(no subject)
Oct. 14th, 2014 12:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tvordljTurns out the feast was Monday, not Sunday but it was yummy! Roast beast :) I have leftovers!
Excellent to see one of my besties, Jo, yesterday as well and it's the first time I've seen her daughter in a few years. She was such a great kid and has grown up wonderfully. She's living in Edmonton where she's a librarian, which, I think, was what she always wanted to be. She's the same age as my niece, barring a couple of weeks so i've seen them grow up at the same pace. She was about 2 and a half when I first met her mother.
A few more books read:
69 - Extraordinary People - Peter May (aka Dry Bones)
First in a series of books about a former forensic expert Enzo MacLeod who is trying to solve cold cases from a book that a colleague has written. He lives in France so there's great armchair traveling as he bounces around from town to town chasing up clues. This first book has Enzo trying to find out who killed a well known Parisian professor who went missing 10 years ago. Pieces of the body are buried in various locations with clues buried with each bit to lead to the next. Enzo has to unravel the clues and finds himself in danger in the process. I liked May's Lewis Man trilogy, though these are a bit more bog-standard crime thrillers. The writing isn't quite as intriguing but perhaps that's the difference in the type of plot. Enzo is flawed, middle aged and a bit of a lothario judging from how many women keep throwing themselves at him, most unrealistically at times and I don't think I like him all that much. The story was interesting, though, so I'll probably read more in the series.
70 - Edge of Eternity - Ken Follett
Finale of the Century trilogy. This book covers from the early 60s to the late 80s, through the civil unrest over the civil rights movement, the cold war as the Berlin wall comes down and how it affects the German family and the cold war from the Russian side of things vs the American. It's quite good as far as the story goes but the writing suffered. It feels like he just threw it together. Follett's prose is usually better than this.
71. State of Wonder - Ann Patchett
Really good book. A researcher/former doctor goes to the Amazon to find out if her former coworker really did die in the jungle as they were informed. She's also charged to find a doctor that works for the same company who is researching some ground breaking drugs for fertility. It starts off a bit slow but once she gets to the rain forest, it picks up and is a very good read.
72 - The Seas - Samantha Hunt
This is about a girl who thinks she's a mermaid on land. She's also in love with a former Gulf War vet who is 10 years older than her. The small town they live in has high unemployment and high addiction problems. Her father committed suicide when she was young and she's never coped very well. Can't really say this was a great book. Kind of grim really.
73 - Strangers on a Train - Patricia Highsmith
After reading Two Faces of January, I find I really like how she writes. I read The Talented Mr. Ripley some years ago and I think I'll probably reread that and then read the rest of her Ripley books. Strangers is about two men who meet on a train. One is an up and coming architect about to get a divorce and the other is a young rich man with major issues with his father. He's also a bit of a psychopath and he suggests that they commit the perfect murders, each will murder someone for the other, i.e. the father and the soon to be ex-wife. There will be no connection so they should get away with it. The architect is appalled but the young man takes it upon himself to murder the ex-wife and then beleagures the architect, pressuring him to do his part. It's a great book, very psychological in part. Am definitely going to be reading more of her books. They are well written and real page turners.
74. - Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami
I read 1Q84 last year and liked it. It was different and was written in a bit unusual way, maybe due to the translation from Japanese but it still seemed to have what must be a Japanese style of "speaking". This one, by the same author, is about a man who had four very close friends in high school. Shortly after he started university in Tokyo, they cut him off and he never knew why. As a result, he always had committment issues. He now has a girlfriend and has told her the story and she's urging him to find out what happened. He tracks down his friends and discovers what happened and finds out more about himself in the process. I liked the story, liked the characters and though the main character is someone that definitely over-analyzes things and himself, the story does come to a fairly satisfying conclusion though it does end on a bit of a "What... what happens next?" but I think the main point is that he's come to realize things about himself and whatever comes next, he will be able to understand and move on as he has not been able to up to now.
75 - The Girl Who circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making - Catherynne M Valente
This is a children's book about a 10 year old, September, who gets whisked into Fairyland and has adventures. Apparently the physical book has wonderful illustrations and I may see if the bookstore has it just to check. The imagination behind the story and the characters in Fairyland is amazing and truly inspiring. It's very compelling and very much something I wish I had read when I was 10! There are more books so i shall definitely be seeking them out. It may be a set of books i might buy if my niece has a baby even if she probably can't read them to a child until a few years later.
There, that's all caught up.
Back to the gym today.
Oh, my friend had suggested using a UK flag covered little chest as a receptacle for wedding cards at the reception but the ones she'd seen turned out to be too large. I was telling G. about it and he thought that making a tabletop sized pillar box (British mail box) would be good. You could put a little sign on it to "Mail Cards Here". He said he could easily make one and pack it flat, putting it together when he got here. Right. Add one to your list of things to do. It's difficult as he's there and not here so I end up making most of the plans though consulting him of course. He does have a list of things to buy and make and is in charge of the invitation and thank you note artwork which is very important.
Ok, i guess i better go get some lunch...
Excellent to see one of my besties, Jo, yesterday as well and it's the first time I've seen her daughter in a few years. She was such a great kid and has grown up wonderfully. She's living in Edmonton where she's a librarian, which, I think, was what she always wanted to be. She's the same age as my niece, barring a couple of weeks so i've seen them grow up at the same pace. She was about 2 and a half when I first met her mother.
A few more books read:
69 - Extraordinary People - Peter May (aka Dry Bones)
First in a series of books about a former forensic expert Enzo MacLeod who is trying to solve cold cases from a book that a colleague has written. He lives in France so there's great armchair traveling as he bounces around from town to town chasing up clues. This first book has Enzo trying to find out who killed a well known Parisian professor who went missing 10 years ago. Pieces of the body are buried in various locations with clues buried with each bit to lead to the next. Enzo has to unravel the clues and finds himself in danger in the process. I liked May's Lewis Man trilogy, though these are a bit more bog-standard crime thrillers. The writing isn't quite as intriguing but perhaps that's the difference in the type of plot. Enzo is flawed, middle aged and a bit of a lothario judging from how many women keep throwing themselves at him, most unrealistically at times and I don't think I like him all that much. The story was interesting, though, so I'll probably read more in the series.
70 - Edge of Eternity - Ken Follett
Finale of the Century trilogy. This book covers from the early 60s to the late 80s, through the civil unrest over the civil rights movement, the cold war as the Berlin wall comes down and how it affects the German family and the cold war from the Russian side of things vs the American. It's quite good as far as the story goes but the writing suffered. It feels like he just threw it together. Follett's prose is usually better than this.
71. State of Wonder - Ann Patchett
Really good book. A researcher/former doctor goes to the Amazon to find out if her former coworker really did die in the jungle as they were informed. She's also charged to find a doctor that works for the same company who is researching some ground breaking drugs for fertility. It starts off a bit slow but once she gets to the rain forest, it picks up and is a very good read.
72 - The Seas - Samantha Hunt
This is about a girl who thinks she's a mermaid on land. She's also in love with a former Gulf War vet who is 10 years older than her. The small town they live in has high unemployment and high addiction problems. Her father committed suicide when she was young and she's never coped very well. Can't really say this was a great book. Kind of grim really.
73 - Strangers on a Train - Patricia Highsmith
After reading Two Faces of January, I find I really like how she writes. I read The Talented Mr. Ripley some years ago and I think I'll probably reread that and then read the rest of her Ripley books. Strangers is about two men who meet on a train. One is an up and coming architect about to get a divorce and the other is a young rich man with major issues with his father. He's also a bit of a psychopath and he suggests that they commit the perfect murders, each will murder someone for the other, i.e. the father and the soon to be ex-wife. There will be no connection so they should get away with it. The architect is appalled but the young man takes it upon himself to murder the ex-wife and then beleagures the architect, pressuring him to do his part. It's a great book, very psychological in part. Am definitely going to be reading more of her books. They are well written and real page turners.
74. - Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami
I read 1Q84 last year and liked it. It was different and was written in a bit unusual way, maybe due to the translation from Japanese but it still seemed to have what must be a Japanese style of "speaking". This one, by the same author, is about a man who had four very close friends in high school. Shortly after he started university in Tokyo, they cut him off and he never knew why. As a result, he always had committment issues. He now has a girlfriend and has told her the story and she's urging him to find out what happened. He tracks down his friends and discovers what happened and finds out more about himself in the process. I liked the story, liked the characters and though the main character is someone that definitely over-analyzes things and himself, the story does come to a fairly satisfying conclusion though it does end on a bit of a "What... what happens next?" but I think the main point is that he's come to realize things about himself and whatever comes next, he will be able to understand and move on as he has not been able to up to now.
75 - The Girl Who circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making - Catherynne M Valente
This is a children's book about a 10 year old, September, who gets whisked into Fairyland and has adventures. Apparently the physical book has wonderful illustrations and I may see if the bookstore has it just to check. The imagination behind the story and the characters in Fairyland is amazing and truly inspiring. It's very compelling and very much something I wish I had read when I was 10! There are more books so i shall definitely be seeking them out. It may be a set of books i might buy if my niece has a baby even if she probably can't read them to a child until a few years later.
There, that's all caught up.
Back to the gym today.
Oh, my friend had suggested using a UK flag covered little chest as a receptacle for wedding cards at the reception but the ones she'd seen turned out to be too large. I was telling G. about it and he thought that making a tabletop sized pillar box (British mail box) would be good. You could put a little sign on it to "Mail Cards Here". He said he could easily make one and pack it flat, putting it together when he got here. Right. Add one to your list of things to do. It's difficult as he's there and not here so I end up making most of the plans though consulting him of course. He does have a list of things to buy and make and is in charge of the invitation and thank you note artwork which is very important.
Ok, i guess i better go get some lunch...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-10-14 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-14 09:34 pm (UTC)