Reading roundup 02/08/23

Welcome to the first Reading Roundup post for August! I have read two very different books this week and here is the first one:

The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal

Yes, the book was Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Relentless Moon, #03 of her Lady Astronaut Universe series. I enjoyed the first two books so much that I couldn’t wait to read the final part.

This is the blurb:

“Two worlds. One humanity.

It’s 1963, and riots and sabotage plague the space program. The climate change caused by the Meteor is becoming more and more clear, but tensions are rising, and the IAC’s goal of getting humanity off Earth is threatened.

Astronaut Nicole Wargin lives two lives; one as a politician’s smiling wife on Earth, and the other as an astronaut on the newly-established Moon Base. But when sabotage strikes, she finds that her two worlds are colliding – with deadly consequences.”

And here is my response on Goodreads:

The Relentless Moon (Lady Astronaut Universe #3)The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! How I loved reading this book! In fact I was sad when I reached the end.

First, I was surprised by the change of main character, but could see why. It made a rather nice change too. Nicole was a person with different skills, issues and relationships, which gave the reader a new perspective. I also liked the fact that she was an older woman.

The setting on the Moon was well done and I am in total awe of the author’s ability to write a fiction book with so many scientific, mathematical and engineering concepts without weighting the story down. The pacing was great with steady and exciting momentum being built up towards the ending. The epilogue was very satisfying too and brought about a great conclusion.

All in all, this was a great read and I will certainly hunt out more by this author in the future.

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This was a truly terrific book and a great series. There are several shorter books associated with the series, so I may also read them in the future.

When I had finished this book I had a look in my Library ebook account and saw that I had three waiting for me that I had reserved some months ago. As a good library user, I always try to read popular books as quickly as I can so that the next person in the queue can get them swiftly. So, this was my next read of the week:

The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish

My second book this week was The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish. This is the blurb:

“There’s the obvious story. And then there’s the truth.
 
Alex lives a comfortable life with his wife Beth in the leafy suburb of Silver Vale. Fine, so he’s not the most outgoing guy on the street, he prefers to keep himself to himself, but he’s a good husband and an easy-going neighbour.
 
That’s until Beth announces the creation of a nature trail on a local site that’s been disused for decades and suddenly Alex is a changed man. Now he’s always watching. Questioning. Struggling to hide his dread . . .
 
As the landscapers get to work, a secret threatens to surface from years ago, back in Alex’s twenties when he got entangled with a seductive young woman called Marina, who threw both their lives into turmoil.
 
And who sparked a police hunt for a murder suspect that was never quite what it seemed.
 
And it still isn’t.”

I read this one quite quickly and wrote the following review:

The Only SuspectThe Only Suspect by Louise Candlish
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A good, but not outstanding thriller. By about half way through I was beginning to lose interest, but the pace picked up with some plot twists and turns. For once, I hadn’t guessed most of them so they came as surprises, which was good.

The writing style was OK and the characters interesting. I am sure I will pick up more ebooks by this author from the library in the future when I want some escapism.

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Well, at least it was a fast read!

I hope you are all enjoying your books: Happy Reading!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Friday post 28/07/23: health update

Welcome to Friday’s post. Some kind of progress has been made this week and I am feeling quite proud of myself!

Lovely Husband and I are still coping with being together in our bedroom for most of the time. He is continuing with his exercises and we have made an appointment with the Physiotherapist for next week for both of us. In addition, he is gaining confidence in using my old iPad and is entertaining himself with that as well as reading the newspapers.

Elder Son is being a fantastic help to us and we have been happy for him to go out on some days to have breaks from being a carer. He has also given me terrific support this week on two occasions in particular.

In a previous post I wrote about my new diagnosis of osteoarthritis in my right hip. Fortunately, I was given a very swift appointment for an x-ray at our local small hospital. ES came with me and, when it was over, we walked into town and had a drink plus treats in a café. It was so lovely to sit and chat with him for a while. I also spoke to some other people who we met during the afternoon. Thinking about this, I realise that it is ages since I last did such a simple and normal (for most people) thing! I may have overdone it a bit with the walking, but it was worth it.

ES and I also had to go into the doctors’ surgery for a couple of issues and, again, he was a great help. We are still hoping that Younger Son can come over soon.

We had a meeting at our house this week – actually in our bedroom! I wore these rather smart pyjamas…

Marigold block print cotton nightwear in cerulean blue – Toast

I adore that gorgeous blue!

That’s all for now. I am still keeping my eye on the new scarves for Hermès’ Autumn/Winter 2023 season. The one I like has still not appeared on the UK site, which is a bit annoying. I am so impatient!

Happy Weekend everyone!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Reading roundup 26/07/23

Welcome to my weekly post about the books I read and, hopefully, enjoy! I am only managing to finish one book per week at the moment because Lovely Husband is stuck here in bed with me. Yes, it’s a bit frustrating having to curtail my reading time, but needs must!

Anyway, I really loved this book:

The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal

This week’s book was the second in Mary Robinette Kowal’s Lady Astronaut Universe series, The Fated Sky. Here is the blurb:

“One large step for humankind…

It’s 1961, and the Earth’s gaze is turning to Mars. The Moon colony is well established, but tensions are rising on Earth—both from those who see themselves being left behind on a disaster-laden planet, and those who don’t believe in equality for all.

But even with personal sacrifices and political tensions, Elma York, the Lady Astronaut, dearly wants to go on the first mission to Mars—despite everything that stands in her way.”

And this was my review on Goodreads:

The Fated Sky (Lady Astronaut Universe #2)The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think that this was even better than the first book! The characters were more fully developed as were the relationships between them. New ones were added too. The elements of racism and sexism were also to the forefront.

The plot was excellent: engaging and exciting with some great nail biting moments. You can certainly see how much research has gone into the writing of this book, but it is all there in the background and doesn’t take over.

The only thing that jarred with me, as it did in the first book, was the rather twee sexual innuendo between The Lady Astronaut and her husband. Cringe-making!

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Yes, I gave it the full five stars! I am now well into the third book and may, eventually, read some of the shorter stories which are part of this series. However, I have some brilliant ebooks in the queue, so will have some difficulty making my next selection.

What fun! There is always something to look forward to when you are an avid reader.

Happy reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Friday post 21/07/23: it’s a difficult time for us

Hello and welcome to my blog. Yes, this is a really difficult time for my family. I will quickly recap what has been happening:

About three months ago, Lovely Husband fell over near our back door. He had to be helped upstairs by our neighbour and has been stuck in our bedroom ever since. Physiotherapists gave him exercises to do and the doctor prescribed painkillers, but LH is still unable to go downstairs. He is now a little stronger, but is fearful for the future and we are contemplating getting a stairlift installed.

As regular visitors to the blog will know, I have had a long list of serious health issues for many years and have been struggling to keep myself cheerful and occupied. Over the past few months, I have really tried hard to support LH and have been doing far more physical things, such as carrying trays up and down the stairs, cleaning, tidying and general household tasks.

During all of this Elder Son has been an absolute star! Despite his own issues, he has taken on the tasks of shopping, food preparation and much more. We are so proud of him. In addition, we have asked Younger Son if he could come over for a few days to give his brother some support and relief and he has agreed. So, that will be a great help to us all.

Unfortunately, I have had some frightening news this week. Last weekend I developed excruciating pain in my right leg. I managed to get an appointment at the local hospital and ES accompanied me over there by taxi on Sunday. I was devastated to find out that I am developing osteoarthritis in my right hip joint. To be honest, I have enough serious health conditions already and adding a new one nearly tipped me over the edge!

I spent a few days in the depths of despair, snapping at LH and ES, which was totally unfair. The doctor has set some things in motion for me, physiotherapy and medication, but I am really frightened by the thought of eventually needing a hip replacement. Over the last couple of days the pain relief has really helped and I have also reduced my use of the stairs in an attempt to rest the joint. I am so upset, though. I had been so proud of the efforts I was making and the improvement in the support I could give to my family. Now, I will have to dial all that back again.

Apologies for moaning, but I began this blog to document my life and it has served as a way of keeping my memories available to me since I had the stroke. I have seen the, quite understandable and expected, drop in visitors. Let’s hope I can soon return to modelling lovely scarves once again!

Before I go, here is the outfit I wore on Sunday. I have to take any opportunity to put on something nice…

Outfit of the day 16/07/23

Please excuse the horrible hair! Yes, I need a haircut 😂🤣😂. The pearl necklace and earrings are from John Lewis, the kimono top from One Hundred Stars, the navy vest is Sainsbury’s Tu, the shoes are Hotter and the linen trousers are Isle Collection.

Please send us good vibes for next week and have a lovely weekend yourselves!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Reading roundup 19/07/23

Once again, I have only managed to read one book this week. Lovely Husband and I are still stuck in our King-sized bed, so I only get about an hour each day! Aargh! Not enough time for a reading fanatic!

At least the book that I did read was a very good one…

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

I have been intending to read a book by Mary Robinette Kowal for some time and I chose this science fiction one, The Calculating Stars, Lady Astronaut Universe #01. I also have one of her fantasy books in my “to read” list.

Anyway, this is the blurb:

“One woman. One mission. One chance to save the world.

It’s 1952, and the world as we know it is gone. A meteorite has destroyed Washington DC, triggering extinction-level global warming. To save humanity, the world unites to form the International Aerospace Coalition. Its to colonise first the Moon, then Mars.

Elma York, World War Two pilot and mathematician, dreams of becoming an astronaut – but prejudice has kept her grounded. Now nothing – and no man – will stop her from reaching for the stars.”

I really enjoyed the book and so wrote this review on Goodreads:

The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut Universe #1)The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really loved this book, which may be surprising to anyone who knows me well! I have to admit to a very poor science education so a lot of the detail in the book went straight over my head. However, the main ideas were excellent and very well written. The characters were interesting and it will be good to follow their development in the next book in the series. The horrible sexism of the time was also well written and raised my hackles at several points. I had heard of the female “computers” and found those parts of the book fascinating.

I remember the real race to the Moon in the 1960s quite well, although I was a small child at the time. How different it might have been!

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In fact, I liked this book so much that I immediately downloaded the sequel, The Fated Sky, and I am already well into that! As the series is a trilogy with lots of short novellas too, I think that I will be entertained by female astronauts for quite some time.

OK, I will probably read some other stuff in between!

Happy Reading to you all.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Friday post 14/07/23: general update

Welcome to today’s post. To be honest, our situation remains the same, more or less. We are both still stuck upstairs together, with Elder Son trying his best to support us all. I am doing as much as I can to lighten the load and keep things ticking over. The house is a mess, but I can’t face getting in a cleaner when there is so much clutter everywhere. I am slowly trying to tidy things up, but I don’t have enough energy to do very much.

Basically, we are all kind of waiting for Lovely Husband to get on with his exercises with the hope that he can gain enough strength to brave the stairs. We are still thinking of getting a stair lift put in and have taken some tentative steps towards this.

A few weeks ago, when an ambulance was called because I had a huge panic attack, the paramedic referred us to various services for support. She was very concerned about our situation. Anyway, this week a fireman turned up to test our smoke alarms and give us advice. He fitted some new ones and was also very kind and helpful.

I also had to go to the doctors’ surgery with ES this week concerning an issue that he is having. He has been signed off work for quite some time and this seems to be helping him. We will have to go for another appointment in a fortnight.

With all of this, I am taking solace in reading ebooks and watching escapist TV programmes! So that I don’t disturb LH I finally bought some earbuds for my new iPad. The Apple ones are so very expensive, so I looked online and found some much cheaper ones recommended. I have never been a headphone/earphone/earbud wearer before, so I was blown away by the quality of even an inexpensive set! I am currently watching Foundation (based on the series by Asimov) on Apple TV am I am in awe of the amazing sound. Fantastic!

I am still waiting for one particular Hermès scarf to appear on the UK site and then I will pounce. OK, I probably won’t be able to wear it for a while, but I can admire it instead! This is the one:Au Royaume d’Helios scarf, 70cm, code: H984028S 04, colourway: Bleu Nuit / Argile / Bleu Jean…

Au Royaume d’Helios by Hermès

I have seen some modelling photos of this scarf on The Purse Forum and the colours are gorgeous in real life.

That’s all for this week. Happy Weekend everyone!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Reading roundup 12/07/23

Apologies for writing such a quick post this week. I have been struggling to find the time and space to read. Today, I only just managed to finish the book a few minutes ago!

Anyway, here it is…

The Immortal Throne by Stella Gemmell

This week, I have been reading the second part of Stella Gemmell’s series The City: The Immortal Throne. This is the blurb:

“THE EMPEROR IS DEAD…LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR!

The fervent hope of the victorious rebels and the survivors of the uprising that liberated the City from tyranny is that the accession of Archange to the imperial throne will usher in a new era of freedom, peace and stability. If only that were so…

As the City struggles to return to something resembling normal life after the devastation brought on by the rebellion, word arises of a massive army gathering to the north. Its origins are a mystery, but it soon becomes apparent that its sole purpose is to destroy the City and all who live within its walls .

And while warriors go forth to fight and die on the battlefield in defence of their homeland, bitter family feuds, ancient rivalries, political and personal betrayals, and mindless murder surface within the palaces and corridors of it seems the City is under siege – from both without and within…”

And here is my immediate reaction on Goodreads:

The Immortal Throne  (The City, #2)The Immortal Throne by Stella Graham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An interesting and absorbing sequel. In some places, the constant switching between places and points of view became hectic and confusing, as did the overlap with events in book one. I found some of this a bit muddled. But, as the book continued, plot lines became much clearer and everything came together in a heart-breaking, fast-paces and exciting final quarter.

Stella Gemmell has terrific talent and I am really looking forward to whatever she decides to offer readers in the future. It will be interesting to see if she returns to this world!

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After that, I have no idea what I am going to tackle next! I will let you know in next week’s post.

Until then: Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Friday post 07/07/23: with health and scarves!

Hello, lovely readers of this blog! We have now reached 12, yes 12 weeks of this amazing and wonderful “two stuck in bed” situation. Yes, that was sarcasm.

To be honest, there’s not much to say about it this week. We have made some progress, but nothing much has happened really. Elder Son had a very short break away and Younger Son has moved house. So that’s all.

To cheer myself up, I have been browsing the new Hermès scarves for the Autumn/Winter 2023 season. One or two have caught my eye, as usually happens. Here are some of the scarves that I like so far – not all of them are available yet. With some scarves I like multiple colourways, so I would have decisions to make. With others, one colourway stands out for me. They are in a range of sizes from 45cm to 90 cm.

I am sure that more gorgeous scarves will pique my interest over the following weeks and months!

Happy Weekend to you all.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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P.S. I just spend ages searching for, and typing, every name and size under each scarf in the slideshow above, but they all disappeared! Please let me know if you want any of this information and I will tell you in the comments.

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Reading roundup 05/07/23

I hope you have all read some great books in the last week or so. Unfortunately, in the present situation, I am finding it very difficult to read as much as I would like. It’s quite difficult to concentrate when you are sharing a bed like this: almost eleven weeks of enforced togetherness!

Anyway, I did manage to finish one book:

A Sliver of Darkness by C J Tudor

This was yet another completely random choice. I thought that it would be a nice change to read some short stories. This collection was very enjoyable indeed. Here is the blurb for A Sliver of Darkness by C J Tudor:

“A creak of the floorboard, a shiver down your spine, the feeling that you’re not alone . . .
_________

Join a group of survivors who wash up on a deserted island only to make a horrifying discovery.

Meet a cold-hearted killer who befriends a strange young girl at a motorway service station.

Travel along eerie country lanes in a world gone dark, enter a block of flats with the most monstrous of occupants and accompany a ruthless estate agent on a house sale that goes apocalyptically wrong.

These eleven twisted tales of the macabre from the bestselling author of The Chalk Man and The Burning Girls are your perfect companions as the nights draw in . . .

If you’re brave enough.”

And this is my response on Goodreads:

A Sliver of DarknessA Sliver of Darkness by C.J. Tudor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An excellent collection of short stories. I had never read anything by this author before, but, now that I have, I will be seeking out her full-length work. Also, as someone familiar with Nottingham, I really enjoyed re-visiting it in some of the tales and also the introductions.

Well worth reading if you like a mix of horror, thrillers and a very dark sense of humour.

Edit: well, that was silly! I just went and checked her other books and saw that I have read two before this one. My memory is dreadful!

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You can see from that edit how poor my memory is!

Well, I am now trying to make some time to read my new book and I hope I can finish it by next Wednesday!

Until then: Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Friday post 30/06/23: health update

Hello and welcome to yet another Friday post on this subject: we are now eleven weeks into this nightmare!

Yes, Lovely Husband and I are still stuck upstairs in bed together. He is making slow progress in getting himself stronger, but is also becoming very miserable about the situation, understandably. I am trundling on in the same way that I have been: I can manage the stairs carrying trays of food and drinks a few times each day, I can try to keep things tidy and organised downstairs, and I am able to contact the outside world using my iPad and mobile phone.

Unfortunately, both of our sons are currently going through their own issues, and they need some support from us. I had to force myself to go out of the house to be with Elder Son for an appointment, which was extremely taxing, but absolutely necessary. Times are indeed very hard!

Could we please see some glimmerings of light at the end of the tunnel?


OK, that’s the end of the grim part of the post!

Now for something completely different, as they used to say on Blue Peter when I was a child and on Monty Python’s Flying Circus when I wasn’t…

I am very pleased to be able to report that I purchased a new iPad this week! Whoop! My older one is still working, so I have passed it over to LH who is doing really well learning to use it to access his own interests. At the very least, we have the means to keep ourselves amused, entertained, busy and connected.

Oh, and this is the dress that I wore when I went out this week. I bought it from Marks and Spencer last year and it is so comfortable in warm weather:

Dress by Marks and Spencer

Now, I had better find some opportunities to wear my other Summer clothes!

Happy Weekend to you all.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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