Whither the Blogosphere Book Circle? | Parties and Nuno Felting

Well folks - I think the Blogosphere Book Circle has died a natural death and should be laid to rest with suitable pomp and ceremony.  For whatever reason, it's been tough for people to join in and read and interact over the books we voted for.

Instead I'm going to choose 12 books I want to read this year and post them on the blog here.  If you want to join me in reading those 12 books, then please do so and please share your thoughts and reactions. I won't have a particular month assigned to them, they will just turn up in my Reading Round Up posts as and when I get hold of them.

If you have any suggestions for books to include on that list I would love to hear them!

The other thing I'm thinking of doing is posting a photo of the book pile each time I go and get some from the library.  I think it would make an interesting photo essay of my reading in 2011.  If you like to join me, let me know.  Maybe we could make a group on Flickr. :)

In other news....

Miss 4 had her birthday party for her daycare friends - she enjoyed it immensely and didn't seem to stop bouncing the whole time.  The "Twinkerbell" cake turned out okay despite some naughty words on my behalf while rescuing expensive Tinkerbell sprinkles from a leaky Spray 'n' Wipe bottle that had fallen on the packet. I was pleased with my Green Tea and Chai French Macarons though (in the photo to the left of the cake).  So were my work colleagues when I brought in the left overs.  Note the hands-on-hip attitude my daughter has... she has so much self-assurance that I'm torn between admiration and horror.  Is this a 4 year old girl thing?  I don't recall Mr7 being like this at all. We seem to be having quite a lot of 'tude going on at present with answering back and general you-can't-make-me-do-it snarkiness.  Where has my sweet girl gone?  She does make an appearance here and there... enough to give me hope.

 


I felted another nuno scarf - this one for a colleague, very much like the other one I did.



School starts for Mr7 tomorrow, can't believe he's in "middle school" now... no more junior syndicate! I've got all his stationery and his uniform sorted. I don't think I'm going to bother covering it this year, unless he particularly asks. Must remember to take a photo of him tomorrow. I really hope this year is a better one for him academically.  He has a male teacher this year, so I'm curious to see if that has an affect on his attitude and learning (as sexist as that may sound).

In which I burble about what I did on my holidays

*note this isn't too exciting. Just updating.

We set out for Waikawau Bay a day earlier than planned since we had all the stuff ready to be pack and it seemed silly to hang around.  It's a long drive there so we left after lunch on Sunday and got there just after 5pm.  The camp was chokka with people which was a bit of a disappointment and it took us a while to find a place to pitch the tent.  (In fact, we waited until some folks had packed up and took their spot).  Anyway, we settled in.  Monday dawned a beautiful day.  The morning highlight for DS was the tanker that came to suck out the long drop toilets!

We walked to the top of the hill and looked down onto the beach, then walked down to the beach and looked in rock pools (saw a black sea slug).



The children were agitating to get onto their boogie boards so we did that after lunch. The new togs got christened by the Pacific Ocean! Even DH got into the water which is worthy of mentioning! Unfortunately DD got dumped on her first attempt to board in so that ruined any hope of her having another go - she went and grizzled on the sand. DS however, he had a whale of a time and had a grin from ear to ear the whole time. He could have stayed in much longer but it had clouded over and the drizzle had started.

The weather went downhill after that. The ranger had posted a severe weather warning by Tuesday so after some agonising we decided to pack up and go home. (Queueing for the long drop toilets in the rain contributed some to this decision). By the time we got home we were regretting that decision as it was starting to clear again.  So we executed Holiday Plan B and headed down to Rotorua to stay in our favoured camp ground in a cabin. It turned out to be a better holiday for photographic opportunities anyway. We did some walks, went on the gondalas, sat in some hot pools... the usual.

After dropping DS at a friends house for a week long sleep over we headed back home.  I then went into town to meet (finally) Mim and her family.  It's always neat to meet people you have got to know online.  Actually I can't remember exactly how we "met" but in any case here we are with our other mutual friend Em!



So now it's back to work, back to normal.. well, as normal as one can be until school goes back anyway. And I have a four year old birthday party to organise!  The birthday itself has long gone, but we promised the party for when she was back to daycare with her friends.

New togs!!

I ordered some togs from Modcloth - yes, a bit of an extravagance but given the difficulty I have in finding some that look nice and a suitably modest, supportive and a colour I like... I think it was worth it.



Sunbathing in my bedroom! Hee hee - nah, just posing for the #dailyimage2011 project I'm doing.  You can see the other photos on my Flickr stream.
So happy they fit and I feel great in them.

Day 12 #blog12daysxmas In which I photograph SCKC layouts

The past few years, Trina has made a call for these small 6"x6" layouts to send to the Southern Cross Kids Camp organisers. They are used to make small memory albums for the children who attend the camps.



These camps are for children who've had it tough. So it's nice to be able to contribute in a small way to a bit of positivity in their experience.



This year I made 46. They are super easy to do and they are great for using up stash and scraps.

Today was the first day back at work after the festive break.  I was horrified surprised to see we had students coming back in!  But most of them were on the computers checking Facebook and Youtube so one does have to wonder at the virtue of opening this week.  Oh well.

Nothing much else is open on campus - the copy centre, bookshop and convenience store but no food apart from a minimal selection in the staff room (pies and sarnies) and no coffee cart.  The library staff plunger coffee thingy is broken so I had to make do with the excuse for coffee from the coffee machine in the staff room.



Tomorrow the kidlets will be coming with me so that will be interesting but at least I'll have company in the office! 

Day 11 #blog12daysxmas Reading Log for 2010

January
The ghost map : a street, an epidemic and the two men who battled to save Victorian London / Steven Johnson.
The bread with seven crusts / Susan Temby. 
The captive wife / Fiona Kidman.
People of the book : a novel / Geraldine Brooks.  
The boy who harnessed the wind : creating currents of electricity and hope / William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.
Weeping waters : a novel based on a true story / Anne Maria Nicholson.
My enemy's cradle / Sara Young.
Cross the river to home / Kaye Kelly.
Those who save us / Jenna Blum.
Diary of a girl in Changi : 1941-1945 / Sheila Allan.
The trespass / Barbara Ewing.
The heretic's daughter : a novel / Kathleen Kent.
When people matter most : vision driven leadership / Colin Prentice with Ian Hunter.
The kommandant's girl / Pam Jenoff.
Love in the time of cholera / Gabriel García Márquez ; translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman.      
      
February
The birthday present / Barbara Vine. 
The other queen / Philippa Gregory.
The girl of his dreams / Donna Leon. 
Song yet sung / James McBride.
Alice Hartley's happiness / Philippa Gregory.
The sand castle / Rita Mae Brown.
Mister Pip / Lloyd Jones.
The darkness looking back / by Andrea Jutson.    

March
The girl who played with fire/ Steig Larsson
The king's mistress / Emma Campion.
The girl on the landing / Paul Torday.
Access road / Maurice Gee.  
 
April
The story of Danny Dunn/ Bryce Corteney
The book thief / Markus Zusak.
Eat, pray, love : one woman's search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia / Elizabeth Gilbert.
Unseen academicals / Terry Pratchett
Growing great marriages / Ian and Mary Grant.
Replenishing the Earth : the settler revolution and the rise of the Anglo-world, 1783-1939 / James Belich.    
 
May
A taint in the blood / Dana Stabenow.
Delicious / Nicky Pellegrino.
The Italian wedding / Nicky Pellegrino.
I'm perfect, you're doomed : tales from a Jehovah's witness upbringing / Kyria Abrahams.
Julie and Julia : 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen : how one girl risked her marriage, her job, and her sanity to master the art of living / Julie Powell.
We two : Victoria and Albert: rulers, partners, rivals / Gillian Gill.
Bad science / Ben Goldacre. 
     
June
Half broke horses : a true-life novel / Jeannette Walls.
Tu / Patricia Grace.
Sand in my shoes : war-time diaries of a WAAF / Joan Rice.
Colditz : the definitive history / Henry Chancellor.
The white queen / Philippa Gregory.
Educating boys : helping Kiwi boys to succeed at school / Michael Irwin.    
The diary of a nobody / George and Weedon Grossmith 
The graveyard book / Neil Gaiman  
 
July
Silent in the grave / Deanna Raybourn.
Silent in the sanctuary : a Lady Julia Grey mystery / Deanna Raybourn.
Eat cake : a novel / Jeanne Ray.
The girl who kicked the hornet's nest / Stieg Larsson ; translated from the Swedish by Reg Keeland.
Wolf Hall / Hilary Mantel  
 
August
Hobson's chance / Jenny Haworth.
Rifling through my drawers / Clarissa Dickson-Wright.  
Ashes to dust / Yrsa Sigurdardottir ; translated from the Icelandic by Philip Roughton.
Six feet down under : memoirs of a New Zealand funeral director / Chris Mann.  
Novel about my wife / Emily Perkins 

September
The Einstein girl / Philip Sington.
Sweetwater Creek : a novel / Anne Rivers Siddons.
Last rituals : an Icelandic novel of secret symbols, medieval witchcraft, and modern murder / Yrsa Sigurdardottir ; translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder.
Martyr / Rory Clements.
Empress Orchid / Anchee Min.
Day after night : a novel / Anita Diamant.
My stroke of insight : a brain scientist's personal journey / Jill Bolte Taylor.
The lacuna : a novel / Barbara Kingsolver.       
 
October
Pride and prejudice and zombies : the classic Regency romance - now with ultraviolent zombie mayhem / by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
The good plain cook / Bethan Roberts.
Lands beyond the sea / Tamara McKinley.
Falling & laughing : the restoration of Edwyn Collins / Grace Maxwell. 
Animal's people / Indra Sinha.
 Lone Creek : a novel / Neil McMahon.
The English patient : a novel / Michael Ondaatje.      
 
November
The redbreast / Jo Nesbo ; translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett
The optimists / Andrew Miller
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks / Rebecca Skloot.
The road / Cormac McCarthy  
 
December
The swan thieves / by Elizabeth Kostova
Someone knows my name : a novel / Lawrence Hill
Allons enfants: a New Zealand family in France / Linda Burgess 

Total: 80
Best month = January with 15
Worst month = December with 3
Average books per month = 6.6 

Last year I read a few more but 80ish seems to be standard for me.

New reads= 80
Non-fiction = 19
Fiction = 61

Can't be bothered categorising them into genre but a quick glance tells me my choices are a bit wider this year than in the past.

December reading round up | December Book

I didn't read much in December.

The swan thieves / by Elizabeth Kostova.
Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. Renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient. Desperate to understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey.~ from the blurb
Some one recommended this one to me and I did enjoy it.  There are several stories woven into the book and much about the strengths, weaknesses and variety of the human condition.

Someone knows my name : a novel / Lawrence Hill.
Dreaming daily of escaping her life of slavery in South Carolina and returning to her African home, slave Aminata Diallo is torn from her family when she is sold and thrown into the chaos of the Revolutionary War, during which she helps create a list of black people who have been honoured for their service to the king. ~ from the blurb
Horrors of the slave experience aside, I liked this book for the historical fiction and for the character development of the protagonist.


Allons enfants: a New Zealand family in France / Linda Burgess.
A biographical account of this family and their experiences living in France during the eighties. I found a lot that resonated with my experience as a young teen living in a small town in Germany. 

March / Geraldine Brooks
New York : Viking, 2004.
ISBN: 9780143036661
Set on the front lines of the American Civil War. The main character, March, has been taken from Louisa May Alcott's " Little Women". He is the father who is away at war and who returns and needs to reassemble his shattered mind and reconnect with his family. ~ from the blurb

I think this book was probably my favourite of all the books we've read for the Book Circle this year.  It gives a gritty, realistic treatment of a reluctant soldier and his relationships with his men, wife and contemporaries.  I am fond of Little Women but it is a child's story and somewhat saccharine alongside this book about the Dad.  I definitely recommend it.

Day 10 #blog12daysxmas Making iced coffee

Making iced coffee
Originally uploaded by pdugmore2001.
We spent most of the day at the Botanic Gardens, sweltering in the heat so we needed something to cool off with.

Day 9 #blog12daysxmas Lazy sunday

After church meeting and lunch at Mum's I came home to attack the vast crop of cucumbers we're accumulating. I'm making Bread & Butter Pickles.



We have quite a nursery of monarch's on our fence. They all seem to like this bit of real estate. We have 4 on this part (one outside the photo) and one actually travelled about 4 metres up the fence line to it's own little patch.



I hope we'll be quick enough to see them emerge.

Day 8 #blog12daysxmas In which we visit water gardens

It was a lovely day and we decided to visit Wright's Water Gardens in Patumahoe.  DH has a new macro lens he is playing with so he hoped to get some action in the photography department.  We took a picnic since the cafe was closed for New Year's Day.



The lotus flowers are out (they have pink and white ones), plus many other water lilies. I do love their luminous quality. One of these days I want to paint a triptych with them as a subject.



We also saw frogs in the pools near the entrance. Funnily enough I didn't notice them at first but as we waited for DH to try and capture some damselflies I suddenly noticed them! Just goes to show it is worth stopping, being quiet and still in such places instead of rushing about.



I'm participating in a Daily portrait challenge so I made DS take this one at 1.11pm on 1/1/2011 just for the record.



DD (and DS) got a bit fed up with it all eventually and claimed to be "totally bored". However, I managed to persuade DD to pose under this lotus leaf umbrella.

From a photographic point of view it was a successful day - DH has posted some results on his photostream if you'd like to see.

Day 7 #blog12daysxmas In which water fights were had

By members of the family - DS has been agitating for a Big Purple Water Blaster from the Red Shed so today we went to see what was available. DH found one he liked too so the game was on!


DD escaping - she wasn't so keen.


The boys fight it out.


I joined in the fun (in my togs) too though my weapon was a bit pathethic - it had prostate problems some of the time.

Doing the last grocery shop of the year I saw that red capsicums are starting to come down in price so I got some to roast. To me, nothing screams summer more than the vegetables that come available at this time of year. This is one of my favourite dishes for summer.



Grease a roasting pan. Halve the capsicums and put some of the following in each of them:

• a garlic clove
• olives
• capers
• anchovies
• basil
• dollop of olive oil
• feta cheese cube
• pesto
• tomato quarter or sundried tomatoes

Sprinkle with pepper and salt and sprinkle a bit more oil over the edges.  I sometimes use the spray oil for this.  Roast in a very hot oven until the edges start to blacken and the capsicums start to collapse. Mmmmm.

Day 6 #blog12daysxmas In which I make rum balls

The sad thing is I intended to make these on Christmas Eve to take up north with us. It never happened. The mixture has been sitting in the 'fridge until today. I need to invite some people around to help eat them!

I also did a scrapbooking layout - the first in about 6-8 months. Pretty sad that it was of DD's 3rd birthday - her 4th birthday is next week.



I'm a bit Meh about it but it will do to break the drought. I've got plans to do some 6x6's for Southern Cross Kids Camp and get them off to Trina.

Day 5 #blog12daysxmas In Which Purchases Are Made With Christmas Money

Santa kindly bought us "pictures of the Queen" or to be more exact, "pictures of Ernest Rutherford", (aka money) so we popped out today to exchange them for some Items of Desirability.



I bought myself a mug that I liked. ;) I also got a new ice cream scoop since I broke the old one last night serving up home made strawberry cheesecake ice cream. This one looks nice and sturdy. I also discovered that St Lukes has a little chocolate stall place (near Starbucks) that sells Schoc chocolate - a chocolatier that I have great admiration for. 



I was given this Annabel Langbein book for Christmas too, so a nice little foodie haul here in this photo.

We also made arrangements to purchase a Big Girl's Bed (to be delivered after January 10).  Yes, my baby is finally moving from the toddler bed into something more suitable for a growing girl. *sob* She turns 4 on the 7th. 

I did not, however, manage to find a swim suit.  I suppose it was a bit optimistic of me to think I could walk into a store and find one I liked. I like one piece suits and found one store that had nice ones but I had to walk away.  Call me Scrooge but I can't bring myself to pay NZ$229.00 for a pair of togs!

Day 4 #blog12daysxmas Garden bounty

This is what happens when you go away for 4 days and leave the beans just as they are about to be useful. They become enormous!  I hope they are not too stringy.

Seven cucumbers and more on the plant... oh man.



Oh - and if you wish to see the first attempt by DH at taking photos of damselflies, he has posted one here on the AFN forum.

Day 3 #blog12daysxmas

So I missed yesterday. Too bad. Tummies, tempers and tiredness got the victory over me. Thank goodness for new mercies each morning!

Movin' right along. We ventured down to the Quarry Gardens today so DH could practice with his macro lens. We were hoping for dragonflies & while some were observed they were the darting kind so too hard to capture. Oh boy those babies can fly! We did find a damselfly & a spider with 2 horns on his bum... Names and photos to come. (Blogging by iPad so no Sd card facility).

Considering heading out to find some smallish waves for the kids to try their Boogie boards.

The lurg is making the rounds of the house.

I have to say this weather (overcast, drizzle now & again) reminds me of the Christmas of my youth when in never seems to be fine for when we wanted to play with new water toys! Still, sunny in parts and we're on holiday so got to make the most of it.

Probably going to visit great aunties this evening.

Meri Kirimete! #blog12daysxmas

Reporting for 12 days of Christmas blogging starting from today!

Having spent the early hours and morning of Christmas eve with a tummy bug I managed to scrape myself together enough to pack the bags to come up north to the in-laws for Christmas. Fortunately the traffic wasn't too bad by the time we left. Secreting the presents into the car without two interested parties seeing was tricky but we managed it.

Today we woke to two excited kids(at 615am)to see Santa had been. They managed to hold off opening things until after breakfast.

In my half dead sate yesterday I managed to forget to bring my camera so will edit this post with photos when I get some off The Mad Photographer who, as you might imagine, did not forget his!

Hoping to feel more like eating in order to enjoy Christmas dinner.

Blogosphere November Book | Reading Round Up

Hmmm.. November was a sparse month for reading.

The redbreast / Jo Nesbo ; translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.
In 1944, Daniel, a soldier legendary among the Norwegians fighting the advance of Bolshevism on the Russian front, is killed. Two years later, a wounded soldier wakes in a Vienna hospital. He becomes involved with a young nurse, the consequences of which will ripple forward to the end of the century.1999: Harry Hole, working alone having caused an embarrassment in the line of duty, has been promoted to inspector and is lumbered with surveillance duties. He is assigned the task of monitoring neo-Nazi activities; fairly mundane until a report of a rare and unusual gun being fired sparks his interest. Ellen Gjelten, his partner, from his police officer days makes a startling discovery. Then a former soldier is found with his throat cut. In a quest which takes him to South Africa and Vienna, Harry finds himself perpetually one step behind the killer. ~from the blurb
This was a well executed thriller/crime novel.  I enjoyed it.

The optimists / Andrew Miller.
His optimism about life shattered after a visit to an African massacre site, London photojournalist Clem Glass falls into a deep depression and withdraws from everyone except his mentally troubled sister, whom he nurses back to health, until an opportunity arises to confront his own demons.~ from the blurb
It was ok. It felt a little slow to get started.

The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks / Rebecca Skloot.
"Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer, yet her cells--taken without her knowledge--became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first "immortal" human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer and viruses; helped lead to in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks is buried in an unmarked grave. Her family did not learn of her "immortality" until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. The story of the Lacks family is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of."--Publisher's description.
I found this book fascinating on a number of levels.  Firstly from the viewpoint of scientific development, secondly, the ethics and the development of the idea of informed consent and thirdly, the human side of the story - namely Henrietta and her family.  Parts of the story are very sad but the ending is ultimately uplifting. I would recommend it.

November Blogosphere Book Circle Book

The road / Cormac McCarthy.
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. ISBN: 9780307476319

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. They sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.~ from the blurb

I have to admit I'm not a fan of apocalypse-style fiction.  I remember having to read Z for Zachariah for school and struggling with it.  This book was no exception and I have to say I skimmed most of the last part to get to the end quicker.  It wasn't as though the writing was bad or anything, but the subject was so depressing.  Being a disgustingly optimistic person I prefer to think that in such an apocalyptic event there would be people who would allow some inherent goodness to come forward rather allow the amoral, animalistic side of human nature to control.  I guess it is a naive viewpoint.

So yeah - it wasn't my cup of tea at all. I hear they are going to/have made a movie of the book but I don't want to imagine how even more depressing a visual depiction of the book would be. Ugh.

In which I boast about my husband

This man (whom you see here watering the garden)

has had 6 images published in this book

published by Potton.

We now have a box of 12 of these. Guess what his whanau are getting for Christmas!?

Homemade Christmas 2010

Around this time of year I find myself thinking of making stuff for Christmas.  I enjoy making it and giving it away.  Many of the food related things I make are found in this document here Homemade Christmas Recipes.

My Eco-bag tutorial is still available but there are many more tutorials on how to make eco bags, gift bags and totes out there on the "Internets". Try searching the Sew Mama Sew blog for example. Or, download the free patterns from Ottobre.

You might like to make a fairy skirt for a little girl.

This year I want to make this fudge that Mel posted.

I have cheated a bit with the family Christmas card this year.  I herded the family out to the park for family photo - always tricky to get one where everyone looks semi normal.  Anyway, we got something that is ok (posted on Facebook).  To take some of the stress out of it I used some of the free templates for digital cards found on Write.Click.Scrapbook and uploaded it to Snapfish. 

Miss 3 discovered my stash of pirate clobber (in preparation for the work Christmas party which is pirate themed).  Apparently the sword is for sawing which makes sense if you just listen to the word sounds and ignore the spelling.

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

In which more felting is done | Reading round up October

At the moment my mind is full of ideas for felting projects.  I just got some more colours from Kane Carding, and I found Craftworld had some Alpaca wool which will be fun to try.

I was commissioned by a work friend to make this one for her.  She loved it and has already asked for another in a purply colour.  She was modelling it around campus and already 3 others have expressed interest in commissioning one from me.



This one is made of silk chiffon which is beautiful to wear and was much easier to work with than the cotton chiffon.



This one I made for a friend - it's synthetic crinkle chiffon but the weave was nice and large so the wool fibres could travel through it a lot easier.  I want to start making them a bit longer but my table is only so large so that means I need to learn how to "scroll" the laying out.



I also purchased some tussah silk (which I will have to dye) to use with the wool.  All new adventures!

It's the middle of November and I forgot to put up my October Reading Round Up so here it is.

First of all, the Blogosphere Book Circle Book of the Month

Pride and prejudice and zombies : the classic Regency romance - now with ultraviolent zombie mayhem / by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. Philadelphia, Pa. : Quirk Books, c2009. ISBN: 9781594743344

Synopsis: A mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton - and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy.~ from the blurb

This one has been advertised as an unashamed mash-up of the classic Austen novel with popular culture.  For me (an Austen fan) it required a total suspension of disbelief in order to read it.  The pop culture of zombies is one I find mildly amusing, especially when I see how some of my librarian colleagues have used it to engage their clientele. Mixed with Austen it was just really weird and to my mind a real disconnect. Though I did find the martial art aspect of story diverting (as Lydia Bennett might say) - that part was funny.  The come-uppance devised for Wickham was suitably disgusting and vaguely satisfying in a vulgar way.  But I did feel sorry for Charlotte and in a way, even for poor, sychophantic Mr Collins and their terrible end.

Fortunately, Mr Darcy remains delectably lucious.

The good plain cook / Bethan Roberts.
It's summer 1936 in rural Sussex, a local girl Kitty Allen answers an advert looking for 'a good plain cook', she has no idea what she's in for. Her employer is an American who believes in sunbathing in the nude. Kitty is in no place to criticise - after all she claimed to be a good cook, despite hardly knowing how to boil an egg.

There is a whole lot of conflict in this novel.  Kitty is pretty naive and her employer a sophisticated, worldly woman.  Essentially a coming of age novel, I enjoyed the development of Kitty's character.

Lands beyond the sea / Tamara McKinley.
Jonathan leaves Cornwall to sail on the Endeavour, leaving behind his sweetheart, Susan... That is, until an act of brutality reunites them in the penal colony of New South Wales. Billy Penhalligan survives transportation and clings to the promise of a new beginning. But there will be more suffering before they can regard Australia as home.~ from the blurb

Hmm.  It started promisingly but I think the author tried to cram too much into the novel.  I could have done as 2 sequels I think.  It chopped and changed from quite a few POVs.
 
Falling & laughing : the restoration of Edwyn Collins / Grace Maxwell.
 "In February 2005, Edwyn Collins suffered two devastating brain haemorrhages. He should have died. Doctors advised that if he did survive, there would be little of him left. If that wasn't enough, he went on to contract MRSA as a result of an operation to his skull and spent six months in hospital. Initially, Edwyn couldn't speak, read, write, walk, sit up or feed himself. He had lost all movement in his right side and was suffering from aphasia - an inability to use or understand language. Through a long and arduous road of therapy he began to re-inhabit his body until he could walk again. Grace's story is an intimate and inspiring account of what you do to survive when your husband is all but taken away without warning by a stroke."--Global Books in Print

Reccommended to me by a friend, I enjoyed this biography.  I wasn't aware of the musician himself but the story of his stroke and subsequent struggle to re-learn a whole lot of areas in his life was absorbing.

Animal's people / Indra Sinha.
Ever since he was a small child, Animal has gone on all fours, his back twisted beyond repair by the catastrophic events of "that night" when, courtesy of an American chemical corporation, the Apocalypse visited his slums. Now not quite 20, he lives a hand-to-mouth existence with his dog Jara and a crazy old nun called Ma Franci, and spends his nights fantasising about Nisha, the daughter of a local musician. Their lives, irreversibly changed by "that night", reach a new crisis when a young American doctor called Elli Barber arrives in Khaufpur. Elli has come to open a free clinic for the still suffering townsfolk, but instead finds herself struggling to convince them that she isn't there to do the dirty work of the "kampani". ~ from the blurb

Based around the Bhopal disaster, this is another coming of age story with some rather compelling characters.  I found it a bit confusing in places trying to read between the lines of what was actually happening in reality and in the narrator's mind.  Quite good.

 Lone Creek : a novel / Neil McMahon.
After a failed career and marriage in California, Hugh Davoren is back in Helena, Montana, as a construction hand at the old Pettyjohn Ranch, home of many childhood memories—including the seemingly accidental death of his teenaged first love, Celia. Hugh is just trying to get through another long workday on the ranch when he discovers two dead stallions. A further probe into the matter only pushes Hugh into dangerous corners, as he finds that the ranch's slick new owner, his beautiful wife, and even old Mr. Pettyjohn have terrible secrets to keep.~ from the blurb

A decent crime novel with some interesting twisty relationships.


The English patient : a novel / Michael Ondaatje.
Three individuals--nurse Hana, thief Caravaggio, and Kip--are brought together in an abandoned Italian villa at the end of World War II by a nameless and hideously burned English patient. ~ from the blurb 

I have to admit I didn't completely finish this one.  It all got too waffly for me.