Book Review- Jim Butcher

                                            




                                              

Storm Front is the first in the Harry Dresden Wizard series that is written by Jim Butcher. I first came across this character in s short story anthology called Side Jobs and was fascinated.

A male wizard with a strong moral code who seems to be always getting into trouble. Someone, who because of his power, has to live without the technological advances of the day. Electrics die when he's around.

So I tracked down the first in the series, and couldn't put it down. I can't wait until I read the rest.

This is one of those books where I would love to be able to live in his world, alas not to be.

Book Review- Cathy Caron

                                             




                                           

I am currently on a knitting obsession. (I just have an obsessive personality when it comes to books and crafts). Not that I would consider myself a great knitter.

I am making a jumper for my husband that has caused all sorts of grief. (Its a long long story). But has that stopped me? No way.

I am currently knitting a sock on double point needles while I wait for some new yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills. I am also finding time to crochet a ripple blanket and make a right angle weave necklace. But I have wandered of topic.

I borrowed the above book from my local library and I am fascinated by the concept of no seams. Seriously fascinated by it. But at the same time I really thought that it would be too hard to do.

Not with this book!

The first few sections explain what top down is about and how to do it. From there it goes in to understanding sizing and then leads onto designing a sweater. Its beautifully simple to read and understand. Anyone could follow Cathy Carrons instructions and be successfull.

This is one book that I will be buying for my own collection.

Do you have any knitting book recommendations?

Book Week

This week my son is having Book Week at his school. All of the activities are being done today with like a rolling display that the kids are involved in.


As part of Multilit this week the organiser asked us if we could read to our students. Something that we had read as kids. So I picked The Story Of Ferdinand. Originally printed in 1937, my copy is from 1970. I would be very surprised if it is still available in print. Its hard to see in these pictures but the pictures are all hand drawn and amazingly detailed.


The story is about a bull called Ferdinand who only wants to sit and smell the flowers. But after being stung by a bee ends up being taken to Madrid to participate in the bullfights. Things don't quite go according to plan.

The kids loved having me read to them for a change and it was really fun for me too.

Book Review- Jacqueline Carey

 
I first read Jaqueline Careys series Kushiels Legacy many years ago and its one of my absolute favourites. I have read it multiple times. So when I first found Autumn Bones at my local library I wasn't sure it was the same author. I had to bring it home and check Jaqueline Careys website, and yes its the same author.

But its very different in tone when you read it. And, of course, being me its the second in the series. Believe it or not my library does not have the first book. Drives me nuts when they do that.

This book is set in a much more modern setting. With a heroine that is not afraid to make choices and stand up for them, while often she seems to be flying by the seat of her pants.

Its a fun read that I enjoyed and am looking forward to reading the reast of the series.                                                                                                                    

Book Review- Clair Yates

Again this weeks review is a non fiction. I am still researching diets etc for ways that I might improve my skin and general health.

And I adore this book.

Clair Yates is an Australian nutritionist. I have read a few books on Paleo but I have found them hard to understand, or even way to extreme. One book started by telling you to throw out every thing in your pantry and start again. As you can probably imagine I didn't get very far with it.

This book is really simple to understand. This book is packed full of information to show how eating a Paleo way can lead to better health in the long run.

Clair starts with looking at different conditions and explaining how the diet can help. Then she goes into what being Paleo really means. At the end of the book is a selection of recipes and she also gives you a 28 day reset diet to help you get into the way of eating Paleo.

This book is an ebook that I borrowed from my local library but I am going to get a hard copy as this is a book I can see me referring to a lot.

Have you read this?


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Books I'm Reading- Salute The Dark

The vampiric sorcerer Uctebri has at last got his hands on the Shadow Box and can finally begin his dark ritual - a ritual that the Wasp-kinden Emperor believes will grant him immortality - but Uctebri has his own plans both for the Emperor and the Empire. The massed Wasp armies are on the march, and the spymaster Stenwold must see which of his allies will stand now that the war has finally arrived. This time the Empire will not stop until a black and gold flag waves over Stenwold's own home city of Collegium. Tisamon the Weaponsmaster is faced with a terrible choice: a path that could lead him to abandon his friends and his daughter, to face degradation and loss, but that might possibly bring him before the Wasp Emperor with a blade in his hand - but is he being driven by Mantis-kinden honour, or manipulated by something more sinister?

This is the fourth in the series and I am still finding them incredible, something that is often unusual in a series once you get to this point.


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Books I'm Reading- Adrian Tchaikovsky

                                           
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Book 2 of Shadows of The Apt is action packed, with so many things happening. Stenwold Maker has returned to his beloved city, Collegium, to try and again warn them of the danger of The Empire. He is now deemed to dangerous to live by the Empire and they have sent a team to destroy him.

Meanwhile Totho and Salma have arrived at Tark just in for the Empire to attack it. Tisamon and Tynisa have travelled to Felyal, to Tisamons home, so that Tynisa can become a weapons master. At the same time Che Maker and Archaeos have gone to Sarn to try to get help.

Will they be able to unit the Lowlands against the Empire or are they going to be conquered?

I had trouble putting this book down!

Books I'm Reading- Laurell K Hamilton

                                       
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Affliction by Laurell K Hamilton is number 22 in the Anita Blake Series. I first discovered these books several years ago and read the first 9 in two weeks. Then eagerly awaiting each following book. After a while they had less plot and more sex scenes, and I stopped reading them.

Book 21 I haven't read at all. It was just by chance that my local library had Affliction on display and I had nothing to read.

I am so glad that I picked it up. Hamilton has gone back to a plot line. Yay! This is what I loved about her books to begin with.

Micah's father has been attacked and is in hospital-dying. Anita and Nathaniel go with Micah to visit his father. While there Anita is drawn into a flesh eating zombie case, zombies unlike anyone has seen before. The race is on to destroy their creator before they destroy the whole town.

If you love a good zombie book then this is for you.

Books I'm Reading- Lara Solomon

                                     
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I know I said that I normally read science fiction and fantasy, and then the last book I talked about was a craft book. Well today I'm talking about a partial biography I guess you would say.

Brand New Day- the highs and lows of starting a small business, covers 4 years of Lara Solomons life and focuses on her business. Lara Solomon is the creator of Mocks which are, for those who don't know, decorative sock covers for mobile phones.

It's in a diary format and at the end of every month Lara gives you a run down of where the business is at. At first I found it a bit hard to follow as the days do skip. Once you get past that its a really interesting look at how hard it can be to start up your own business. But at the end of the day, very rewarding.

I am not really sure what made me pick this book up to read but I am glad that I did.

Books I'm Reading- I Love Crochet

                                         
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One of my (many) hobbies is crochet. When I was in primary school my grandmother taught me how to crochet and knit (I took to the crochet). My great grandmother use to crochet around hankies, tiny little intricate stitches that she never actually looked at while she did. One day I would love to be that good.
I love Crochet is a lovely collection of projects, I want to make the hat and gloves set thats in the book

Books I'm Reading- Adrian Tchaikovsky

                                               


                                                 

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I read an awful lot of books but I do not always keep a record of what I am reading. So I thought it might be a good idea to keep a list on my blog, and maybe I will introduce you to some new books. One word of warning though I mainly only read science fiction or fantasy, with a smattering of other genres.


I found the above series quite by chance in one of my local libraries, however it was book 7 of the series. Now I can not stand reading a series from a midpoint, you just can never pick up what is happening. While imagine my surprise when I tried to get the first in the series and was told by the librarian that they do not have the first 6 books.

What is the point in buying just a few in a series? But I persevered and I very luckily found it at a different area library. (Yes I have multiple library cards).

The book is set in a hypothetical universe where in order to survive the humans have taken on characteristics of the local giant insects, becoming kinden. So you have ant- kinden and beetle- kinden to name a few. Some of the kinden have magic, others do not.

In this world the Empire (Wasps in this case) are slowly taking over and enslaving all the land. It is up to a beetle- kinden called Stenwold Maker to try and convince every one that the threat is real.

I have to say that I really loved this book! I've just gotten the second in the series "Dragonfly Falling" and have to make some time to read it. (And finish of the other 3 books that I am reading).