All posts filed under: Books

Taking Stock 3.

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I have done Taking Stock posts before here and here and I do enjoy them, thanks to Pip at Meet Me At Mikes for the list.  These lists are so much fun and quite the insight if you just whizz through them without thinking too much. Making : a cup of tea, with two bags because they are crappy bags.  I need some PG Tips pronto! Cooking : Fish and chips for dinner with peas no-one will eat. Drinking : Emergen-C to keep colds away. Reading: ‘Where the Moon Isn’t’ by Nathan Filer (Originally published with the title The Shock of the Fall in the UK). Wanting: The snow to melt. Looking: At the BBC iPlayer deciding what to listen to. Playing: ‘The Now Show’ on the BBC iPlayer. Deciding: Which beads to order to make new jewels. Wishing: I could execute all of the ideas I have! Enjoying: Having lots of ideas. Waiting: For ‘Where Women Create’ magazine to arrive at our library so I can borrow it. Liking: Classes at ‘Blog With Pip’. …

Photo a day 2014 January

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1. Lunch 2. Begins with G.  Gloves. 3. My town 4. Word to live by 5. Found.  A snow covered path. 6. Happens everyday.  Something gets made. 7. Upside down 8. Lucky number. Warmer temps. 9. Natural 10. Man made.  New CatsEatDogs necklaces. 11. Looking down 12. Colourful 13. Makes me smile. Rescuing a discarded Poinsettia. 14. 3 Things 15. Black and White 16. Sun 17. Tiny 18. Happy place 19. Breakfast 20. To do list 21. Blue 22. Nice!  Nest by CatsEatDogs with rose quartz. 23. Bedtime 24. Your space 25. A taste of summer/winter 26. Fun stuff 27. I bought this 28. Dinner 29. Window 30. Best invention ever. The iPhone and hair dye! 31. Polka dot January saw the Polar Vortex and we still have some snow melting very slowly in our front garden.  I started reading ‘The Flamethrowers’ and stopped and I started reading ‘Life after Life’ and stopped.  I need a book I like!  Maybe I will find one in February. I ate Dim Sum which is my absolute favourite …

The insides of books

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I borrowed some books from the library today and all of them had some loveliness inside.  I haven’t read them yet, but I am sure the picture books will be devoured and I will browse the non-fiction and hopefully I will love the novel. From ‘The Bear’s Song’ by Benjamin Chaud.  Look at all the detail here, all of the illustrations in the book are like this.  Makes me want to find things!  In this picture I like the lady exercising in the window. ‘My Father’s Arms are a Boat’ by Stein Erik Lunde and Oyvind Torseter.  Wonderful 3D created illustrations throughout this book using cut out paper. At last I am at the front of the line for Kate Atkinson’s ‘Life After Life’.  I can’t wait to get stuck into it. From ‘Josephine’ by Patricia Hruby Powell.  I spotted this book during Multicultural Children’s Book Day, I was immediately drawn to the illustration style and I wasn’t disappointed when I saw the book.  It is thicker than I thought and I can’t wait to …

Multicultural Children’s Book Day-Celebrating Diversity in Children’s Literature

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I talked a bit about Multicultural Children’s Book Day-Celebrating Diversity in Children’s Literature this week and about the book I am reviewing for this event – The Girl with a Brave Heart.   January 27th is the big day, so pop to the library and grab a book about a different culture to read to the kids.  If you need any ideas for books, check out any of the links at the bottom of this post or visit Pragmatic Mom or Jump Into a Book. When ‘The Girl with a Brave Heart’ by Rita Jahanforuz and Vali Mintzi arrived from Barefoot Books, the first thing that struck me was that it is a gorgeous vibrant book with fabulous colorful illustrations.   Is it me, or does every book published by Barefoot Books consist of wonderful read aloud stories alongside stunning illustrations?  I can’t thank them enough for letting me read and review this book. We read the book as soon as we received it and we tried to guess what was going to happen in …

Multicultural Children’s Book Day is coming

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Next Monday, January 27th 2014 is the very first ever in the whole wide world –  Multicultural Children’s Book Day. It is the wonderful brainchild of Mia at Pragmatic Mom and Valarie  of Jump into a Book, both blogs are chock full of book recommendations, go and have a look.  It will be a day to begin many days of reading about different cultures and the stories within.  Or even well known stories set within a new culture.  I think we have read every connotation of the Cinderella story over the years and enjoyed them all. I received an e mail a few weeks ago to see if I  wanted to be part of this extravaganza of reading, and  review a book connected to  Multicultural Children’s Book Day here on my little blog.   My pleasure. I love books and I love love childrens books and I love love love picture books. In fact I am hanging onto any situation where I can pull out a pile of picture books to read to my kids, ok, …

Ten books on the 10th

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Yesterday was ten on the 10th, so I decided to photo ten books I like. The Sweeter Side of Amy’s Bread by Amy Scherber and Toy Lee Dupree The Family Dinner by Laurie David My Grandma’s recipe book. The daily diary I keep for the boys. Obsessive Consumption by Kate Bingaman-Burt The Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori Instant Love by Jenifer Altman, Susannah Conway and Amanda Gillighan Perfect by Rachel Joyce Let’s Draw Cute Animals by Sachiko Umoto Designing Jewelry with Glass Beads by Stephanie Sersich I love books, don’t you?!

What are you Reading now?

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I have had ‘The Earth Hums in B Flat’ by Mari Strachan for a couple of years and never picked it up, until this week when I gave up on ‘Hawthorn and Child’ by Keith Ridgeway which I would like to have another go at.  Do you read a book all the way through every time? Or do you give up part way in? I will often leave a book if I am not getting into it, or sometimes I just don’t read it regularly enough and I find myself clueless every time in pick it up again, which is what happened with ‘Hawthorn and Child’ I think. I am liking ‘The Earth Hums in B Flat’ so far and I think I will make it to the end.  I don’t even try to finish books I don’t like, do you finish them anyway and announce your dislike only when each page has been read and turned?  I am sometimes very bad and give up on a book only 50 pages in, less sometimes.  Surely …

Spirograph and new library book

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I have had my Spirograph since at least nineteen seventy something.  Now we like to pull it out every so often to make some cool and usually surprising patterns. Today I thought I would make some notecards using my old faithful Spirograph. I recently bought some coloured biro pens which work great to make the colourful patterns. While I was getting the Spirograph pieces out I found the pretty lady who needs Spirograph hair, I do remember that I could never make her hair because I loved the face so much that I didn’t want to use it and  run the risk of ruining it.  So she still has no seventies hair. I have been struggling to find a book to read lately, I started ‘Sisterland’ by Curtis Sittenfeld, but I didn’t finish it before I had to return it to the library and then I started ‘The Truth’ by Michael Palin which I didn’t like, so now I am going to start this one tonight, I hope I like it!  If I don’t like …

This this and that

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I just finished this book and liked it. I saw it recommended on Jools Oliver’s Instagram stream and I thought I would give it a go as the recommender loved ‘Where’d you go Bernadette’ which is one of my favourite recent books. I must admit if I had just picked it up and read the fly leaf, I might not have read it, but I am glad I did. It is set in Gold Rush/Wild West times and the characters are really great, witty and gritty and a good read.  Did I mention I love the cover?  I love the cover. Now, I am about to start this book and I am a big Neil Gaiman fan, so I am looking forward to starting. I love starting a new book don’t you? I have read Neil Gaiman’s  book ‘Odd and the Frost Giants’ to both of my boys over the years and I don’t tire of it, I highly recommend it.  A great mythical read for the kids. Over the weekend I plan to make …