Monday, January 28, 2013

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila @ Book Journey where you can share what you are reading each week. Be sure to visit Book Journey to link up if want to join in!
The Other Hand

Last week I finished The Other Hand by Chris Cleave. It was a great read, but I had some conflicting thoughts about the blurb and the storyline. Click here to read my review.
Other than that I am still reading The Lost Art of Being Happy, by Tony Wilkinson, Life of Pi, by Yann Martel and A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness which I have nearly finished. 


Life of PiThe Lost Art of Being Happy: Spirituality for Sceptics A Discovery of Witches

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Review The Other Hand - By Chris Cleave


The Other HandTitle: The Other Hand (also published as 'Little Bee')
Author: Chris Cleave
Published: Sceptre
No. Pages: 374
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Yesterday I finished reading 'The Other Hand' By Chris Cleave also published as 'Little Bee'. This book was a real eye opener for me in regard to the issues that it dealt with and I really was drawn in to the story very quickly. It was really fast paced and I couldn't put it down, but it certainly wasn't anything like I imagined it would be. 
The blurb for this book gave nothing away at all, but it did give the impression (to me anyway) of a heartwarming or ultimately uplifting tale which it certainly is not! It is a great read that has an important social message, but it is confronting and it is heartbreaking. I really think that readers should have been given more information about the topic/issues addressed in this book via the blurb to allow them to make an informed choice as to whether or not they could cope with reading such a book. 
They are just my thoughts though so I won't go into the storyline. Suffice to say, don't go ahead and read this book with the impression that it will be a light read. I have reproduced the blurb here for you. What are your thoughts about such a vague blurb? Do you think it is a responsible way to market a book that deals with very confronting issues? or was that the point - afterall, I bought it!? I'd like to hear your thoughts. 

We don't want to tell you what happens in this book. 
It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it.

Nevertheless, you need to know enough to buy it so
we will just say this.

This is the story of two women.

Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice.
Two years later, they meet again
- the story starts there....

Once you have read it, you will want to tell your friends
about it. When you do, please don't tell them what
happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.

The Other Hand
By Chris Cleave

Saturday, January 26, 2013

I WILL be Creative!!!

This year I have made myself a promise to make more time to do the things I love and to be more creative! Too often I find myself working when I get home instead of enjoying myself so this is an area of my life I really have to work on. 

Anyway, at the beginning of the year I took down my old calendar and said to myself, as I do each year, 'The pictures in this calendar are beautiful! I'll keep this calendar and frame some of them or cover something with them'. I then placed the old calendar on the bench ready for me to re-use. It has been sitting there ever since and I am sure I have a number of calendars I thought I would do the same thing with just sitting in my garage waiting for me. As I was cleaning up today I picked up the calendar from the bench and thought 'I am never going to actually do anything with this!' and headed out to the recycling bin but in the time it took to walk outside, guilt crept in and wrapped itself around my thoughts as I remembered my promise to be more creative, so I turned around and came back inside with the calendar.

I sat down, looked at the pictures in the calendar and waited for 'creativity' - it had to be there somewhere!! But alas I couldn't find it, so I searched the internet for upcycling ideas. I came across these super cute envelopes made from ruined Little Golden Books and thought  'Hmmmm, why not try and make these envelopes and maybe even some writing paper from the calendar!' So that was what I did, or I should say what I have started. 


I finished the envelopes today and I think they look pretty good - I would like to get a letter in a beautiful envelope like one of these. Here they are - my first go at upcycling - from 2012 calendar to ready to use envelopes! :) (Forgive the crappy photography which makes them look skewed and crooked though). What do you think? Do you do anything with the pictures from your previous years calendar? Here are three of my favourites....



Friday, January 25, 2013

The Friday 56 - The Other Hand, By Chris Cleave

 The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda over at Freda's Voice. The rules are simple:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you. (I cheat sometimes and put a little more than a sentence!)
*Post it.
The Other Hand*Add your post URL to the Link.

This weeks 56 comes from The Other Hand by Chris Cleave which I got the other day. I picked it up and read the first page and before I knew it I was half way through! WOW! I am totally engrossed in reading this great book which is also known as 'Little Bee'. I have never read anything by Chris Cleave before - WHY NOT???? Amazing writing and storytelling.

"I looked up and saw the two of them watching me, grey faced and serious. Neon crackled. On the wall clock, a fresh minute snapped over the old one."

The Other Hand 
Chris Cleave
p.56

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Alphabe-Thursday - Jj


 Jj

This great meme is hosted by Jenny Matlock. Click here to visit the website and join in the fun! I am going to use Alphabet Thursday to show off some of my favourite children's picture books each week! I love using picture books in my teaching and do have a particular fondness for vintage picture books. 

This weeks book is an old favourite of mine written by Jenny Wagner and illustrated beautifully by Ron Brooks  called John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat. It is about a dog called John Brown, his owner - Rose and a cat that comes in the night. It is a story about change, but it is also a beautiful tale of the love between people and animals. I loved this book when I was at school. Have you heard of it before? I was very sad this morning when I was unable to find my copy of this wonderful book! I know it is here somewhere as I saw it recently, but I have obviously put it somewhere safe if I can't even find it! lol :) Here is a picture of the cover for John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat from Fishpond.com:


Monday, January 21, 2013

It's Monday! What are you Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila @ Book Journey where you can share what you are reading each week. Be sure to visit Book Journey to link up if want to join in!
Last week I finished The Lacuna, By Barbara Kingsolver and it was such a great read - definitely a must read for Historical Fiction lovers.
The Lost Art of Being Happy: Spirituality for ScepticsAs part of the 2013 Nerdy Non-Fiction Readers Challenge I am readingThe Lost Art of Being Happy, By Tony Wilkinson. I started reading this a while ago but didn't finish so am giving it another go. I don't know if it will live up to some of my favourites such as The Power of Now, By Eckhart Tolle, but definitely has a lot of great content to consider. In the beginning chapters I felt a bit like Wilkinson was arguing the same point over and over again, but now it is moving more into the practise of skills I am enjoying it much more.
Life of PiI am re-reading Life of Pi, by Yann Martel which I read years ago and absolutely LOVED!!! My beautiful friend just saw the movie (against my advice to ALWAYS read the book first) and said she loved it which has inspired me to read it again. Knowing how much I loved it the first time, I am sure to devour it once I start reading so I am waiting till I have a whole day to read before I start - probably tomorrow :)
A Discovery of WitchesI am also still reading A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness which is a long, but fantastic read- enjoying it immensely!


The Lacuna - Review

The LacunaTitle: The Lacuna 
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Published: Faber and Faber
No. Pages: 618
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.5 stars
WOW - Barbara Kingsolver is fast becoming one of favourite authors! The Lacuna is an awesome read and it certainly lived up to (if not surpassed) my expectations after having read The Poisonwood Bible. The writing, the story, the pace, the characters - all fantastic! If you love reading historical fiction then you will certainly enjoy The Lacuna By Barbara Kingsolver. Here is the synopsis from fishpond.com:
"The Lacuna" is the heartbreaking story of a man's search for safety of a man torn beween the warm heart of Mexico and the cold embrace of 1950s McCarthyite America. Born in the U.S. and reared in Mexico, Harrison Shepherd is a liability to his social-climbing flapper mother, Salome. Making himself useful in the household of the famed Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and exiled Bolshevik leader Lev Trotsky, young Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution. A violent upheaval sends him north to a nation newly caught up in World War II. In the mountain city of Asheville, North Carolina he remakes himself in America's hopeful image. But political winds continue to throw him between north and south, in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach - the lacuna - between truth and public presumption. A gripping story of identity, loyalty and the devastating power of accusations to destroy innocent people, "The Lacuna" is as deep and rich as the New World.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Quote it Saturday

Hosted by Freda's Voice

This weeks theme is 'cold'.

I posted these 'cold' quotes mistakingly last week - but then took them down and saved them for this week. I feel like I am cheating! heheheh :)


"Death comes to all, but great acheivements build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 - 1882~
American Poet, Lecturer and Essayist



"May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road all the way to your door."
~Irish Blessing~

Friday, January 18, 2013

Alphabe-Thursday: Ii


 Ii

This great meme is hosted by Jenny Matlock. Click here to visit the website and join in the fun! I am going to use Alphabet Thursday to show off some of my favourite children's picture books each week! I love using picture books in my teaching and do have a particular fondness for vintage picture books. 

Here is this weeks book by Pamela Allen who is one of my favourite children's authors! It is called I Wish I Had a Pirate Suit, recommended for children aged between 5-9 years. My copy is a new edition - I would love to find an old hardcover edition at the second hand bookshop one day though!!

Were you the youngest child who always had to be the crew or the maid or the monster, but never the pirate or the Queen/King or the Hero???? Were you the one who got all the second hand costumes, clothes, shoes etc?? The poor little brother in this book was! This is a great book to teach about playing nicely and letting friends or siblings have a turn sometimes :)

   


I Wish I Had a Pirate SuitHere is the synopsis  for I Wish I Had a Pirate Suit taken from Fishpond.com: Peter has a pirate suit and all the power to go with it, while his younger brother has to serve as the crew on their imaginary pirate ship.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Teaser Tuesday


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share 2 “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Well, here is my teaser for this week....taken from 'A Short History of the World' by H. G. Wells which I picked up at the second hand bookstore the other day. It is so interesting to compare the understanding of the world in 1922 with what we know and have achieved today!

"The deepest ocean dredgings go down five miles. The highest recorded flight of an aeroplane is little more than four miles. Men have reached to seven miles up in balloons but at a cost of great suffering. No bird can fly as high as five miles, and small birds and insects which have been carried up by aeroplanes drop off insensible far below that level." (p.14-15)

Monday, January 14, 2013

It's Monday! What are you Reading?


It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila @ Book Journey where you can share what you are reading each week. Be sure to visit Book Journey to link up if want to join in! 
I am still reading The Lacuna & The Discovery of Witches. I am totally engrossed in them now and can't wait to finish both this week! I have not given 'The Harp in the South' much attention so it has gone back on the TBR pile for now.
I had seen 'The Discovery of Witches' at the bookshop so often and picked it up numerous times, but always put it back for some reason - I can't believe I did that cause it is so good!! lol :) 

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Quote it Saturday

Hosted by Freda's Voice
The theme is January!

The poem and interesting facts about January in this post came from KoffeeKlatch Gals on HubPages. Click here to go to the site and find some more!Some interesting facts about January:
  • Leap years exempted, January always begins on the same day as October.
  • January's birthstone is the Garnet.
  • January's birth flower is the carnation.
  • January's horoscope signs are Capricorn and Aquarius.
January Morn

Bare branches of each tree

on this chilly January morn
look so cold so forlorn,
Gray skies dip ever so low
left from yesterday's dusting of snow.
Yet in the heart of each tree
waiting for each who wait to see,
new life as warm sun and breeze will blow,
like magic, unlock springs sap to flow,
buds, new leaves, then blooms will grow.
Nelda Hartmann

Friday, January 11, 2013

The Friday 56

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda over at Freda's Voice. The rules are simple:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you. (I cheat sometimes and put a little more than a sentence!)
*Post it.
*Add your post URL to the Link.

This weeks 56 comes from The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver which I am still reading and enjoying. It is the Last Will and Testament of Harrison Shepherd (aged approximately 13 years old). He has written this Will prior to entering a cave, just in case he doesn't make it out alive (and I'm not telling you if he did!). 

Let it be known. If HWS drowns in the cave, he 
leaves nothing to anyone. His earthly possessions are
stolen things: pocket watch. This book.
One year of good luck.
He leaves his body for the fishes to eat.
He leaves Leandro to wonder where he has gone.
He leaves Mother and Mr. Produce the Cash to
enjoy the company of the devil.

The Lacuna, p.56
Barbara Kingsolver

Been to the Second Hand Bookshop AGAIN!!

Okay, I have just come back from the second hand bookshop and as usual I have a box of picture books in tow! I know I have to stop doing this, but I can't help myself when I see amazing and beautiful picture books for kids that I can use in my classroom. Does anybody else out there come home with a stack of books every time you go to the second hand bookshop?? I'm sure I'm not the only one...lol :) 
You meet really interesting people at second hand bookshops too, and every person has a passion for a specific type of book. I love finding out what they are looking for - such diversity within one little shop! I also love it when you find something inside the book like a note, a postcard or newspaper clipping that tells you a little bit more about the book and the person or people who have read it. I will have to show you the newspaper clipping I found inside a book  about cats one day, but that is another story!
Anyway, the one that I am sooooo excited about today is this one:


It is John Burningham's ABC! His illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and full of character. I got it and 8 other picture books for $1!!!!! YES just ONE DOLLAR!! You have to check out these illustrations. Here are a couple of my favourite:




Thursday, January 10, 2013

Alphabe-Thursday Hh


Hh

This great meme is hosted by Jenny Matlock. Click here to visit the website and join in the fun! I am going to use Alphabet Thursday to show off some of my favourite children's picture books each week! I love using picture books in my teaching and do have a particular fondness for vintage picture books. 

Here are this weeks books! I love the illustrations in Henny Penny so much.

Henny Penny by Paul Galdone 



Holly Hobbie's Alphabet Book by Holly Hobby.





Theme Thursday - ANTS


Click here to visit the Theme Thursday site and join in the fun! This weeks theme is 'Ants'.

ANTS

Ants! Such a pain!
They come everyday.
One long single line,
To the pantry again.

I track the line back,
To where they came from.
A new place each day -
A corner, a crack.

It’s a game that we play,
The pesky ants and I.
Where will they have come from,
When I get home today?