itself or for club members and will just be a huge amount of money down the drain. The library charges borrowing fees, so while it's not a heaving commercial hub, it more than holds its own with a constant monthly income. Members, especially kids, use it, even if it doesn't reflect in the accounts if they just use it as a quiet space without borrowing books. So it has value, with knock-on benefits to other parts of the club.

At the moment, with the constant ebb and flow of expat life, there are only 3 Librarians, including my older son. We have struggled to keep it open between us, and it hurts to see it close after so many years of the effort we've all put in. Well, it's done, and nothing we can do now. Just to close the accounts this week.

>112 humouress: Can't see the picture :-(

>113 FAMeulstee: Oops sorry. Fixed.

>114 humouress: Thank you, Nina, what the picture is saying is completely true ;-)

>115 FAMeulstee: :0D You're welcome Anita.

Roni was talking about her organising on her thread and I was feeling ... well, I can never throw anything away - and then this popped up on Pinterest, so I brought it over because I knew folks here would appreciate the sentiment :0)

Well, yes, I probably have about a thousand books I don't need (out of around 3000 physical books) but it's not hoarding if I have them all in a PLACE, right? And I told you, it's an age thing. I'm at the age where I've stopped (mostly) accumulating and am trying, considering, wanting to do some downsizing as I have more than I need of everything. For example, over 100 cat theme mugs when I can only drink out of one at a time--granted, some are holiday-themed and I do rotate them seasonally, but I am really ready to cull a bunch of them if only I could find someone to love them. Not ready to just put them in the Good Will box quite yet, but I may be getting there. Anyhow, at your stage of life, that's not a priority yet, so relax.

Nina--so sorry about the library. Especially after all the work you have personally put into it.

>111 humouress: How can they only have one shelf of Fiction?!?! : (

>112 humouress: Love the photo.

>117 ronincats: No worries, Roni; just teasing :0)

Books are exempt, I think we'll all agree.

Cat-themed mugs; I don't have any of those, but we do have rather more mugs than we actually use.

I was just telling my kids how my husband's father liked a particular set of mugs that came free with something so much that he kept buying them. As he lived with us at the time, we accumulated 2 or 3 sets and I think his other children must have got some too. Then we started giving them away to friends and family and when we moved house 10 years ago, we still had so many boxes (boxes, not individual mugs, you understand) we eventually had to throw a few because we had so many left and no one else to give them to. I never understood what he saw in them and even now those mugs haunt me when we go visiting.

But it may not be an age thing for me; it may be genetic. Thought it definitely skipped my parents.

My dad used to collect the State Park mugs - there was one every year. They just sit there in a collected pile now, as he uses one mug over and over again without washing it.

>118 Berly: Thanks Kim.

I know, right? Fortunately my favourite stationers / bookshop has several shelves of books including a decent kids' section, especially my local branch. Not huge, but pretty good considering their focus isn't primarily books.

I knew that picture would resonate :0)

>120 The_Hibernator: It all adds to the flavour?

I do have a rule (not that anyone else follows it) about rotating cutlery and crockery from when it was just 2 of us and I noticed that if we just used the same two sets of everything it was starting to look more worn - especially noticeable in comparison when we had guests and had to put more than the two sets out.

Now the kids have graduated away from the plastic plates, everything seems to be constantly in use. In fact, I finally bought a new dishwasher a few months ago AND we actually use it now.

My dad tells a joke about how you can tell how seasoned an expat is by how he reacts when a fly lands in his beer; if he's new to the country, he'll return the beer and get a new one. If he's been there a while, he'll calmly lift it out and carry on drinking. But you can tell the ones who've been there the longest, because they'll take the fly out, squeeze any beer back into their glass, flick the fly off and carry on drinking.

22) Kingmaker's Sword by Ann Marston

First of 3 The Rune Blade trilogy

Sword and sorcery story. Nothing really groundbreaking here, but a lot of fun to read. Worth noting that it's told from the first person perspective by the warrior hero, though it's written by a female author, and it also features an equally strong warrior maiden.

Mysterious past

4****

Ooh; I just noticed I have a Thingaversary coming up. And since Singapore's national day is a week after that, Kinokuniya should (fingers crossed) have a sale on, so .... time to start planning!

How's the book acquisition list coming along? Can't neglect your Thingaversary after all!

>126 Berly: Actually, Kim, I haven't thought about it much. I've been spring cleaning more effectively than usual and I've managed to clean up and reorganise one (of 7) floor to ceiling bookcases in the study. I can finally see the floor in front of it, which is where I parked everything when I stopped last time (I got through two other cases and started this one, then got overwhelmed and went onto another project).

I'm now in the middle of reorganising my jewellery shelf; it's set as a narrow shelf in my wardrobe, so getting dressed for special occasions (I'm rather a last-minute person) involves digging around in the dark and opening boxes trying to discover what I have. Now the shelf pulls out (yay!) and I'm transferring pieces to transparent jewellery cases that I've just bought. This all takes a lot longer than it sounds because I always go back to ground level, so the whole wardrobe got emptied, cleaned, polished and reorganised.

23) Sky of Swords by Dave Duncan

(Third of 3 : Tales of the King's Blades series, Sixth of 6 : Ironhall Books. Fantasy, adventure)



This is one of the Tale of the King's Blades series which Duncan says can be read in any order because it covers the same period of time from different perspectives. I think this is one series that I need to read consecutively or at least a lot closer together so I can compare (or even remember) the similarities and differences.

I took a detour (as I often do) and googled Henry VIII and his wives, since King Ambrose is very, very clearly based on him and then I started getting them confused. *sigh*, not to mention that my husband is binge watching old Game of Thrones episodes, which is too violent for me, but otherwise has a similar ambience

Each of the three books in the series focuses on a different key player in the lives of King Ambrose and his immediate successors with a constant theme being the King's (or Queen's) Blades; a group of swordsmen trained at Ironhall (sent there as intractable boys as a last resort by their desperate families), forged into the best bladesmen training can deliver and, finally, magically bound to their wards to serve them loyally (whatever they think of them personally) without the need for sleep until death or official release from their bond. The first book (in the order that I read them) was about the adventures of Durendal, one of the greatest of the Blades who later became Ambrose's chancellor and begins with the king earlier in his life. The second followed the life of Raider, another Blade, which gave a different perspective on the reign of Ambrose at a later point in the king's life. I think it makes sense to read Sky of Swords last (whatever Duncan suggests) because it sort of ties up the events in the first two books and, though they parallel each other in the timeline at points, there is a chronological order.

This story is told from the point of view of Princess Malinda, the king's daughter and (presumably) second in line to the throne and opens with her on trial for high treason, having won and then lost the throne. We follow her through the days of her trial and see her life, from the age of nine, in flashback as she remembers the events behind the accusations levelled at her, though she is not allowed to give voice to her answers.

An interesting exercise if you ever wondered what life might have been like for the princesses Mary and Elizabeth. Malinda knows her duty is to marry for political alliance (though she makes it absolutely clear it's under protest) and she suffers a series of stepmothers in Henry's er, Ambrose's quest for a male heir. At some point towards the end of Ambrose's life, her life - both political and actual - becomes precarious. As a tale of the King's Blades, there is, of course, lots of action and derring-do to keep things going; Sky of Swords, the title of the book, refers to the ceiling of the hall at Ironhall where the swords of all the Blades who died defending their wards are hung from chains.

4.5

>120 The_Hibernator: heh! Collectors huh? They always have a favourite.

>128 humouress: I had that series (and read them but so long ago that I don't really remember the details) but left them with my school's library when I retired.''

Ooh, that closet clean-out sounds like fun! And so does the bookcase reno.

The problem with the closet and the bookshelf, Roni, is that now it's done I have such a sense of achievement that I feel at a loose end - but it's only a tiny fraction of my spring cleaning. There's still tons to do!

The jewellery is finished, except for a few tag ends that I'm not quite sure where to put. I can see those hanging around for a few weeks and if I don't do anything about them soon, it'll start multiplying...

As for the bookshelves, I've just got one left to do which I keep staring at (I'm very good at procrastinating). I'm actually just planning on leaving everything where it is (it's my husband's bookshelf - singular) and just cleaning off the dust (where does that all come from?) but I can't psych myself up to face the dust. Eventually it'll come to the tipping point and I'll just get on with it, but my balance seems to be a lot further over than most people's :0)

24) Jamie's 30 Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver

(Recipe book)



Well, I was just going to post a few words on this, but I might as well review it, though I've by no means read the whole book.

The tradition for librarians resigning (for whatever reason) from the club library where I've been volunteering is that they are presented with a book. Now that we've been forced to close the library, this was on the list of books I chose when our convenor kindly asked what I wanted. I like Oliver's casual style (though it's completely opposite to mine) and his principles of trying to put healthy meals on school canteen tables and trying to convince us to cook at home rather than ordering out or buying TV dinners.

So, having recently received this book, I've only tried a couple of the recipes. I like the way it's presented; a whole meal (main and sides), sometimes with a dessert and/ or a drink with the cooking plan all worked out and given in stages. There is one page with the title with a photo on the facing page of what the completed meal (is supposed to) looks like, then over the page, the ingredients and then a step by step method with several dishes on the go at the same time with snapshots of the work in progress on the page facing that. Occasionally there may be a camera icon, which indicates that there is a video online of that particular stage - such as deboning and stuffing a chicken breast). I also like equipment list at the beginning of the book, which runs from food processor and recommended attachments through size and types of pans to whisks and knives.

So far, so good. Now - having furnished myself with the necessary additional equipment - for the actual cooking. I'm a decent enough cook, but I am a slow, methodical one and I have a need to constantly check back to the recipe - not a good idea when you have several things on the fire at the same time. The first thing Jamie says at the beginning of each recipe, after the ingredients, is 'Get all your ingredients and equipment ready'. (I do tend to pull things out as I go along, but I resolved this by highlighting the equipment in the recipe and having most of it ready to hand.) For someone who is used to having several pans on the fire, this would probably be an easy book to cook from, but both days (so far) have taken me an hour and a half, give or take. Admittedly, I usually tend to bake or do one pot dishes like bolognaise so this is a new technique for me. I've tried the Stuffed Cypriot Chicken and the Roast Beef (which is actually pan-fried to get it onto the table in 30 minutes ... or so.)

However, I'm not put off and I intend to make more meals from this book. Once I eventually got them to table, the meals were delicious (my 13 year old son loves them though my more picky 8 year old needs a bit of persuasion still; his more refined cuisine tends to run to PB&J) with no major disasters, though there were a couple of things that I thought 'Oh - I should have done it like that. Next time'.

A good book, though probably not recommended for a beginner cook (definitely not if they expect to have the food on the table in 30 minutes). I think - at least for now - I'll give it 4 stars.

4

So I was going to post 'ahead of my Thingaversary...' but today is the 2nd of August (when did we start August? I thought we were still in July) and it is my Thingaversary today. Anyhoo, Kinokuniya had 20% off for members last weekend, and as it's 9 years since I joined, I had to hunt for 10 (that's the formula, right? Number of years +1?) books.

I'm thinking of starting a 'ban the Thingaversary' campaign because, you realise, we'll all have to start pulling in Cranswickian hauls soon. Ignore my Thingaversary, you say? What, and waste a perfectly legitimate excuse for buying books? Although when I say 'legitimate', I'm not sure how far that one will fly when my husband (who's not an LTer) sees the credit card bill and I wail "But I had to. It's my Thingaversary!"

Back to business. Hunting down 10 books is hard work because 1) I don't necessarily restrain myself during the rest of the year, but the bigger problem is 2) I've run out of bookshelf space. As I'm a hoarder, I can't bear to part with any books, even duplicates or those that really annoy me and, strangely, my husband won't let me evict anything from other shelves to make space for my books. I may have to take drastic action soon and start looking for good homes for my spare books. I think I'll start a B.O.M.B. campaign soon, like it or not.

Well, I do have a pile in front of me, so here's the list:

1- Black Beauty - a classic for my kids' shelves
2- Quidditch Through the Years - for the 20th HP anniversary
3- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - like the previous HP book, may go on my shelves or on the kids'
4- Emily of New Moon - because I love Anne of Green Gables
5- Within the Sanctuary of Wings - I have the Titan editions and I love the way the different pictures are forming another picture from the slice on the spines



6- The Heart of What Was Lost - because the next Osten Ard full novel is not in mass paperback format yet
7- A Darker Shade of Magic - book bullet
8- Arabella of Mars - book bullet, sounds like a fun combination of SF/F and Regency romance
9- Transit Maps of the World - couldn't resist
10- Brain Quest Grade 3 Workbook for my 8 year old

To be honest, 7, 8 & 9 I most likely wouldn't have got, or at least not yet, if it hadn't been for my Thingaversary.

I also recently acquired Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals as in >132 humouress: above and on the previous Kinokuniya discount day, Nigella Bites inspired by watching quite a few of her TV episodes. Don't know if they count or not.

Nina--Happy Official and Legitimate Thingaversary!!! (Does that help? You can blame your purchases on my when you try to explain it all to your husband.) : ) Did you come up with any winners?

Thanks Kim!

Hmm... "well, Kim on the other side of the world, whom I haven't yet met in person, wished me for my Thingaversary, so of course I had to get the books. Three days before." Maybe he'll just give up trying to make sense of me and leave well enough alone ;0)

I've just posted the list; you got here in the middle of things.

Happy Thingaversary, Nina! Good work on the book haul--hope you like Arabella. I loved Emily of New Moon as a child--still have my old hardback copy from those days up in the attic, although I have a nice paperback down here for a reading copy.

Thanks Roni and long life! I was just thinking of you because I found and posted an image that matches my Lady Trent books and I was wondering what covers you had, since these are UK editions.

>133 humouress: >135 humouress: Yay! Job well done. And, since several of them are eligible for an 8-year-old reader, too, I think you have been very magnanimous (never mind that they are really for you--work with me here!) and therefore you should not be criticized in the least! Good luck finding shelf space. Jealous of all the HP books.

Um.. yes. I mean, Oh, yes, of course!

>133 humouress: This is the convenience of having my Thingaversary around my birthday. I usually count the books I'm gifted towards the total. Plus, I'm not a book hoarder myself so I often ignore the Thingaversary rule. Things typically only end up on the shelf if I love them enough to re-read them.

Happy 9th thingaversary Nina!
Good to see you found enough books to celebrate ;-)

Happy thingaversary!

Thanks Micky, Anita and Jim!

Phew! March reviews finished, would you believe - though I still have one from February to write.

Ooh - done April as well; because apparently I only read one book that month.

Reviews for May finished, too, except for Lola and the Boy Next Door. My thread is getting a lot more colourful now; apologies if it's getting a bit heavy to load.