Sorry, but there will not be a proper post today. This household has been suffering from what I might call “post-holiday ASD meltdown let’s muck-spread over everyone until they crack syndrome”. Lovely Husband and I are totally frazzled and at the end of our tether(s). I hope to be capable of writing a Reading Roundup post tomorrow.
Best wishes to you all,
😓😓😓😓😓
We had a weekend of two halves: Saturday was very peaceful; Sunday wasn’t. The peaceful part was because Elder Son was away; the less peaceful part was because he came back from his trip away and needed to talk (and, boy, can he talk!). I love him to bits, but I must admit that the peace was lovely. I have now had my ears worn off with all of the information about his trip and all that he saw and did 😄. I am wilting…
Anyway, we had every intention of going out this afternoon, particularly as I was so desperate to get to the Library. It was not to be, however, as we had a long period of wind-driven snow and it was so cold. I didn’t dare take the risk of leaving the house in weather like that, so I had to console myself with an ebook instead.
I am getting quite bored with wearing this navy wool jumper, but I need to wrap up as warmly as I can and my thinner cashmere or cotton items simply won’t do! I will definitely look out for some new wool or wool-mix sweaters for next Winter. It is a shame I didn’t think of this when the January sales were still on – never mind.
Today’s outfit:
Outfit of the day 26/02/18 with Hermès’ Tyger, Tyger scarf
I have had some good news today regarding some jewellery that I have had my eye on for a while, and I will tell you all about it when everything has been finalised!
Best wishes,
💚💛❤💜💙
Today, it is about five months since I last had my hair dyed. I now have about three inches of grey growth and feel much nearer my goal. As I missed my last hair appointment, due to illness, my hair is getting rather too long and unruly, but I have decided to ignore that. I hardly ever leave the house and really my hair doesn’t look too bad, so I have decided to let it grow for another month and then have all of the dyed parts cut right out. I will ask the hairdresser for her opinion and if that would leave me with a scalped look, then I will have her leave a little of the brown hair. But I am hoping I can get rid of it all by the end of March.
I was planning to go to the library today to choose my next huge pile of books, but there were jobs to do in the house and, when I had finished them, I was too tired to go out. Thank goodness that I have plenty of ebooks to read!
Anyway, here is today’s outfit:
Outfit of the day 23/02/18 with Hermès’ Mare Nostrum scarf
This is one of the scarves that I am not sure will go with grey hair. I am hoping that the lavender border will work. I love the design of the scarf and was so pleased to find it in such a fantastic condition for the price.
This Winter seems to have been much colder than last year’s in this part of the UK. It has really brought to my attention that I need to get a couple more thicker woolly jumpers, for the days when my cashmere collection is simply not quite warm enough. This navy one is getting very matted and pilled, so I may replace it, and my purple one pilled badly from the beginning. I will write myself a reminder using Evernote for future reference.
Anyway, I hope that all my readers have a great weekend.
Best wishes,
💚❤💜💙💛
I have a little something to share with you today. Whilst wandering around on eBay, as you do, I came across some lovely vintage jewellery sellers. As I love bling so much (I am not one for restrained, neat, minimalist things), I looked through some listings of Swarovski and other crystal items and found this lovely brooch. I also made a massive wishlist with loads of gorgeous earrings on it. As I have decided to keep my hair short, I think that I might add to my earring collection as I have had most of the existing items for donkey’s years and I am getting rather bored with them.
Anyway, here is the brooch…
Crystal and gold plate brooch
Lovely, isn’t it? I like the Art Deco feel. It has aquamarine and sapphire blue crystals set into gold plate and is around 3/4 by 2 1/2 inches in size. I bought it to wear with my Lands’ End merino wool dresses in navy and cobalt…
Navy and cobalt merino wool knitted dresses – Lands’ End
I have been wearing some old brooches on the collar of these dresses and I thought that this one would work well. When I try it out I will take a photo and upload it to a blog post.
Best wishes,
💙💙💙💙💙
I have had mixed success with my book choices this week. Because I have been so ill, I have been struggling to concentrate so have rejected anything that hasn’t gripped me within the first 30 or 40 pages. Is that too harsh!
Cibola Burn by James S A Corey
My first book was #04 in The Expanse series: Cibola Burn by James S A Corey. Here is the blurb:
The gates have opened the way to thousands of habitable planets, and the land rush has begun. Settlers stream out from humanity’s home planets in a vast, poorly controlled flood, landing on a new world. Among them, the Rocinante, haunted by the vast, posthuman network of the protomolecule as they investigate what destroyed the great intergalactic society that built the gates and the protomolecule.
But Holden and his crew must also contend with the growing tensions between the settlers and the company which owns the official claim to the planet. Both sides will stop at nothing to defend what’s theirs, but soon a terrible disease strikes and only Holden – with help from the ghostly Detective Miller – can find the cure.
And this is the four star review which I wrote on Goodreads:
I am loving this series and have already requested the next two books after this one. They are now waiting at the Library for me to pick up and I can’t wait to read them. This story was based on one planet and its orbit, rather than huge sweeping journeys across space. Again, we are brought into conflicts between human beings and how they deal with fear, sudden change and imminent destruction. How people cope and create division into “tribes” so that they can face the thought of killing each other for some kind of higher purpose or for their own and their loved ones survival. Big questions, big events and a big, meaty read. Loved it 😍.
This book almost deserved five stars, but I reserve that accolade for my most favourite reads.
All Day and a Night by Alafair Burke
My next book was a solid three-star read: All Day and a Night by Alafair Burke, #05 in her Ellie Hatcher series. This is the blurb:
A murder case with ties to a convicted serial killer leads a young defense lawyer and an NYPD homicide detective into parallel investigations with explosive and deadly results in this superb mystery.
The latest story dominating the tabloids – the murder of psychotherapist Helen Brunswick-couldn’t be further from Carrie Blank’s world handling federal appeals at an elite Manhattan law firm. But then a hard-charging celebrity trial lawyer calls Carrie with an offer she can’t refuse: Anthony Amaro, the serial killer police blamed for the murder of Carrie’s older sister, Donna, has new evidence related to Brunswick’s murder that he believes can exonerate him. Determined to force the government to catch Donna’s real killer, Carrie takes on Amaro’s wrongful conviction claim.
On the other side of Amaro’s case is NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher, who, along with her partner, JJ Rogan, is tapped as the “fresh look” team to reassess the investigation that led to Amaro’s conviction. The case is personal for them, too: Ellie wonders whether they got the assignment because of her relationship with the lead prosecutor, and Rogan has his own reasons to distrust Amaro’s defense team.
As the NYPD and Amaro’s lawyers search for certainty among years of conflicting evidence, their investigations take them back to Carrie’s hometown and secrets left behind there. And when Carrie falls victim to a brutal attack, it becomes clear that the young attorney got too close to the truth.
And this is my short review:
Good, entertaining read. Although it is #05 in a series, I didn’t feel that this created any issue with enjoying the plot. I will definitely read others in the series if I come across them at the Library, although I won’t make any great effort to do so. Worth picking up.
In fact, I may pick up another book by Alafair Burke when I visit the Library this week 😊.
Perfect Remains by Helen Fields
A new ebook popped into my BorrowBox account, Perfect Remains by Helen Fields, #01 in her new DI Callanach series, so I turned to that next.
On a remote Highland mountain, the body of Elaine Buxton is burning. All that will be left to identify the respected lawyer are her teeth and a fragment of clothing.
In the concealed back room of a house in Edinburgh, the real Elaine Buxton screams into the darkness.
Detective Inspector Luc Callanach has barely set foot in his new office when Elaine’s missing persons case is escalated to a murder investigation. Having left behind a promising career at Interpol, he’s eager to prove himself to his new team. But Edinburgh, he discovers, is a long way from Lyon, and Elaine’s killer has covered his tracks with meticulous care.
It’s not long before another successful woman is abducted from her doorstep, and Callanach finds himself in a race against the clock. Or so he believes … The real fate of the women will prove more twisted than he could have ever imagined.
This was another book to which I gave three stars, rather than four. The review explains:
Read this all in one sitting. Ebook from the public library’s digital catalogue. Good, gripping and exciting crime novel. Interesting main characters with backgrounds to be further developed in the series, I hope. A bit different to most books in this genre in that we already know who the killer is right from the beginning, but that makes it interesting when the police get things wrong for a while. Would have been four stars except for two issues, which I cannot explain without spoilers, so I won’t!
And, no, I won’t explain that last sentence here either, as it would give too much away! The book is still worth reading even if a couple of issues raise my Radfem hackles – now that really is quite enough.
Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
The last two of my library book pile were both Young Adult. As some of you know, I have found it really difficult to read this genre since I retired from working as a school librarian. It feels almost painful, as I loved reading YA so much. Well, my tiny experiment in reintroducing myself was spectacularly unsuccessful. I tried to read Veronica Roth’s new book, Carve the Mark, but gave up after about 40 pages as I simply couldn’t carry on. I did write a short Goodreads review, but won’t copy if here as it was pretty uncomplimentary. I then tried to tackle another YA, but called things to a halt even more quickly. It was probably me, rather than the book, so I won’t say which one it was because that would be unfair.
So, as I have now finished all of the library books I chose a few weeks ago, and I am waiting until Friday when I will select my next batch, I will enjoy serendipitously wandering around the ebook catalogue and see what comes up.
Until next week, Happy Reading.
Best wishes,
📖📚📖📚📖
As I have spent the day in bed, I don’t have an “Outfit of the day” to show you. My pyjamas and a woolly scarf aren’t very interesting! Instead, I will give you all something that I find very amusing. There is a thread on The Purse Forum called “Just Because it’s Designer Doesn’t Mean it’s Good – Post your WTH Finds!” that I find absolutely hilarious. Here are a few examples to start you off – remember these cost thousands of £££!! 😂🤣😂🤣😂
The designer DHL t-shirt deserves a KFC joke, but I can’t think of anything funny enough to beat what is actually happening. Anyway, it all goes to show that the old phrase “more money than sense” is still true!
Reading Roundup post tomorrow, if all is well.
Best wishes,
💛💚💙❤💜
I was a bit low both physically and mentally over the weekend. As I am spending so much time in bed these days, I am beginning to question why I am collecting so many scarves and other accessories, when I can’t go out wearing them. Mind you, in my small town I don’t think that anyone would really notice How I am dressed.
So, thinking it over once again, the questions really are:
(1) Who am I wearing these lovely (and often very expensive) items for?
(2) Do I really want complete strangers to know my scarf is Hermès or Ferragamo, or who designed my jewellery?
The answers to to these are:
(1) I wear them for myself, to help my confidence when my appearance has been badly affected by illness, and for my family – I plaster a smile on my face so that they don’t worry too much. And (2) not really, that would be showing off!
So, I think that I have talked myself out of this present malaise, at least for a while. Today, even though I knew we would be indoors all day, I decided to wear a lovely scarf and some of my favourite jewellery. Just for me, and also for Lovely Husband.
Today’s outfit:
Outfit of the day 19/02/18 with Hermès’ L’Arbre du Vent scarf
I love the rich colours of this scarf!
Best wishes,
💜💜💜💜💜
Sorry, no post today because I am too ill. Hope you all have a great weekend. With any luck, normal service will be resumed next week 😘
Best wishes,
❤💜💙💚💛
Just a very quick post today. I haven’t made a full collage with today’s outfit, but have put my selfie together with a photo of the scarf. This one is a gorgeous 140cm silk chiffon/mousseline by Leonard which has a design of feathers in grey, black, tan, cream, yellow and turquoise. It drapes wonderfully and is the softest scarf I own.
Today’s outfit:
Outfit of the day 15/02/18 with Leonard’s Feather scarf
Best wishes,
💙💜❤💚💛
No romance books for me leading up to Valentine’s Day! Instead, I have been reading science fiction again and a kind of mix of both that and fantasy. One of my two books was very good and enjoyable, the other was far less successful.
Abaddon’s Gate by James S A Corey
I am continuing to read the books in The Expanse series whilst being sad that I missed the TV version when it was broadcast a few years ago. We don’t have Netflix so that I can catch up with it now. Mind you, maybe the changes that they always make would annoy me, as an admirer of the books. Anyway, this time it was the turn of #03 Abaddon’s Gate by James S A Corey and here is the blurb:
For generations, the solar system — Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt — was humanity’s great frontier. Until now. The alien artifact working through its program under the clouds of Venus has appeared in Uranus’s orbit, where it has built a massive gate that leads to a starless dark.
Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are part of a vast flotilla of scientific and military ships going out to examine the artifact. But behind the scenes, a complex plot is unfolding, with the destruction of Holden at its core. As the emissaries of the human race try to find whether the gate is an opportunity or a threat, the greatest danger is the one they brought with them.
These books are pretty long and and it takes me quite a while to finish each one as they also demand a good level of concentration. When I say a while, I mean three of four days, rather than one or two. This was my review on Goodreads for four stars:
Another great book in a great series. An interesting exploration of how humans, in the face of something too awful (in its original meaning) to fully comprehend, are often consumed by fear. They then react to that fear in a number of different ways. This book brings together differing religions, revenge, hubris, courage and the worst and best of human behaviour. A fantastic ride through space!
Diadem from the Stars by Jo Clayton
I did have the next book, #04 Cibola Burn, waiting in the pile, but decided to change direction a little and read an ebook which was waiting for me on my iPad: Diadem from the Stars by Jo Clayton. This is #01 of a very long series, The Diadem Saga. This is the blurb:
Raised, but never loved, by the barbarian valley people of Jaydugar, a planet of two suns, young Aleytys has always known she did not belong. Abandoned by her space-traveling mother and barely tolerated by a superstitious primitive tribe fearful of divine reprisals, Aleytys is forced to flee for her life following the catastrophic appearance of a fireball in the sky. Guided by her absent mother’s journals, the young outcast must now journey alone across an unfamiliar world of perils in search of an escape from this planet that holds no hope for her future.
But her pursuit of a spacecraft and the parent who inexplicably left her behind leads young Aleytys instead to the miraculous device that will determine her destiny. An object of unimaginable power—a magical technology stolen from a vengeful alien arachnid race determined to recover it at any cost—the Diadem instantly becomes an integral part of who and what Aleytys is and will be. Once its great energy is transferred to her she will never be free of it, and mastering the Diadem’s wonders is Aleytys’s only hope for survival now that she has become the most wanted woman in a dangerous universe.
I gave the book three stars and wrote this short review:
This book is more like fantasy with a bit of science fiction thrown in. It was interesting and kept my attention, but had very odd “jumps” between events. I think it was originally published in the 70s and that does show to some extent, particularly in the sexual relationships, with some strange moments. I will try the second book in the series as the first four are available as ebooks from the public library, but I am not sure how this will pan out in the long run.
Cibola Burn by James S A Corey
After that diversion, I have returned to the world of The Expanse and am currently a third of the way through James S A Corey’s Cibola Burn. I will let you know my thoughts next week. To give you a hint, I am about to request #05 from the Library just as soon as I finish this post!
Hoping you are all enjoying your reading.
Best wishes,
📖📚📖📚📖
Dear Lauren, thank you so much for your lovely comment, best wishes, Anne x
I love this CW Anne! It's approaching scarf weather I look forward to seeing a photo of it on. The…
Anne ! I love your teal blue tops that you purchased ! Perfect for Fall! But they do not compare…
Prayers
The Librain
Dear Lauren, thank you for your comment. Yes, the scarf is gorgeous! Best wishes, Anne x