Hi, everyone, and welcome to this week’s Reading Roundup post! I am actually starting to write this on the Tuesday because I am going to be very busy tomorrow and may not have enough time. I have finished one book since last Wednesday’s post and only have about a hundred pages of another to go, but I don’t think I will be able to finish it on time.
Anyway, here’s the book that I have read this week…
Abandon by Blake Crouch
The book was Abandon by Blake Crouch. You may remember that I read Upgrade, also by him, a few week’s ago. Friends then recommended his other work and I was happy to find some of his books on our library’s ebook list.
Here is the blurb:
“On Christmas Day in 1893, every man, woman, and child in a remote mining town disappeared, belongings forsaken, meals left to freeze in vacant cabins, and not a single bone found.
Now, journalist Abigail Foster and her father, a historian, have set out unocver the truth. Exploring the area, they are joined by two backcountry a psychic and a paranormal photographer. The long-abandoned town is, according to rumour, haunted.
But Abigail and her companions are about to learn that the town’s ghosts are the least of their worries. Twenty miles from civilization, with a blizzard bearing down, they realize they are not alone.
The ordeal that follows will test this small team past the breaking point as they battle the elements and human foes alike and discover that the town’s secrets still have the power to kill.
Part journey into old-West history, part nail-biting survival thriller, Abandon is a bloody, darkly surprising tale as only Blake Crouch could deliver.”
I read this quite quickly as I have more time to myself again now that Lovely Husband can get downstairs more often. This is my response to the book on Goodreads:
Goodness! That was a black, grim and relentless read! A bit too long for my taste and rather too miserable at one particular point. All the same, I was totally gripped by the whole thing and could hardly put it down. It was quite amusing that I was experiencing this gloomy and freezing tale whilst feeling hot and stifled at the end of summer.
I am now reading some very “sciencey” science fiction and, if I finish it in time, I will add my review to the end of this post. If not, you will find out which book it is next week!
Well, we (Lovely Husband really) have finally got some freedom! Apologies for the very short post last Friday, but we had a lot of things to deal with. I will now explain…
At the end of last week, we had two phone calls. The first was from the dentist to say that they had a cancellation available for Elder Son and that he could come in the next day to have a broken molar tooth extracted. The second was from the stairlift company to say that they could install our stairlift on the Sunday. Oh, and we had another message from Younger Son who needed a bed for the weekend as he was coming over for a friend’s party!
So, after quite a lot of excitement, we managed to organise YS coming for a few more days then he had envisaged to support us during all of this. He was a great help, as always. As soon as he arrived, he drove ES and me to the dentist, waited whilst all of the drama took place, hugged his rather traumatised brother afterwards, and then took us all home. Over the weekend he helped us to clear space and tidy up for the stairlift fitter. He also took ES to do our massive shop at the supermarket.
On Sunday, the stairlift was duly fitted and LH was able to go downstairs for the first time since April! What an achievement!
Now it is Friday again and we have been able to enjoy a much calmer week. LH is getting more confident with his new appliance and is beginning to spend more time downstairs. He is still rather wobbly and uses a stick and feels unable to go outside for the time being. ES and I have really tried to keep things running as smoothly as possible over these recent months, but I am sure that LH will probably reorganise everything in his own way!
We have found another use for the stairlift. I have been finding it very difficult to carry heavy trays of food and drink up the stairs when ES is out. Yesterday, I tried sending one up on the stairlift and it worked very smoothly. So we now have a “dumbwaiter” we can use when necessary!
Finally, it is LH’s birthday today, so he can happily celebrate! Hooray!
Decisions, decisions…
My fickle heart has fallen for both of these and has almost entirely forgotten my loves of the past few months! Which one do you like? I am not going to label them yet so that there is no hint of their origins (unless you already know from other sources)…
Welcome to this week’s roundup of the books I am reading. I have actually managed to finish two really enjoyable books and here they are:
All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay
Anyone who knows my reading habits may know that my favourite author of all time is Guy Gavriel Kay. Thanks to the dear friend who introduced me to his work many years ago (thank you so much, Fiona ❤️). I was so pleased to find his latest book: All the Seas of the World.
This is the blurb:
“On a dark night along a lonely stretch of coast, a small ship, the Silver Wake, sends two people ashore to a stony strand. Their purpose is assassination. They have been hired to do this by two of the most dangerous men alive. The consequences will affect so many lives both great and small, and possibly alter the balance of power in the world.
One of those arriving on that night strand is a woman abducted by corsairs from her home as a child, escaping that fate, that destiny, years after, now trying to chart her own course – and bent upon revenge. Another figure, on the boat, bringing it to meet the secretive landing party at the city where they are going, is a merchant who still remembers being exiled as a child with his family from their home, for their faith.
Returning triumphantly to the brilliantly evoked near-Renaissance world of his most recent novels, international bestseller Guy Gavriel Kay deploys his signature ‘quarter turn to the fantastic’ to offer readers a wide-ranging, vividly memorable set of characters in a story of vengeance, power, and love, built around profoundly contemporary themes of exile, loss, and memory.”
Yet another fabulous book by my most favourite author of all time! I feel like I need to lie down in a cool, dark room so that I can review my feelings and sort out a response. The carefully realised world, the diverse and finely drawn characters (even the lesser ones), the poignant side plots, the overarching main plot – everything is beautifully done.
The author’s voice is there from time to time as we follow a tiny sub plot to a sad or joyful end. The main story arcs coalesce into an exciting and satisfying finale. Such a great author! His work is usually labelled as fantasy, but it is much more than that.
Just a couple of tiny points: there was a slightly odd change to first person at one point in the book. This echoes the previous book, I think, but it marred a little. The other point is to do with me and not the author. My memory issues meant that I struggled to place this book in the context of the others written in this world. Perhaps I should go back and read them all again! That wouldn’t be a hardship.
Kay is one of the very few authors whose work I have read over and over again. My most favourite books are Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan and A Song for Arbonne. I think his most recent trilogy may be added to that list!
But then, there are so many new books to enjoy before I can’t read any more! My memory issues are really causing me concern these days as I keep on forgetting the characters and plots as I read 😢.
Right, onwards and upwards to the second book…
Paradise by Patricia Wolf
I had a complete change of genre for my next book: Paradise by Patricia Wolf (DS Walker #02). Let’s look at the blurb:
“As DS Lucas Walker recovers from his injuries, he heads from Caloodie, Queensland, to the Gold Coast. Surfer’s Paradise: a seaside city where gleaming high rises fringe sparkling surf beaches, sunny days lead to wild nights, and criminals and bikie gangs mingle with tourists and dignitaries at five star hotels, clubs and casinos.
Before long, Walker is part of a team trying to solve a horrific home invasion and murder that has claimed the life of a young mother and left her nine-year-old daughter fighting to survive. Can he help them find the perpetrators, and keep the young girl safe? Meanwhile, Vandals head honcho Stefan Markovich is in town – and Walker once again finds himself on a dangerous collision course with the drug gang.
Weak from his injuries, and grieving, can Walker solve a case that is more shocking than anyone expected, and survive the dark underbelly of Australia’s Surfer’s Paradise?”
I really enjoyed the first book in the series – Outback – and was looking forward to this one. Here is my quick review:
Another excellent book in this series. There are various strands to the tale and most come together in an exciting finale, with somethings left open for another book. The characters are interesting and the plot was gripping. The author writes well and held my attention throughout. I didn’t want to put the book down, so I read it quickly.
I also enjoyed the background to this area of Australia, which sounds amazing. Looking forward to the next book!
Apologies, dear friends and readers! We have had a very busy and eventful day and I have been unable to write a proper post. All positive stuff, thank goodness! I will try to make up for this next week.
Welcome to this week’s post, fellow readers! At least I have managed to finish a book this week in my restricted reading time. Mind you, I am way behind my target for this year on Goodreads. Perhaps our circumstances will change soon and I will be able to have more opportunities to read!
Here it is:
Upgrade by Blake Crouch
My choice this week was Upgrade by Blake Crouch. It was one of those totally random selections from the library’s ebook catalogue. For once, there was a lengthy blurb. This is it:
“Logan Ramsay is about to get the brain he always dreamed of. But will he be transformed into something more than human… or something less?
When the SWAT team gives the all-clear and Logan Ramsay steps into the basement, he has no idea that everything’s about to change.
Then there’s the hiss of aerosol. The explosion. The shrapnel that punctures his hazmat gear. Logan wakes up to find himself in a hospital bed, attended by doctors in their own hazmat suits, his wife and daughter looking on from behind the glass.
The doctors say he’s been infected by a virus – one designed not to make him sick, but to modify his very genetic structure. In a world where the next-generation gene-editing tool known as Scythe is widely available – and has already reaped disastrous consequences – the possibilities are too many and terrifying to count.
Except that after the fever, the pain, the fear… the virus is gone. And according to his government bosses, Logan’s got a clean bill of health.
But the truth is that with each day that passes, Logan’s getting smarter. Seeing things more clearly. He’s realizing that he’s been upgraded in ways that go beyond even Scythe’s capabilities – and that he’s been given these abilities for a reason.
Because a holy grail of genetic engineering – one that could change our very definitions of humanity – has just been unearthed. And now it’s up to him to stop it from falling into the wrong hands.
Logan’s becoming something more. Something better. Even with the whole world hunting for him, he might be able to outthink his opponents and win the war that’s coming.
But what if it’s at the cost of being himself?”
Well, that certainly intrigued me and was a nice change from the previous book.
This was an interesting and absorbing read. All of the scientific stuff went over my head at times, but that didn’t really matter. The exploration of how a human being might behave with a drastically enhanced body and mind was cleverly written. The way that Logan’s behaviour and thinking developed was also very thought provoking. The book also stands up well as a thriller as Logan works out how he is going to use his enhancements for the good of humanity. There were certainly many exciting passages in the tale.
I will definitely look for more books by Blake Crouch.
Yes, I have already reserved some more books by Blake Crouch. This one was a great piece of escapism, which was just what I needed in our present situation!
Welcome to this Friday’s post! For once, we have had a busy and positive week. Tempers have frayed a few times, but we have made some progress.
A replacement porch has been ordered and we are hoping that the work will be done next month. We are also finally getting quotes for a stair lift so that Lovely Husband can get downstairs. He hasn’t seen the ground floor of our house or been outside since the end of April! Once again, we hope that the work can be done as soon as possible. At the time of writing, we have had two quotes with a huge difference between them (will need to look at this in more detail) and we should have another one on Monday. They have all said that a stairlift can be installed next week or the week after!
On Wednesday, I had two trips out of the house with Elder Son. In the morning, we went to the dentist for checks. Unfortunately, he needs to have a broken tooth extracted and has been referred on. We are hoping it won’t take too long as he is in pain. My teeth are OK, although I do need some stain removal treatment. I have known this for ages, but find it very hard to tolerate because of my chronic cough. So, I will have to think about whether I can manage the cleaning process. It’s all the fault of my tea addiction!
In the afternoon, we both had to go out again. This time it was for an appointment that ES needed. The session was very positive and ES was satisfied with the outcome, as were his Mum and Dad!
This is the outfit that I wore on Wednesday. It looks rather autumnal, I suppose, but I wanted to try out my new scarf! The purple and grey combination was very pleasing…
Outfit of the day 30/08/23 with Kew Protea Scarf by One Hundred Stars
The outfit consisted of a purple twinset and grey jeans by Lands’ End, amethyst earrings by Blue Nile, and a purple leather wrap bracelet by Ferragamo. To continue the purple theme, I also carried my gorgeous bag in purple Africa leather by Massaccesi. Here it is…
Midi Selene handbag in purple Africa leather by Massaccesi
I think I would like some grey boots! Any ideas where I could get some nice ones for wide feet?
Welcome fellow reading fans! In today’s post I am going to show you the book that took me several weeks to finish. It really was huge…
A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon
I have read several books by Samantha Shannon, including another book in this series: A Priory of the Orange Tree. But, more about that later.
Here is the blurb:
“Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory’s purpose.
To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be.
The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother’s past is coming to upend her fate.
When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.
Intricate and epic, Samantha Shannon sweeps readers back to the world of A Priory of the Orange Tree, showing us a course of events that shaped it for generations to come.”
I have to say that I was quite confused at the beginning of the book. For some odd reason, I thought that this was a sequel, and I kept trying to seek out and match the main characters with the ones in my memory. In fact, it is a prequel and the action occurs 500 years before “A Priory of the Orange Tree”!
Well, I have just finished the book and I’m rather uncertain about how I feel. There were a lot of good things in the book, but many were outweighed by the negative.
First of all the length! This was such a long read. Unnecessarily so, in my opinion. A lot could and should have been edited out. Some of the travelling back and forth was not needed to move the plot along. Then we have the characters. Most seemed to be stereotypical “goodies” or “baddies”, with no shades or nuances at all. And so many were LGBT, which seemed to be a bit unbalanced.
Then we also had some ridiculous and risible moments in the plot. I don’t want to give spoilers away, so won’t go into detail, but, unless some of the women in the book are over six feet tall and hugely strong, quite a lot of the action would have been impossible!
The author has an amazing imagination and writes really well. I have also enjoyed her previous books as well as many parts of this one, so I am sure that I will pick up her next one.
I just hope that she can restrain herself a bit and write something shorter!
Well, here we are again with another Friday post. Despite all of our problems, the weeks seem to fly past. Lovely Husband is still stuck upstairs and we have stopped counting the weeks. Elder Son and I are trying to keep things ticking over. When Younger Son was here he did a lot of cleaning and tidying, so we are doing our best to keep those areas in particular in a good state.
LH says that he feels stronger, but is unable to go downstairs. Since I had the scare with my right leg (a GP told me I am developing osteoarthritis in my hip), I have tried to do my exercises properly and I no longer have any pain. I’m also being more careful about carrying heavy trays up the stairs, so that might be helping.
We have been spending time trying to sort out and organise a variety of matters, such as getting repairs done on the house. After waiting for some quotes from a range of companies, we have only received two. It is really annoying how unreliable many of these people are. Some didn’t turn up for agreed appointments, others haven’t sent quotes even after being chased. This is so disappointing! Anyway, we will probably decide to go with one of the two. At least we will have made a start on the large number of issues we have with the house and garden. Next week’s focus will be on getting quotes for a stair lift so that LH get get his freedom back.
On a more upbeat note, the lovely man who helps us with the garden has come today, with a friend, to tackle the impenetrable jungle that it has become over the months. It will be so wonderful to be able to wander down again without feeling horribly guilty!
The two Hermès scarf designs that interest me the most have still not yet appeared on the UK website! I am beginning to think that they are some kind of mirage and that we will never see them in real life. I have already shown you the colourways that I have found for Au Royaume d’Helios, 70cm scarf, but I recently saw some for La Vallée de Cristal, 90cm scarf, designed by Ugo Bienvenu.
I think these look really amazing and, in fact, don’t know yet which I like the best! Which do you prefer, if any? I would love to know. If I find any more colourways I will add them on this post.
OK, I think that is all for now. Happy Weekend to you all!
Welcome to this week’s Reading Roundup, fellow readers! I must admit that I am feeling quite embarrassed today, as I write the post. You see, last week I said that I hadn’t finished a book. I was reading a very long book, and still am (I will tell you about it next week), but totally forgot that I had actually completed another one. This is it:
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
The book was the famous Science Fiction classic by Isaac Asimov: Foundation. When I recently bought this new iPad, I got a three month subscription to AppleTV. I was intrigued when I saw that Foundation has been turned into a TV series and decided that I should watch it. I read the whole Foundation series when I was in my late teens or early twenties, and I could remember some of the fundamental themes but not the details.
So, the TV series brought me back to the original book! Here is the blurb for Foundation:
“For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future—to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire—both scientists and scholars—and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.
The Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are among the most influential in the history of science fiction, celebrated for their unique blend of breathtaking action, daring ideas, and extensive worldbuilding. In Foundation, Asimov has written a timely and timeless novel of the best—and worst—that lies in humanity, and the power of even a few courageous souls to shine a light in a universe of darkness.”
I can definitely remember reading every Asimov book and short story that I could get my hands on, back when I was young. I was in awe of his imagination, strongly based in a science background, and loved the sweeping timelines of the plots.
But, this time I came to the book almost 50 years later and this is my response on Goodreads:
Well, that was disappointing! I first read this book in my early 20s and have just read it again in my 60s. I remembered it as an amazing story, full of wisdom and enlightenment. I have just finished an extremely boring, if at times ingenious, tale of men’s future actions in a galactic empire.
Where are the women?
The very few times women are mentioned, they appear in terms of domestic roles and tools. Washing machines!!! There is one female character who gets a couple of pages and that’s all.
I had thought of re reading the whole series, but I won’t bother to waste my time. So, I am left saddened by this experience.
Hello and welcome to the first Monday post in ages! For now, I am not able to make this a regular feature again, but today I have something to show you.
On Friday, I mentioned this lovely new scarf…
Kew Protea Scarf – One Hundred Stars
Yes, this is One Hundred Star’s Kew Protea Scarf in duck egg. The fabric is lovely and soft: 50% modal/50% cupro. It measures 100cm x 200cm and the colours are greens and purples with pink and white against the duck egg background.
Here are some photos that I took in my bedroom. I haven’t done modelling images because my hair looks so awful!
Kew Protea Scarf – One Hundred Stars
As you can see above, it looks great with some of my Halcyon Days bangles in purple, and also the MaiTai scarf rings in gold, purple and mother-of-pearl. The short sleeved jumper is part of a twinset from Lands’ End and I have cashmere jumpers that would look perfect with this scarf. Yes, I am really pleased with it and can’t wait to wear it!
A bit of retail therapy can usually lift my spirits 😊.
Former professional school librarian, now retired through chronic illness. Trying to keep cheerful by reading, drinking lots of tea, blogging my new life, and my love of bling!
Abandon by Blake Crouch
The Librain
The Librain......retired 
[…] If you would like to read more about this scarf, here is my Scarf of the Moment post with…