Thursday, January 29, 2009

alright, alright I'll do it... 25 random things meme

So I've been tagged several times for this meme but haven't done it. ;-) Call me perverse. Or uncooperative! (I've been given a couple of bloggy awards too but haven't managed yet to pass them along either... bad me).

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you can write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged.

1. I usually ignore requests on Facebook that involve applications been added to my profile and that access my information plus my friend's information. Don't be offended if I do, it's nothing personal.

2. One good stimulating thing about working in a library is the variety of the human condition that you get to see, especially when working down on the public library desk.

Case in point: the Duck Man

I was working late one night when he came in, all loose limbed and preceded by a bow wave of alcohol fumes. He wanted recipes for duck so that seemed easy enough. As I began looking for poultry cookbooks he told me his sorry story. His pet duck had been run over before his eyes that morning and he was quite upset, tears were beginning to well up. I made sympathetic comments, thinking to myself that perhaps this was perhaps why the application of aqua vitae had been so liberal.
"I want to cook a beautiful recipe with [the duck] to celebrate it's life, and to give [the duck] a good send off" he said.
I made some affirming noises while trying to supress my hysterical laughter inside. He was concerned about the duck's girlfriend because "they mate for life you know" and he'd had to hide the body because the GF duck was wandering around calling for her partner. I wasn't so sure that ducks actually did mate for life as such but refrained from commenting. Meantime, I'd pulled up a few appropriate books for the man and wrote down some numbers.
"So, here are some call numbers where you'll find books for duck recipes. Do you want to pick them out yourself or shall I take you there?" I asked. He gave a sheepish smile and asked me to show him where they were. So off we go to the shelves - one brisk, librarian followed by one wiggly, inebriated Duck Man.
"You're really nice," he said, "Do you have to work here all night? Would you like to go for coffee or something?"
"Um.. yeah" I said, the aforementioned hysterics threatening to emerge again. "I have to stay here, but thanks anyway."
We reached the shelves and I found the cook books. "Here you go," I said, attempting to hand the man the books, "Try looking in the index for duck and see what you find."
It rapidly became obvious that using an index was the class he missed at school so I found some recipes for him and set them on the floor for him to browse. I quickly escaped to desk only to discover him following me back!
So I endured another half and hour of the Duck man's life story. How he was going to have a hangi for his neighbours and invite all the kids too (but "we're not having alcohol you know"), and "I live in a great nieghbourhood, we're just like family! Do you live in a great neighbourhood? Where do you live?" I gesture vaguely, up the hill somewhere. Finally he decided his duck recipe would be the one I originally suggested (one involving peaches, cardamon and long stewing) so he copied it down with my pencil and some paper I gave him. Off he went, somewhat happier I think and with profuse thanks.
Some days I love my job. Seriously - I'm not being sarcastic. I mean, where else could you help someone in sorrow, get hit on in a non-threatening way and have the person leave happier than when they arrive?

3. My favourite colours are green, red and some blues. But green has the edge.

4. I had chicken pox when I was 35.

5. I don't really like other people helping me in the kitchen unless it's my sisters, Dad, or my friends Nel, Anne or Gail. It's nothing personal. I have things mapped in my mind and I like to do it my way. But you're welcome to come and talk to me while I do it.

6. I like to nuture people with food. Come to my house and I will want to feed you. But I'm hopeless at tidiness at home.

7. When I was learning "running writing" (cursive) my Dad commented that my g-ma had very nice writing so I wanted to imitate her. I still like writing copperplate style and using fountain pens.

8. I have a photic sneeze response.

9. I don't get the Vampire thing. Kinda glad Twilight didn't get voted onto the book list. ;-) Sorry gals!

10. I like music but I'm not a music listener as such. I prefer quietness.

11. I hated going to sleep as a kid. I could even sleep standing up. My daughter appears to have inherited this. Bother.

12. I used to be a night owl but now I pay for it if I don't get a good night sleep.

13. I love kitchen, fabric, scrapbooking and foodie stores. But I dislike clothes shopping.

14. I'm mostly a live by the rules person - maybe because I'm the first born? I always dismount at pedestrian crossings when I'm on my bike. But some library rules are stupid so at work I'm not often the one who is laying down the law.

15. I want to make plum sauce tonight.

16. I wish I knew more about some scripting languages related to web work, plus stuff about how to make database driven websites. But I can't seem to learn from those huge books we've got in the collection. I need a class or something.

17. I like my bamboo underpants. I also like my undies with banana prints on them. They are my happy pants.

18. I craved salty things when pregnant with my son and sweet things when pregnant with my daughter.

19. I sometimes dream I'm speaking fluent French.

20. My school calculator still works.

21. I have a collection of kina skeletons in a range of sizes.

22. I'm dreading my kids being teenagers. I don't "get" teenagers. I hope I grow into it.

23. I love the feel of clean sheets.

24. I like the smell of freshly cut grass.

25. There is a monarch caterpillar chrysalis hanging from my outside water tap.

There!
Not tagging anyone. But if you really want to and feel left out, please consider yourself tagged.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Final Book list

All the votes are in and these are the rankings that emerged. I must say I was amused that I didn't end up voting for all of mine, and in fact my book list of titles I wish to read has now grown! So no doubt you will see a few turn up on my Reading Round up. :)
  1. The book thief / Markus Zusak 6
  2. Letter to my daughter / Maya Angelou 5
  3. The zookeeper's wife / Diane Ackerman. 5
  4. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto / Michael Pollan 5
  5. The 19th Wife / David Ebershoff 4
  6. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society/Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows 4
  7. Love in the time of cholera / Gabriel García Márquez ; translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman 4
  8. PS I love You / Cecelia Ahern 4
  9. The girl with the dragon tattoo / Stieg Larson 4
  10. Running With Scissors / Augusten Burroughs 3
  11. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close / Jonathan Safran Foer 3
  12. Mr Pip / Lloyd Jones 3
  13. The Girl on the Landing / Paul Torday 3
  14. Beautiful Boy/ David Sheeff 3
  15. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World 3
  16. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter / Carson McCullers 3
  17. Live Bodies / Maurice Gee 3
  18. Pride and Prejudice / Jane Austen 3
  19. Twilight / Stephenie Meyer 3
  20. The independence of Miss Mary Bennett / Colleen McCollough 3
  21. The uncommon reader / Alan Bennett 3
  22. The middle place / Kelly Corrigan 3
  23. Shakespeare's Wife /Germaine Greer 3
  24. The House of Spirits /Isabel Allende 2
  25. A Mercy / Toni Morrison 2
  26. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle / David Wroblewski 2
  27. Tu / Patricia Grace 2
  28. Unaccustomed Earth / Jhumpa Lahiri 2
  29. On Hitler's mountain : my Nazi childhood / Irmgard Hunt 2
  30. Three Cups of Tea /Greg Mortenson 2
  31. The memory keeper's daughter / Kim Edwards 2
  32. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle / Barbara Kingsolver 2
  33. The opium clerk / Kunal Basu 2
  34. The various flavours of coffee / Anthony Capella 2
  35. The Mitford Girls / Mary Lovell 2
  36. The Man Who Loved China / Simon Winchester 2
  37. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time / Mark Haddon 2
  38. Water for elephants / Sara Gruen 1
  39. The journal of Helene Barr 1
  40. Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe / Laurence Bergreen 1
  41. The Twelve little Cakes/ Dominika Dery 1
  42. The Handmaid's Tale / Margaret Atwood 1
  43. Mao's Last Dancer / Cunxin Li 1
  44. The Handmaid's Tale / Margaret Atwood 1
  45. Mao's Last Dancer / Cunxin Li 1
  46. Atonement / Ian McEwan 1
  47. People of the Book: A Novel / Geraldine Brooks 1
  48. Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride 1
  49. What to do when someone dies / Nicci French 1
  50. Wild Swans : Daughters of China / Jung Chan 1
  51. This horrid practice : the myth and reality of traditional Maori cannibalism / Paul Moon. 1
  52. A million little pieces / James Frey 1
  53. The Lieutenant / Kate Grenville 1
  54. Life of Pi / Yann Martel 1
  55. I know this much is true / Wally Lamb 1
  56. Enduring Love /Ian McEwan 1
  57. The Gathering / Anne Enright 1
  58. Back When We Were Grown Ups / Anne Tyler 1
  59. Blindsight / Maurice Gee 1
  60. Until the final hour : Hitler's last secretary / Traudl Junge ; edited by Melissa Müller 1
  61. Memoirs of a Geisha / Arthur Golden 1
  62. Shanharam: A Novel / Gregory David Roberts 1
  63. A thousand splendid suns /Khaled Hosseini 1
  64. The birthday present / Barbara Vine
  65. Durable Goods / Elizabeth Berg
  66. Eucalyptus / Murray Bail
  67. To Siberia / Per Patterson
  68. The minutes of the Lazurus Club / Tony Pollard
  69. Sophies World /Jostein Gaarder
  70. Books: A memoir / Larry McMurty
  71. Fantastic pasts : imaginary adventures in New Zealand history / Matthew Wright
  72. The last lecture / Randy Pausch
  73. Letters from the Bay of Islands: The story of Marianne Williams, Caroline Fitzgerald
  74. Gilead / Marilynne Robinson
  75. The god of small things / Arundhati Roy
  76. Maps for lost lovers / Nadeem Aslam
  77. Stiff : the curious lives of human cadavers / Mary Roach
As #10-12 all have 3 votes I have randomised all the titles that had 3 votes so the final list of 12 selected books are the following ones in bold:
  1. The book thief / Markus Zusak
  2. Letter to my daughter / Maya Angelou
  3. The zookeeper's wife / Diane Ackerman
  4. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto / Michael Pollan
  5. The 19th Wife / David Ebershoff
  6. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society/Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
  7. Love in the time of cholera / Gabriel García Márquez ; translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman
  8. PS I love You / Cecelia Ahern
  9. The girl with the dragon tattoo / Stieg Larson
  10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close / Jonathan Safran Foer
  11. Beautiful Boy/ David Sheeff
  12. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
  13. The uncommon reader / Alan Bennett
  14. Shakespeare's Wife /Germaine Greer
  15. Running With Scissors / Augusten Burroughs
  16. Mr Pip / Lloyd Jones
  17. Twilight / Stephenie Meyer
  18. Live Bodies / Maurice Gee
  19. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter / Carson McCullers
  20. The Girl on the Landing / Paul Torday
  21. The middle place / Kelly Corrigan
  22. The independence of Miss Mary Bennett / Colleen McCollough
  23. Pride and Prejudice / Jane Austen
I used the randomiser again to select which book we'd read each month and these are the results, with a slight modification made in deference to Emma... i.e. the first book on the list is one she has read so she can join us for February as well.
  1. February: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society/Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
  2. March: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close / Jonathan Safran Foer
  3. April: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto / Michael Pollan
  4. May: The 19th Wife / David Ebershoff
  5. June: The zookeeper's wife / Diane Ackerman
  6. July: Letter to my daughter / Maya Angelou
  7. August: PS I love You / Cecelia Ahern
  8. September: Beautiful Boy/ David Sheeff
  9. October: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
  10. November: The girl with the dragon tattoo / Stieg Larson
  11. December: Love in the time of cholera / Gabriel García Márquez ; translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman
  12. January 2010: The book thief / Markus Zusak
So there you are my friends - go forth and find The Guernsey literary & Potato Peel Society for this month and we'll see you back at the end of February with some book reviews! I'm heading off to put it on hold at the library...

Friday, January 23, 2009

Votes so far

Just waiting on a couple more potential voters but this is how things are looking so far...

  1. The book thief / Markus Zusak    6
  2. Letter to my daughter / Maya Angelou    5
  3. The zookeeper's wife / Diane Ackerman.    5
  4. The 19th Wife / David Ebershoff    4
  5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society/Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows    4
  6.  Love in the time of cholera / Gabriel García Márquez ; translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman    4
  7.  PS I love You / Cecelia Ahern    4
  8. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto / Michael Pollan    4
  9. Running With Scissors / Augusten Burroughs    3
  10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close / Jonathan Safran Foer    3
  11. Mr Pip / Lloyd Jones    3
  12. The girl with the dragon tattoo / Stieg Larson    3
  13. The Girl on the Landing / Paul Torday    3
  14. Beautiful Boy/ David Sheeff    3
  15. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World    2
  16. The House of Spirits /Isabel Allende    2
  17. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter / Carson McCullers    2
  18. Live Bodies / Maurice Gee    2
  19. A Mercy / Toni Morrison    2
  20. Pride and Prejudice / Jane Austen    2
  21. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle / David Wroblewski    2
  22. Twilight / Stephenie Meyer    2
  23. Tu / Patricia Grace    2
  24. Unaccustomed Earth / Jhumpa Lahiri    2
  25. The uncommon reader / Alan Bennett    2
  26. The middle place / Kelly Corrigan    2
  27. On Hitler's mountain : my Nazi childhood / Irmgard Hunt    2
  28. Shakespeare's Wife /Germaine Greer    2
  29. Three Cups of Tea /Greg Mortenson    2
  30. The memory keeper's daughter / Kim Edwards    2
  31. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle / Barbara Kingsolver    2
  32. Atonement / Ian McEwan    1
  33. People of the Book: A Novel / Geraldine Brooks    1
  34. The opium clerk / Kunal Basu    1
  35. Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride    1
  36. What to do when someone dies / Nicci French    1
  37. Wild Swans : Daughters of China / Jung Chan    1
  38. The various flavours of coffee / Anthony Capella    1
  39. This horrid practice : the myth and reality of traditional Maori cannibalism / Paul Moon.    1
  40. A million little pieces / James Frey    1
  41. The Mitford Girls / Mary Lovell    1
  42. The Man Who Loved China / Simon Winchester    1
  43. The Lieutenant / Kate Grenville    1
  44. Life of Pi / Yann Martel    1
  45. The independence of Miss Mary Bennett / Colleen McCollough    1
  46. I know this much is true / Wally Lamb    1
  47. Enduring Love /Ian McEwan    1
  48. The Gathering / Anne Enright    1
  49. Back When We Were Grown Ups / Anne Tyler    1
  50. Blindsight / Maurice Gee    1
  51. Until the final hour : Hitler's last secretary / Traudl Junge ; edited by Melissa Müller    1
  52. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time / Mark Haddon    1
  53. Memoirs of a Geisha / Arthur Golden    1
  54. Shanharam: A Novel / Gregory David Roberts    1
  55. A thousand splendid suns /Khaled Hosseini    1
  56. The birthday present / Barbara Vine
  57. Durable Goods / Elizabeth Berg
  58. Eucalyptus / Murray Bail
  59. To Siberia / Per Patterson
  60. The minutes of the Lazurus Club / Tony Pollard
  61. Sophies World /Jostein Gaarder
  62. Water for elephants / Sara Gruen
  63. Books: A memoir / Larry McMurty
  64. Fantastic pasts : imaginary adventures in New Zealand history / Matthew Wright
  65. The journal of Helene Barr
  66. The last lecture / Randy Pausch
  67. Letters from the Bay of Islands: The story of Marianne Williams, Caroline Fitzgerald
  68. Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe / Laurence Bergreen
  69. The Twelve little Cakes/ Dominika Dery
  70. Gilead / Marilynne Robinson
  71. The god of small things / Arundhati Roy
  72. The Handmaid's Tale / Margaret Atwood
  73. Mao's Last Dancer / Cunxin Li
  74. Maps for lost lovers / Nadeem Aslam
  75. Stiff : the curious lives of human cadavers / Mary Roach

Not sure how we'll deal with the tied titles at 12-14 but I think the randomiser might be put into action. ;-)

So - if you want to vote and haven't, please do so. Thanks! 

Have a great weekend too - ours is a long weekend due to Auckland Anniversary day.  Ours will involve roof painting so I hope your break is more exciting! LOL!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Wordle is cool

Wordle: Blog Words

My blog from Wordle

Funny how Book, list and read are rather large...

Summer Jam

Following Sharon and Hannah's outing to the strawberry farm, I decided we should go too. Of course this was in no way related to the fact I have some strawberry paper and stamps at home. No really.

The kids weren't that enthusiastic pickers to my surprise! But we did get a bucket full - about 1.5 kilo I think. I made 4 jars of strawberry jam and 5 jars of plum+strawberry.


I think the size of the patch was a bit overwhelming for them.


DD is in there up to her armpits! Can you tell she isn't that enthused?

However, they both enjoyed the ice cream we got when we paid for the strawberries. There was also a tractor in the shop that DS played on while I waited in line. He had the idea that he'd get to ride on the tractors that were driving around the farm so was a bit miffed when we walked! "Those are John Deere tractors Mum" he told me.

Here is my pumpkin in the garden with clothes peg for comparison.

Pity the kids don't like pumpkin ;-)

Monday, January 19, 2009

Book Circle Voting Time!

Here is the list of suggestions. We need to choose 12 from the list. It will be tricky, but don't forget there is nothing to stop you reading some of the others if you want to include them on a personal reading list somewhere.

Brief descriptions of the books can often be found on your library's catalogue, Amazon and other sources.

1. Vote for 12 and send your choices to me at pdugmore2001@yahoo dot co dot nz . I know some of the members are away but are happy to read other's choices or have already voted.

2. I'll post the selected book list towards the end of the week. This will mean we won't have a January '09 book to read, so we will make January 2010 the end point (for now).

3. I have separated out those books that some of the members have read. This doesn't not preclude them from voting.

Fiction

The 19th Wife / David Ebershoff
Atonement / Ian McEwan
Beautiful Boy/ David Sheeff
The book thief / Markus Zusak
The birthday present / Barbara Vine
Back When We Were Grown Ups / Anne Tyler
Blindsight / Maurice Gee
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
Durable Goods / Elizabeth Berg
Eucalyptus / Murray Bail
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close / Jonathan Safran Foer
Enduring Love /Ian McEwan
The Gathering / Anne Enright
The Girl on the Landing / Paul Torday
The girl with the dragon tattoo / Stieg Larson
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society/Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
The House of Spirits /Isabel Allende
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter / Carson McCullers
The independence of Miss Mary Bennett / Colleen McCollough
I know this much is true / Wally Lamb
Letter to my daughter / Maya Angelou
The Lieutenant / Kate Grenville
Life of Pi / Yann Martel
Live Bodies / Maurice Gee
Love in the time of cholera / Gabriel García Márquez ; translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman
A Mercy / Toni Morrison
Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride
The minutes of the Lazurus Club / Tony Pollard
The opium clerk / Kunal Basu
Mr Pip / Lloyd Jones
Running With Scissors / Augusten Burroughs
PS I love You / Cecelia Ahern
People of the Book: A Novel
/ Geraldine Brooks
Pride and Prejudice / Jane Austen
Sophies World /Jostein Gaarder
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle / David Wroblewski
To Siberia / Per Patterson

Twilight / Stephenie Meyer
Tu / Patricia Grace
Unaccustomed Earth / Jhumpa Lahiri
The uncommon reader / Alan Bennett
What to do when someone dies / Nicci French
Wild Swans : Daughters of China / Jung Chan
Water for elephants / Sara Gruen
The various flavours of coffee / Anthony Capella

Non Fiction
Books: A memoir / Larry McMurty
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto / Michael Pollan
Fantastic pasts : imaginary adventures in New Zealand history / Matthew Wright
This horrid practice : the myth and reality of traditional Maori cannibalism / Paul Moon.
The journal of Helene Barr
The last lecture / Randy Pausch
Letters from the Bay of Islands: The story of Marianne Williams, Caroline
Fitzgerald
A million little pieces / James Frey
The Mitford Girls / Mary Lovell
The Man Who Loved China / Simon Winchester
The middle place / Kelly Corrigan
On Hitler's mountain : my Nazi childhood / Irmgard Hunt
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe / Laurence Bergreen
Shakespeare's Wife /Germaine Greer
Three Cups of Tea /Greg Mortenson
The Twelve little Cakes/ Dominika Dery
Until the final hour : Hitler's last secretary / Traudl Junge ; edited by Melissa Müller
The zookeeper's wife / Diane Ackerman.

Books some members have read
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time / Mark Haddon
Gilead / Marilynne Robinson
The god of small things / Arundhati Roy
The Handmaid's Tale / Margaret Atwood
Mao's Last Dancer / Cunxin Li
Maps for lost lovers / Nadeem Aslam
The memory keeper's daughter / Kim Edwards
Memoirs of a Geisha / Arthur Golden
Shanharam: A Novel / Gregory David Roberts
A thousand splendid suns /Khaled Hosseini

Non Fiction some members have read
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle / Barbara Kingsolver
Stiff : the curious lives of human cadavers / Mary Roach

Book circle Members so far (I suggest you add them to your feed reader, but I will make a side bar list too)

Emma (to join when able)
Heather
Janine
Jenny
Julie Maree
Katie
Kelly
Kristen
Lynda
Mel
Mim
Penny
Sandra
Sharon
Suzannah
Yvette

There is still room for folks to join if they wish.

6.53pm Edited to add Janine's suggestions which somehow I forgot to do so.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Book Circle update

Okay possums, I've got about 9 12 14 people interested in this so far. Are there any more? Any lurkers want to reveal themselves?

So, for those of you who are definitely interested I do need you to tell me some suggestions on what you would like to read this year.

Otherwise you'll be reading what I want to read. And that would not be very fair.

If you are stumped for ideas check out the following:
Featured books on your library's home page
Whitcoulls Top 100
Borders Best of 2008
Amazon's top 100

I am making a list on Google docs so if you have a gmail account I can "share" it with you. If you don't have a gmail account, I can easily send a copy and of course I will be posting it on my blog once it is complete.

Make sure I have your email addy by sending a list of book suggestions to me at pdugmore2001 at yahoo dot co dot nz. We need to have the suggestions in by the end of the week (18th Jan) so we can vote on the 12 we will read.

On my could-be-interested to definitely-interested list I have:

Me!
Emma (to join when able)
Heather
Janine
Jenny
Julie Maree
Katie
Kristen
Lynda
Mel
Mim
Sandra
Suzannah
Yvette

So the rules will be that we will all try to read the prescribed book some time during the given month. If life gets in the way and we don't manage it, that is fine. This is not Year 11 English. I will not be marking your "work" people. We don't need to have guilt trips.

We will post a review on our blogs during the last week of the month. The review might contain something like this but these are just guidelines rather than a prescribed format:
  • A brief synopsis describing the storyline and main characters, where the book is set and when it was written.
  • Did you like/dislike the book?
  • How did the book affect you, if it did at all?
  • Compare and contrast with other similar books if you wish
Potential problems

The book of the month is not in your library

See if you can interloan it from another library. (Usually the charge is about $5.00 but if it is more than that I'd say don't worry about it). Ask your friends and relations - they may have a copy on their bookshelf.
You don't finish the book
Just comment on what you've read so far and explain why you didn't finish it. Not every book will be to your taste but that is part of the experience.
The hold list is so long that you don't get the book in time for the given month
Choose another one from the list that you can get your hands on and read that instead... you'll be ahead for that month!

Birthdays and Vegetables

What, you might well ask, do these things have in common?
Absolutely nothing but that is what this post is about...

But first - a layout. I finally scrapped DS's first day at school using the October kit from SBO.

Next DD's 2nd birthday on the 7th. I made her a Very Hungry Caterpillar cake because that is her favourite story right now. Funnily enough, it was DD's fav story too and he got a 'pillar cake for his 2nd birthday. We just had a quiet celebration for her. Nan and Pop came for dinner, and some cousins came for dessert. She liked the cake but didn't know what to do with the candles. Fortunately big brother did!



Now for the garden bit! We (actually DH) dug up the potatoes. We got a pretty good crop with some decent sized ones in there. These are Jersey Bennes.

These are mostly Red Desiree. There were more of these but I'd already stowed them in the potato bin.

I had some modest success with my Borlotti beans this year, but I doubt I'll get enough to make a decent stew with. Still, they are so beautiful. My courgette/zuchini is also beautiful but not very prolific. Neither is my cucumber - I'm wondering if it is the lack of bees around.

Just for Jenny. The fig tree is looking good for jam this year. Hope the silver eyes leave me some ;-)

Here is my garden as of December. The potatoes on the right are now gone and I've put in some perpetual spinach. The pumpkin on the left is now enormous and I will share a comparative photo once I down load it off the camera.


The plums are ripening so I imagine plum jam is on the project list for the coming weekend. Yum!

Thursday, January 08, 2009

A Blogosphere Book Circle?

Would you be interested in such a thing?

We could do something like this:

  1. Everyone submit a few book titles they'd like to read sometime this year. They can be fiction or non-fiction and in any genre. We could try and expand our reading habits a bit.
  2. Vote on the titles and I will rank the titles according to their votes. The first 12 titles will be our reading list for the year.
  3. We read the book of that month sometime during the month.
  4. We post about the book in the last week of the given month with our review and some discussion.
Having a 12 month list means we can plan ahead and place a hold on any books we need from the library. I'm not expecting you to buy the books unless you really want to.

What do you think? I don't want to make it too onerous with lots of rules. We might have some guidelines for our blogpost though, something like this discussion guide from Bookbrowse.com but I'm not expecting anything like your 6th Form English class as such... just a bit of virtual book chat.

If you are interested, leave a comment and we'll see if it will get off the ground. If you don't have a blog but still want to join, leave a comment anyway. Or email me at pdugmore2001 at yahoo dot co dot nz.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

November / December Reading Round Up

The pyjama girls of Lambert Square / Sara Donati
For John Dodge, moving to new places and reviving ailing businesses is a way of life. So when he sees an ad for Scriveners, a stationery shop in a small town in South Carolina, he decides to take the plunge. As soon as he arrives in Lambert's Corner, Dodge falls happily into the whirl of gossip, gifts and quintessential Southern hospitality. But the one person who really catches Dodge's eye is Julia Darrow - the beautiful but aloof pyjama wearing-owner of the Cocoon, a popular store specializing in luxury linens. Dodge tries to befriend her, but she remains elusive and mysterious. Everyone knows that she is a widow, but no one seems to know why she came to town or why she never leaves Lambert Square-or does she? Like Dodge, Chicago-born Julia is fleeing a tumultuous past. But with the help of a hilarious and endearing cast of characters, Julia and Dodge learn that, sometimes, you don't need to go far to find home."--Provided by publisher. Loved this book and recommend it. Interesting characters, romantic humour; although the plot is a little predictable the setting is neat, and there are few little twists here and there.

La belle saison / Patrica Atkinson
Patricia Atkinson moved to rural France as an outsider hoping to put down roots. But her dream turned to tragedy as her husband James became ill and died. It was then she realized that the small vineyard they had bought together was her sole means of support.~ from the blurb. This is the sequel to her first book. I found it interesting to follow the development of the vineyard and the gastronomic adventures of the writer. As with the last book, significant characters die in it! But still a good read. I so want to go to France. *Le sigh*

Deep France: a writer's year in the Bearn/ Celia Brayfield
Novelist Celia Brayfield had never lived more than a taxi ride from Soho, until one day she decided to take a year off. With the computer and the cats in the back of the car, and the blessing of her student daughter, she drove south until the dawn came up in the Bearn, the most romantic, remote and rustic region of France." "Deep France is the diary of a writer's year in a tiny French village, trying to meet her deadlines when a good thunderstorm could blow out the computer and there were always artichokes to pick. It's a walk in the swashbuckling footsteps of the Three Musketeers and King Henri IV, full of funny and perceptive anecdotes about the year in which France had to face the euro, the World Cup and Le Pen's presidential campaign. ~ from the blurb. ~from the blurb. Good read - again, I am in a "go to France" mood so it fed my travel lust.

White rose rebel / Janet Paisley
Anne Farquharson is a young Highlander - tempestuous, bold, determined to be her own woman. Yet the clan Farquharson - like its close neighbours and rivals - is under threat. The Highlands suffer at the domineering hand of English King George, while there are rumours that Bonnie Prince Charlie, in exile in France, is seeking to return and hoping to raise an army in a bid for the throne. When she agrees to marry a clan chief, she is doing much more than taking his bed. For she and her supporters are drawn into the heart of the brutal and bloody conflict, and as the Jacobite Rebellion escalates, she and her husband find themselves on opposite sides of the battlefield. In a time when civil war is tearing the nation apart, Anne believes she can be a match for anyone. ~ from the blurb. Didn't finish this one because the heroine got too annoying.

Girlie / Gillian Ranstead
In a remote rural valley in the New Zealand hills, two cultural traditions interweave. The land is owned by Maori, and there are many Maori in the community. But the other families regard themselves as Celtic, with ancient memories stretching back through the centuries, to Culloden, and before. A traumatised people speaking Gaelic have been dispossessed and driven out of their homeland, to seek refuge in New Zealand, only to find themselves caught up in a history that has dispossessed the original people of the new land. Two great traditions blend - and also clash. Growing up in the extended family is the girl Mara, the one they call Girlie, abandoned by her free-wheeling journalist mother and brought up by uncles and aunts. A free spirit herself, Mara struggles to understand the power of the past. Then a great flood devastates the valley and the community is scattered. Introduced to the liberating world of books, the teenage Mara begins to understand the connections between memories, ancestors and history~ from the blurb. Very well written and an engaging book. I'd recommend it. It has a real NZ flavour to it.

Berlin: the downfall, 1945 / Anthony Beevor
The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Reich in January 1945. Political instructors rammed home the message of Wehrmacht and SS brutality. The result was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known, with tanks crushing refugee columns under their tracks, mass rape, pillage and destruction. Hundreds of thousands of women and children froze to death or were massacred because Nazi Party chiefs, refusing to face defeat, had forbidden the evacuation of civilians. Over seven million fled westwards from the terror of the Red Army." "Antony Beevor, using often devastating new material from former Soviet files, as well as from German, American, British, French and Swedish archives, has reconstructed the experiences of those millions caught up in the nightmare of the Third Reich's final collapse. Berlin - The Downfall 1945 is a terrible story of pride, stupidity, fanaticism, revenge and savagery, yet it is also one of astonishing endurance, self-sacrifice and survival against all odds.~from the book jacket Didn't finish this one. It got too much (especially after reading about the Goebbels children being murdered by their own mother). Having said that, the historical research and era is rather fascinating and the book itself is well written. Despite some of the complex machinations that went on, Beevor manages to bring them together cohesively.

The seven daughters of Eve / Brian Sykes
A scientist describes how he linked the DNA found in the remains of a five-thousand-year-old man to modern-day relatives and explains how all modern individuals can trace their genetic makeup back to prehistoric times to seven primeval women. ~from the blurb. This one was fascinating for me. Although it has a scientific basis it is very easy to read for the lay person, and quite compelling.

Looking back at my reading history on my library record I've totalled up the numbers of books read in different genres from the 31st May 2008 until 31st December 2008. I think I can safely say there are some trends there! LOL!

Fiction
Crime: 7
Romance: 5
Historical Fiction: 16
Literature/fiction: 2
Poetry: 1

Non Fiction
Scrapbooking: 5
Food (incl. cookbooks): 15
Travel/ other countries: 7
Other: 6

Total: 64 books in 7 months
Average books read in a month: 9
Extrapolating for the months I missed, I estimate I have probably read about 100 books this year. Is that bad or good? Not sure it really matters anyway - heh. ;-) I don't have any particular agenda in my reading - I read what catches my attention and interest. I don't have any aspirations in terms of achievement in what I read either so this is reflected in the number of "Literature" fiction books! I really am a Edna Average when it comes to taste in fiction ;-)

Take a look at Con's lists - similar reading rate but entirely different genres. I like the way she has broken down her reading habits and I think I shall do something similar for this year's summary in January 2010 ... if I'm still in the body as my Dad would say (just to rark up my Mum).