OMG, day 1

What a week it has been. I was amazed that I was able to post about reading The Secret of Crickly Hall. It was not a bad week at all. It was a wonderful week. I am now just getting the time to relax and write about it. The week passed in a whirlwind.

I left home on a Tuesday and flew to northern CA. I do not like to fly and so I worked the night before so that when I got on the plane I would get some sleep. I did manage to sleep a bit on the flight, but it was not comfortable but then flying never is.

When I got into Oakland, I was tired and a bit queasy. So Honey and I split a sandwich that was very good, ham and turkey on flat bread. We decided that going to her house was not the best idea. So she drove through San Francisco, and I saw some wonderful old buildings. That on another visit, I would like to do a walking tour and get some photos. We stopped off at Golden Gate Park, and when to the Japanese Gardens.

I had not been there before, and it was a beautiful place. I would love to go back there in the spring when every thing is in bloom. I got some pictures of a giant Buddha that I thought was beautiful. There was also a very cheeky squirrel, that was just having a ball running up and down trees. Looking a people like they were the exhibit.

At the end of the day I was so tired, that my eyes felt scratchy, and my skin jumpy. It was a great day.

R.I.P another book

First off let me say that I am sorry there is no book cover photo to go with this post I am not using my computer,  and do not want to bog down Honey's with the picture.

I just finished reading James Herbert's The Secret of Crickley Hall. This book took me longer to read than I thought it would. Not because of the length or the writing, but because of work, and life stuffs. OK, all of that out of the way now on with my thought on the book.

OMG, I loved Crickley Hall. It was dark, spooky, twisted, sad, and very very well written. I read some of it before I fell asleep and it gave me night mares, AWESOME. Just to let you know I am not one who is big on nightmares but it has been a long time sense book as done that to me.

The setup of the book is a family having suffered something in the recent past moves in the Crickley Hall for a change of perspective. Of course Crickley Hall is in a English coastal village, where everyone knows everyone, and there is nothing hidden from anyone. The village does not play a large part in the story, much of what takes place is in that Hall itself. That is a wonderful thing for this book. Mr. Herbert did an excellent job on the whole story. Things were tied up nicely at the end, no plot lines were left straggling, and what most impressed me was his ability to string words together to pant a picture that could not be escaped from. I also liked that the chapters were short, and the heading of each chapter explained the timeline.

If anyone asks yes, read this book. This is one that I would highly recommend. This man is in my opinion a wordsmith.

Quotes:

 Pg 3 "Silent tears drenched their cheeks and glacial fingers seemed to squeeze their small hearts."

Pg 443 "Eve closed the door and locked it, even thought she knew it wouldn't stay shut. The key was icy to her touch."

This Weekend

Usually on the weekend I have a few days where I have time to catch up from the past work week. I read, check blogs, yes farmville, clean the house, and just chill out. Not this weekend. OMG! I am still sore and think I am going to die.

So this is my weekend from when I got up to when I went to bed.

Thursday at 1530 I woke up, just about 30min early but that is OK. Worked a 12hour shift, came home showered, had coffee, got dresses. Went to the Puyallup Fair, saw a bazillion animals. I did not know that there are a few brands of goats that look ear less. Kind of strange. Cows, pigs, horses, sheep, rabbits, and chickens. Then went to the arts and crafts some of the work in there was udderly amazing. I have not been to that fair in a long long time it was fun. Fell asleep in the car for all of 10 minutes. Got home about 1930, passed out on the couch until 0100. Then went to bed. So that was Friday

Saturday, wanted to just go shopping and get all the errands done. NOPE not gonna happen. Ran into a friend at the first store we went to. So we got talking about how good an apple fritter would taste, where to get a good apple fritter Lattin's Farm. I got about a pound or so of Grvenstein apples a few Granny Smith and I am going to make apple sauce yummy.

From there we went to Tumwater Falls to see the salmon run. OMG there were some fish there the length of my couch cushions. I was drooling thinking about steaks, fillets, and jerky. I love salmon. After the park we dropped V off at the store where we picked him up. Then went to the pet store, went out to lunch with another friend. Then we went to Shipwreck Beads.  I go some of my shopping done later. Got home around 2100 after leaving at 0830.

Today Sunday, I went to a laundry mat did a few loads. Came home took a nap, read a bit, cleaned the house. Now I have to cook dinner, and make applesauce. I think I need another nap.

This was taken at Tumwater Falls. I do have pictures of the falls but I love how this one looks.

How do you read?

My bookends

It may seem like an odd question, but how do you read? I don't mean mouthing the words, following along with a finger type reading. I mean how do you read? In the bathtub, curled up on the couch with a cat on your lap? At a table with a cup of coffee and a cigarette, in bed wearing warm fuzzy socks?

I have a few ways that I read, OK more than a few.

The couch in various spots, curled up, stretched out, laying down. Sometimes covered with a blanket or a cat sometimes not.

The bath, there is nothing like a tub full of water and a good book.

I also read at the gym when I am on the boring elliptical, more often than not this  is on my Nook. The nook is wonderful for that, it fits just right in the book holder and I don't have to worry about loosing my spot if the book is thicker than the space provided.

So, how do you read?

Her Fearful Symmetry

Can you like a book and not like a book at the same time? Is it possible to read about the protagonists and wish that the supporting characters had a bigger roll? In a book can the supporting cast be better than the stars?

My second book for RIP made me ask these questions. I read Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger and honestly have to say that I wish the book had focused more on Martin and Marijke than the twins, either set. I do not know if it is a twin thing that I cannot relate to or that there seemed to be something missing in the characters of Julia, Valentina and Elspeth. I can see where Elspeth, is missing something in her personality, but Valentina and Julia both seem to be incomplete.

I believe that Martin was placed in the book to show that the girls are not as insane as he is, but I found him to be a more believable character then either of the girls. His OCD, and Agoraphobia is debilitating, but it makes him seem more rounded. His wife Marijke, is in just a few pages of the book and I wish that she had been in more.

That being said, I would probably read something else that this author had written but I would not put her on my must read now list.

Quotes:
"Elspeth Noblin was dead and no on could do anything for her now except bury her."

"Marijke suddenly saw the cemetery as an old theater: the same play was still running, but the costumes and hairstyles had been updated.:

A book not on the RIP list

Long time ago in a place far far way (Once Upon a Time Challenge), this last June I read a book titled Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Unknown to me he along with the artist Nate Taylor a new book had been written. The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle.

As it says in the book, This is NOT a book for Children. OK, I might let an older child read it one who no longer believed in monsters under the bed. This book reminded me of going to the library, sitting on the floor and waiting for an adult to read a book to me. I wanted that book, the words, the pictures to just be mine. This book as that same feel, the feel that each word must be savored, and that each picture deserves the attention that each word brings out. I am very glad that I read this book, and I do hope that Mr. Rothfuss and Mr. Taylor write a book together again.

Wordless Wednesday

Sand in the City 2012

Footsteps in the Dark R.I.P

Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer is the first of the books that I am reading for RIP. I read this on my little Nook, it was one of the free downloads.


I tried to find a synopsis that fit the book, but all of the sites that I checked just did not seem to match the story.

First off, while I did like this book, I am not sure if I would read another one of her writings. The book for me was like a cross between a Nancy Drew and an Agatha Christy. I did have a few problems with the book that I think were not the authors fault, but the way that I was reading it. For example, the house The Priory did not have any electricity, or a telephone, but others about them did. There are automobiles as well. So I assumed that the book was set in near modern times at the earliest the 1940’s. However half way through the story one of the male characters talked about the war and what he did in it in 1914. I should have realized from the speech patterns that this was a wee bit older than that.

So not to give the mystery away, I won’t go into who did what but I will say that by the last few chapters I knew who the evil doer was. In that I was disappointed. I did love a few of the characters. Charles and Mrs. Bosanquet are two of my favorites. When I was at the gym reading she had me laughing out loud, so much so that the man on the bike in front of me turned to look at me.

If asked for a recommendation on this story, I would give it with the advice; this is a good read that does not require sleeping with the lights on.

My favorite quotes:

“Not, I trust, like a lot of lunatics,” Mrs Bosanquet said coldly.

“I shall have to have someone to hold my hand soon,” Charles remarked. “Do I understand we’re likely to come out at the chapel?”

“Please don’t do that again!” said Charles. “It unnerves me. Of course we only want a few bats to complete the picture.”