Books and Knitting

Today's post will be a mishmash of both subjects.  First I wanted to talk about how I have finished another two books since I last posted.  This is a total of 18 books now and I am going to take a little bit of a break to reread some of my favorite books.  I finished The Shadow Queen and Shalador's Lady.  Both these books are by Anne Bishop and are at least a little bit connected to my favorite trilogy The Black Jewels Trilogy.  I did enjoy these books very much and will buy them whenever I get some extra money, there is one more in this little offshoot and I am waiting impatiently for the library to recieve the two copies on order so that I am able to read it.
Secondly I did indeed have a picture to show today but I took it with the wrong memory chip and this laptop doesn't like it and so I don't have a picture to show.  It was more of a joke however, since this was the surprise birthday present and I'm not showing any pictures of it quite yet, so it was going into the wash to be felted this morning and I took a picture of it all bundled up in the pillowcase.  So that project is nearly done and I even found the extras that I needed so that I can finish it off quickly enough.
I am working along diligently on my sock which means that I am nearly done the leg.  I will be very excited for these to be done and am looking at other sock projects for the future.  The sock looks exactly the same as the other one so I am not going to post a picture of that either.
I am taking a bit of a break on the sweater because I need to see the bf again to measure and make sure that I am getting all the lengths right on this one since its fairly specific.

I think that's all I've got to say about both books and projects right now.
Lady Polly

Twice in Less than a Week

We are now celebrating the fact that I have indeed posted twice in less than a full week.  This is such an improvement that if I feel good about it I might even post more often again.  We are also celebrating the fact that I am now 5 or 6 weeks ahead of schedule (I did count but now I forget whether or not I have been reading for 10 or 11 weeks).  You can feel free to double check me since sometimes my math, especially when hurried.  I started the week of April 29th (that was the date I finished my first book) and it is now July 8th,  I have read a total of 16 books, after the two that I will be discussing today.  I believe this does make me very much ahead.
Though this challenge was to read at least 52 books with a goal of about 1 a week I will be very glad and rather proud to have beat this challenge by reading more than 52 books in a year.  I am sure that I have indeed done this before.

In the last two days I have read two books.  These books were Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair by Laurie Perry and The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti.  These books are pretty much the oppsite of each other.
Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair: is a somewhat knitting books and a rather interesting if somewhat quick reading book.  I was a little disappointed that I was able to read this entire book in under two hours.  I suppose I shouldn't be though since I have usually read books by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee in an evening for less so I guss it is kind of expected.
The Purity Myth is one of the books that I only picked up because of my degree.  In my last semester at University I took a course called Feministy Theory and it was enthralling.  Many of the books that the professor mentioned I am eager to read and this happened to be one of them.

Once again I know this isn't a post about knitting, despite the fact that I am even starting another new project that needs to be finished by January 1st.
I will be updating my current projects to reflect all the projects that need to be finished by my deadline.

Well maybe soon there'll be a good post.
Luck,
Lady Polly

Once Again...

I am writing after having read three books, rather than a single one.  So since my last post just over a week ago I have read Belladonna, Naamah's Kiss, and Julie and Julia.  I have thoroughly enjoyed all three of these books despite the fact that they are all different.  Julie and Julia is much different from the other two books, a book that I have been waiting to read for a while, especially since having watched the movie.  This is the type of book that makes you willing to take on an insane challenge, like say knitting one project a month for a year, anybody?
Belladonna is the second in the duo of Sebastian and Belladonna.  Written by Anne Bishop these are a different series than the trilogy with two add on books that are the books that I truly enjoy by the author.  I did not quite enjoy this book as I did the other one in the series, its hard to like a book where two people know they are going to fall in love but insist on fighting it for a long period of the book.
Naamah's Kiss is an offshoot from another series by Jacquline Carey.  I enjoyed the book more than I expected but also didn't enjoy it quite as much as I do the other books.

I have recently noticed that many of my blog posts are entirely on books lately.  This isn't exactly a bad thing, but I haven't exactly stopped knitting just stopped posting on it.  So hopefully tomorrow I will be able to take some pictures of my knitting and then put up a post about what I have been working on.

I am back!

And all should celebrate my return!

But we'll get around to that.  Since my last post I have finished four more books.  I have also updated the Books for the Challenge so that it now works differently.  Since my last post I have also come across a few books that I just cannot stand.  So now the books I have completed are highlighted in green with a finished date beside them and the books that have been deleted from the list, and so I do remember them and why I am not reading them are now crossed off and highlighted in red.  But anyways...
Since my last visit I have finished:
The Abstinence Teacher - the first book I have finished, which was not exactly what I expected it to be.  I think for a person who does not believe in that type of sex education nor that type of lifestyle just because of the cult like feel there is too much time spent on the male character rather than the female character.  It does take a good look at how hard it is to be in some of these religious groupings and how much a town can be influenced by these groups.  Overall it was not a satisfactory book nor a non-satisfactory book.
The Story of O - which was more along the lines of what I expected, and then again not.  I had heard about this book but only to my memory in a vague undefined way and as such I was surprised that I wasn't exactly surprised about the content but just the extent of it.  Again this book did not leave me confused and upset neither did it leave me happy and contented.  It was another average read, one that I would probably not suggest as much, just becuase of the content, as the last book.
Fight Club - I don't have much to say about this book.  I slogged my way through it and am disappointed that I did.  It's a guy book and I don't recommend it for those who don't like those types of books.
Sebastian - This is a book I probably could go on and on about but I'll try not to.  This is one of the books that has just recently been added to my challenge list and all because I picked it up on a whim.  The author has written a trilogy of books that I enjoy very much as well as two more novels that give short little stories about the same characters both before and after the happenings in the trilogy.  I hadn't read any of her other work and while I have seen this book on shelves in bookstores lately I haven't been tempted to pick it up.  I did here, since it is a library and it is free, and am glad I did.  Like all of her books she doesn't exactly explaiin the world that you get thrown into with the book, but explains as the story progresses.  I picked this book up two days ago and finished it today, but I should also say that I have done some substantial knitting in the last two days as well as having read Twilight for the 10th time.  I enjoyed the book and didn't exactly want it to end, this resulted in my going to the library today to get the other book that has been written in this world.

By my estimations this now actually has me ahead by a week, as it has been nine weeks since I have started this challenge and I have now read a total of ten books.  I will have no doubt finished one more by the end of the weekend and then will slow down, enjoy my knitting, and enjoy The Life of Pi.

The Jane Austen Book Club

So a couple days ago I finished The Jane Austen Book Club which was a good book and an easy read.  This was a relief as I was havng problems reading other books and therefore wasn't sure if I was in the mood for reading at all.  With the devouring of this book it was nice to know that I always want to read.
The book has actually made me want to read more than I usually do.  I want to read the Jane Austen books and as Northanger Abbey is the next one on my list to read it is nice that I do really want to read it.

The book in general was fairly good.  I wasn't that interested in the backgrounds of the characters, they were ok but they weren't the part of the book that I wanted to read.  I am interested to read the Austen books and then reread this book to see if I can pick out the reasons the author chose each person for each book.  I want to see if there were reasons that each person had a favorite book.

Anyways I have a gratuitous nature picture to add to the blog.

This was my back yard a couple days ago.  It was very fun and I have a half dozen picture of her grazing in my back yard.

Up Next: Northanger Abbey

Atonement

Somehow I have managed to catch up on my reading this week as it is week five of my reading oddessy and I am currently reading book six.  Anyways to get to the point today I am looking at Atonement by Ian McEwan.  I have watched the movie a couple years ago when it just came out and so I had a basic outline of what was going to happen but I didn't remember a bit of the information or pertinent bits of story plot.  So reading this was interesting, especially the fact that I was completely unable to concentrate or get into the story.  I don't know if it was just because I knew the story had a depressing ending or if it was because I just was tired of reading.  Anyways I just couldn't really get into this book and basically forced myself to finish the book on last Sunday, meaning I sat down with the book and just read to the end.
I think what I didn't like about this book was the style that it was written in.  It was written in a dreamlike state for the main character for much of it until the end, because she is writing trying to atone, and then it is still kind of dream like for the male character.  I don't know what it was about the book but I really didn't enjoy it, and this just doesn't happen to me so I am confused.

Next time will hopefully include my sock, which is done.
Lady Polly

The Colour Purple and Socks

So I know that I haven't been posting all that often, I only blame the fact that I have had a crazy last two weeks.  So today's post will be a double feature.  Starting with the review of the last book that I finished (The Colour Purple) and ending with a look at my current knitting.
So two days ago I finished the book The Colour Purple by Alice Walker and I'm not exactly sure what I have to say about it.  As you probably can tell due to the fact that I finished the book two days ago and haven't yet posted about it.  It was an interesting book that started off sad and ended happy but There were places that were very weird and hard to read.  Also the fact that it was written as if the person writing could not spell, which is true of the main character, but it got to be annoying because the word 'asked' was used a million times through out the book and was spelled as 'ast' instead of the normal way.  I haven't actually watched the movie and from what I've heard from the person that I know who has watched it it seems that the director focused on the unhappy parts of the book instead of the happier parts.
On another note I have come to find out that I am actually a week behind in my reading challenge and that it has been five weeks since I started this and I have only finished four books.  I would no doubt be done a fifth and be caught up by now except I left my next book in Abbotsford when I was visiting this weekend.  This makes me sad but it means that I get to go from the depressingness of Revolutionary Road of which I have watched the movie to the depressingness of Atonement a movie I have also watched. 

And now for the second part of this post.  The part about knitting and mainly socks.  As I may or may not have mentioned lately knitting socks has become the bane of my existence because the instructions for turning a heel are very vague in most instances which drives me a little insane.  Therefore when I decided to borrow a book on knitting socks out of the library I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this book did indeed have good instructions and I was able to follow it well.

As you can see from my twisted picture I am already on the toe and have only started these socks a couple weeks ago.  So far it has taken over 16 hours to knit this one socks however, or at least very close to that.  I have become aware of this because I managed to started and finished the audio book Eclipse in the time it has taken me to knit this much.  Of course some of it has not been listened to while knitting and has instead kept me company while I do other things.

I feel that I should add this gratuitous picture because it shows that indeed my sock does have a heel which makes me very happy indeed because that is always the hardest part for me to understand.  Very little other knitting has taken place lately except yesterday evening and this morning have added 6 rows to my shawl.  I shall show you a picture of it later since it is already 60 rows long and that means only 210 more rows to go before the edging which scares me a little to be honest.  Anyways I am off to read or knit or possibly play a video game which has become a little bit addictive which is very very bad for book reading or knitting production.

Wish me luck,

Lady Polly

Three Cups of Tea

This will be ending my blogging about books for a week because I am now officially a week ahead and can take some time to do some much needed knitting and maybe even some much needed posting about knitting (there are socks in progress, again, this is monumental).  But today's post will be about the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.
This book I didn't read in one day, it took me several, and I finished it so that I wouldn't have to take the trip to the library by myself.  I did enjoy it but I don't think as much as one probably should.  There were too many hardships and you kept having to remind yourself that this is real life and these things really happened.  Which all came crashing back when 8 years into the book came September 11, 2001.  It's an inspirational book and should be taken as such but I prefer this quote from about the middle of the book:

The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger.  The second time you take tea, you are an honoured guest.  The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die ... you must take time to share three cups of tea.

In a time in the world when everyone wants to go faster and faster and get things done faster it needs to be said that you need to take the time for the simple things in life.  To build relationships with people and to enjoy life how it is today.  It comes back to the knitting.  Yes we all know that you can go and buy a pair of socks for a dollar (somewhere) but they aren't the same socks, they aren't something you made, and it's also the process that it took to get you those socks that is just as enjoyable as having a new pair of socks.

Anyways maybe next time I'll even have a picture of these socks,
Lady Polly

Savour the Moment

I have now finished my second book for the year.  Savour the Moment by Nora Roberts.  This is one of the very few romance novels that I will be reading for the year and I believe is the only one that could be considered a harlequin novel.  I hugely enjoyed this book even though it made me cry.  Each of the books in the quartet so far has made me cry and I doubt the last one (Happy Ever After  coming November 2010) will be any different.  The last book, now that I know it will be release in November has been added to the list of books to read.  Bumping up the amount of harlequins to 2.
Anyways the book follows the third of four friends in her search for love and romance while the friends work together in their own wedding planning mansion.  By the time you have finished the second book you are very aware of which character is going to end up with which of the four main male characters in these books but Roberts writes the books in a way that is very amusing so that you want to read and see how the female characters themselves work their way into love.  These books are wonderful to fall into, and a quick read if you read at my speed, there is no getting into the book and usually something happens right off the bat that draws you further into the story.  The author also assumes that the reader will have read the other two books before this one and does not bother with the boring introduction that many books in a series have.  Which means all of the 325 pages are something new and you don't have to skip over pages that are just reiterating details that have been established in prior books.  (This is a relief for me, who would skip this and be annoyed, and even the best books do it like Harry Potter).
The characters are wonderful because out of the four friends each person can relate to all of them, Mackensie is the messy one who is also skeptical and critical of herself.  Emmaline is the romantic one, albeit ridiculously beautiful at the same time.  Laurel is the grounded, practical, pessimistic one who nonetheless wants to live in the moment.  Parker is the one we all aspire to be, the organized one, the self-assured one, the one who always knows where things are, what she needs to get done, and how to balance it all.  It's easy to see yourself in each of these characters even if it is just your love of spreadsheets that connects you to Parker.
This being said, and completing yet another book review, I am excitedly looking forward to November for Happy Ever After though it will be sad for the story to be done.
Another post later and I might even update the other page.
Lady Polly

The Devil Wears Prada

So if you have checked already then you have noticed that I have posted a new page for the blog that contains a list of all the books I plan on reading over the next year.  I will be updating it (either with books that I plan on reading, books that are added because I am too far ahead, or books that are being taken off because they do not fit the criteria for what I am looking for in a book) as well as adding in little comments about when I finished each book so that we can keep track of when I finish books and how far along I am and if I am on track or not.  I have already finished a book if you can tell by the name of this post, as well I am already contemplating taking two books off of my list meaning that I need to find 6 more books to fill the list.
Anyways on to the reason I am blogging today.  I finished The Devil Wears Prada just after midnight this morning.  It was an enjoyable read in case you can't tell since I finished the book in less than 2 full days.  It was not as much like the movie as one could hope.  It is more like The Nanny Diaries than any other book I have read.  The book has more characters who are less serious than the movie as well.  Andy is still dating Alex (for those of you who have watched the movie) but they do not live together and Andy has a best friend who she lives with for the latter part of the book.  The book was fun to read and was more grown up than a lot of the coming-of-age books that you seen now.  Anyways that's about all I have to say about this right now, hopefully I'll get better at writing these as I write for the next year.

Anyways enjoy and maybe I'll even post about something else soon.
Lady Polly