Well, we are already at the final Reading Roundup post of November. Time really has flown! This week I have just one completed book for you…
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N K Jemisin
I decided to read N K Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, #01 The Inheritance Trilogy. Having been awed by her later work, The Broken Earth series, I thought that it would be interesting to try her first book and I am so glad that I did!
Here is the blurb:
“Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky – a palace above the clouds where gods’ and mortals’ lives are intertwined.
There, to her shock, Yeine is named one of the potential heirs to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with a pair of cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother’s death and her family’s bloody history.
But it’s not just mortals who have secrets worth hiding and Yeine will learn how perilous the world can be when love and hate – and gods and mortals – are bound inseparably.”
So, that looked interesting, although I had already read some rather negative responses to this series (I usually try not to do that before reading any book). Anyway, this was my review on Goodreads:
I really enjoyed this book. Having already read a later Jemisin series, which was amazing, I have to admit that I liked this one more. Now, that is definitely going against the tide. The main reason is that The Broken Earth Trilogy, whilst utterly brilliant, was also extremely dark and foreboding. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms certainly has its gloomy moments, but also more uplifting ones. In my present condition (suffering from depression), I feel that this book was better for me, personally.
Anyway, I am going to read the second book straight away as I find it impossible to look away from Jemisin’s work when there are further episodes in the story still to read!
Yes, I gave it the full five stars and I am already well into the second book in the series. I think that I will have to read everything by this fantastic, imaginative author!
I will take a break from my usual pattern on these posts and tell you that I have been a bit distracted whilst reading Jemisin’s books by this…
Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld
This is a book of cartoons to dip into when you need an uplift. I suppose that it will mainly appeal to librarians and those in the book world: authors, publishers etc. I tried one cartoon on Lovely Husband and he didn’t really “get” it, but I am sure that my librarian friends will. Anyway, I am reading it alongside other books and will write some kind of response, probably a very short one, when I have finished.
Hello and welcome to the first post of a new week. I have spent quite a lot of time over the weekend sorting out hundreds of photos of my Hermès’ scarves. Up until about two years ago, I had put all of these images into folders on my iPad, but my organisation slipped during the worst COVID times. My plan is to finish getting them all into proper folders, weed out unsatisfactory photos, make a record of the date when each folder has been completed, and then make myself keep them up-to-date.
The next part of the plan is labelling all of my scarf boxes. I bought the labels ages ago, but procrastinated as usual! Then I intend to fill a plastic pocket for each scarf with the receipt, some modelling photos and any tags that I have removed from the scarf. That way, I will have the full details for insurance purposes and also for my family when I am no longer here. Even my small Hermès collection is quite valuable and I want to make it as easy as possible for family members to deal with them.
Later on today, I may be able to finish the initial weeding and sorting, which will be great! It has been interesting looking through the collection. I have been able to work out how often I have worn each scarf and I have been quite surprised to see that I haven’t taken some out of their boxes for ages! This has spurred me on with my plan to wear as many of my more expensive scarves as possible. I have to face up to the knowledge that I must wear them at home because I so rarely go out. There’s nothing wrong with wearing a beautiful silk scarf with pyjamas, is there?
I must choose a lovely one for today… you will see it on Friday.
Right, now is the time when I show you something that caught my eye on Twitter:
Screenshot from @womensart1on Twitter – accessed 23/11/22
I just adore those gorgeous colours, although it wouldn’t do for my tea drinking!
Welcome to Friday’s post! I do hope you enjoy reading this and feasting your eyes on such a lovely array of scarves.
I made a real effort to wear a range of scarves this week, choosing from the inexpensive to the luxurious; from the small and cheeky to the large and enveloping. Such fun to choose from my collection!
As a kind of background to the scarves, I decided to move on from my navy base colours and, instead, wore a WoolOvers dark grey v-neck jumper in a merino/cashmere mix and Lands’ End mid grey cord trousers.
The first scarf was given to me as a present. It is a pale blue with glittery threads running through the weave – very pretty. I wore it with heart shaped earrings in a toning shade. The image here isn’t quite true with the colour.
Outfit of the day 21/11/22 with blue glittery scarf
My second outfit of the week used my stunning cashmere stole by Johnstons of Elgin. The colours are navy, grey, green, turquoise and white. This time, I will show you a larger image of the scarf as well as the usual collage:
Pixelated Check Cashmere Stole by Johnstons of ElginOutfit of the day 22/11/22 with Pixelated Check Cashmere Stole by Johnstons of Elgin
The earrings are by Chalk Jewellery and I love them! I keep stalking their website and I am soooo tempted…
The third outfit took me back to my Hermès collection, but instead of wearing a full size 90cm scarf, I chose the 45cm gavroche, The Savana Dance:
The Savana Dance by Hermès Outfit of the day 23/11/22 with Hermès’ The Savana Dance gavroche
For my next and final scarf I chose my most recent purchase: Sous Le Charme d’Orphée by Hermès. As this is double sided, I tried to tie the scarf to show both sides: the beautiful autumnal shades on the front and the greys on the back.
Sous Le Charme d’Orphée by Hermès Outfit of the day 25/11/22 with Hermès’ Sous Le Charme d’Orphée scarf
I wore the pretty Swarovski grey crystal and gold earrings again, but removed the dangles and used the stud parts. The scarf ring is mother-of-pearl, by MaiTai.
Oh, and if I had been able to go out this week I would have carried this lovely grey and silver handbag by Massaccesi and worn these cute pewter shoes by Hotter!
Diane handbag by Marco Massaccesi Pewter shoes by Hotter
Feeling very pleased with this week’s outfits! What do you think?
Hello and welcome to this week’s Reading Roundup post. This has been a rather mixed week for my reading as you will find out…
Dark Pines by Will Dean
I chose Dark Pines by Will Dean from the library’s ebook service purely at random. The plot sounded interesting and atmospheric. This is the blurb:
“SEE NO EVIL
Eyes missing, two bodies lie deep in the forest near a remote Swedish town.
HEAR NO EVIL
Tuva Moodyson, a deaf reporter on a small-time local paper, is looking for the story that could make her career.
SPEAK NO EVIL
A web of secrets. And an unsolved murder from twenty years ago.
Can Tuva outwit the killer before she becomes the final victim? She’d like to think so. But first she must face her demons and venture far into the deep, dark woods if she wants to stand any chance of getting the hell out of small-time Gavrik.”
I enjoyed the book, although it took me quite a while to read it, and gave it three stars on Goodreads. Here is my response:
A very intriguing and atmospheric read. Marked down because I feel that it was a bit too long. Interesting to have a female main character written by a man! Also a deaf character with all of the detail about hearing aids etc. The mystery at the heart of the book was well done with very many quirky characters.
The book left me with a haunting sense of place: thick, gloomy and darkly forbidding forests. I will certainly read more in the series and it will be interesting to see how the central characters develop.
I already have the next book in the series on reserve and am looking forward to seeing how the author develops over time.
My second choice of the week was…
The Affair by Hilary Boyd
… The Affair by Hilary Boyd. Once again, I was drawn to this book by the cover and the description on the ebook catalogue. This is the blurb from Goodreads:
“Connie and her GP husband Devan have led a charmed life since they married in their twenties. Forty years on they are the couple their whole village envies. Life isn’t quite so rosy just now with Devan struggling to adjust to early retirement, but Connie hopes that getting away for a few weeks through her job as a European tour manager will help.
But on one of her favourite tours, to Lake Como, it is clear one of her guests is falling for her. She resists, but Jared somehow gets under her skin, until she’s intoxicated and doing the unthinkable: breaking the marriage vows she’s always held so dear. But she tells herself the affair is not serious, it will end when the season does. And Devan will never find out.
But when Connie returns home, Jared follows. He isn’t going to give her up so easily. And as he grows ever more embroiled in her life, Connie begins to wonder if more than her marriage is in danger . . .”
Got about a third of the way through. Felt thoroughly depressed by the plot, although the trips to Italy sounded lovely. Me and my husband are of a similar age to the main character, so this jarred with me and I just had to stop reading.
I was so disappointed that I made a glaring grammatical error in that review! Anyway, I am pleased to be able to say that I am currently reading a much better and more satisfying book which I will write about in next week’s post.
Until then I wish you all a week of Happy Reading!
It’s a new week once again! Mondays seem to come around so rapidly. Today’s post is really a few random thoughts.
We have had some slightly awkward days recently. Elder Son has been planning a holiday for some time and was due to travel yesterday and come back home on Thursday. Unfortunately, various events have prevented his plans from coming to pass: rail strikes, Christmas markets etc. He is very nervous of crowds as he is trying with all of his might to avoid catching COVID and passing it on to me and his dad. So, in the end everything was cancelled and he decided to stay at home but try to plan day trips instead. He hasn’t gone very far today yet as he is still in bed! (I am writing this paragraph at 11.00 am).
LH and I were looking forward to a few days of much needed peace and calm, but it looks as if we are not going to get that! Never mind.
I am going to try to think of some suitable Christmas presents for my “chaps”. The “boys” usually want money, plus I buy them some clothing staples such as t-shirts and jumpers. LH is almost impossible to buy for. To be honest, I am totally stumped! I have no idea what to get them.
While I think, I will look at this loveliness:
Screenshot from @johnathanfoyle on Twitter – accessed 15/11/22
I love Canterbury Cathedral. When I was a child, we lived on the edge of the city and my sister and I used to walk into town. We often went into the cathedral and wandered about. This was in the 1960s. I don’t suppose that young children these days have the freedom that we had then! Anyway, even as a child, I appreciated the beauty of this wonderful building.
Right. I think it is now time for me to go downstairs and spend some time with LH.
Hello and welcome to Friday’s post! This week, I have been looking at scarves that, perhaps, don’t go well with my grey hair. I used to wear these colours, especially brown, when I was younger but since I stopped dyeing my hair and let the greys grow out, I have slowly changed my wardrobe over to a different colour scheme.
So, here are three scarves that have quite a lot of browns and oranges in them. I decided to wear them with the same top and trousers: a navy cashmere mix v-neck jumper from WoolOvers and navy cord jersey trousers from Lands End. By the way, I only wore these clothes for an hour or so each day!
The first scarf is the lovely Olympian Gods by Fetolia in gorgeous shades of teal, orange, pink and brown:
Olympian Gods scarf by FetoliaOutfit of the day 13/11/22 with Fetolia’s Olympian Gods scarf
I still think that this scarf, and its sister in the other colourway, would look fantastic framed!
My second scarf of the week was Tyger, Tyger by Hermès. A lovely study in browns, navy, green, blue and red:
Tyger, Tyger scarf by Hermès Outfit of the day 16/11/22 with Hermès’ Tyger, Tyger scarf
When I tie this scarf, I usually try to avoid the large expanse of the “Tyger’s” body and use the parts with the flowers. I don’t think that the orange and browns would work for me!
The third scarf is again by Hermès: La Femme aux Semelles de Vent. This is an absolutely classic H scarf and highly sought after – which is why I bought it! Some of the other colourways would suit me better, but I was really thrilled when I found this one at such an excellent price.
La Femme aux Semelles de Vent scarf by Hermès Outfit of the day 18/11/22 with Hermès’ La Femme aux Semelles de Vent
I think that the navy outfit was not the best foil for this scarf and I am not sure what would work from my wardrobe. Dark or light grey, perhaps? I also try to avoid the sepia centre when tying as this colour definitely does not work for me.
One more thing. This is some of the jewellery that I could have worn with these outfits. I did, in fact, wear the earrings!
Anyway, you can see that my plans for working through all of my Hermès Autumn/Winter scarves and shawls are well on the way this year. I still have quite a large pile of boxes and, of course, I can also bring in designers other than Hermes, such as Fetolia, Liberty of London and Ferragamo!
So many scarves, so little time (and energy)!
Happy Weekend to you all.
Love and best wishes,
Anne
💕💗💖💗💕
PS. These are Scarf of the Moment and similar posts about these scarves. You may find them of interest…
Hello, fellow readers and welcome to this week’s Reading Roundup! Today I have three books to tell you about…
56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard
My first book was 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard, chosen at random from the ebook selection at my local library service. This is the blurb which intrigued me:
“No one knew they’d moved in together. Now one of them is dead. Could this be the perfect murder?
56 DAYS AGO Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin the same week Covid-19 reaches Irish shores.
35 DAYS AGO When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests that Ciara move in with him. She sees a unique opportunity for a new relationship to flourish without the pressure of scrutiny of family and friends. He sees it as an opportunity to hide who – and what – he really is.
TODAY Detectives arrive at Oliver’s apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.
Will they be able to determine what really happened, or has lockdown provided someone with the opportunity to commit the perfect crime?”
I also realised that I had read another of this author’s books back in 2017, which I apparently enjoyed, although I can’t remember much about it! Anyway, I also found this book both interesting and enjoyable. This is my response on Goodreads:
This book was a very cleverly thought out and plotted thriller. I had occasional difficulties in following the changing timelines and had to check back a few times to get the story clear in my mind. Perhaps the author wanted us to be a little confused, so that her revelations would come as a real surprise.
Anyway, it was an unusual story set in the difficult COVID times, with plenty of twists to keep you reading. I will definitely seek out more by Catherine Ryan Howard.
After this quite complex read, I turned to a short story…
Galatea by Madeline Miller
Madeline Miller is well known for her book, The Song of Achilles, and I was quite shocked to realise that I haven’t read it yet! That will be remedied soon, when my reservation becomes available from the library. When I saw that her short story, Galatea, was on the catalogue, I downloaded it straight away. So, here is the blurb:
“In Ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece – the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen – the gift of life. Now his wife, Galatea is expected to be obedience and humility personified, but it is not long before she learns to use her beauty as a form of manipulation. In a desperate bid by her obsessive husband to keep her under control, she is locked away under the constant supervision of doctors and nurses. But with a daughter to rescue, she is determined to break free, whatever the cost…”
My third and final book was much less successful, unfortunately…
The book was A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins. I must say that it has been well-received by many readers and was nominated for an award on Goodreads in 2021. Anyway, here is the blurb:
“’What is wrong with you?’
Laura has spent most of her life being judged. She’s seen as hot-tempered, troubled, a loner. Some even call her dangerous.
Miriam knows that just because Laura is witnessed leaving the scene of a horrific murder with blood on her clothes, that doesn’t mean she’s a killer. Bitter experience has taught her how easy it is to get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Carla is reeling from the brutal murder of her nephew. She trusts no one: good people are capable of terrible deeds. But how far will she go to find peace?
Innocent or guilty, everyone is damaged. Some are damaged enough to kill.
Look what you started.”
Well, I was intrigued by the blurb, which drew me to the book. My eventual response was this:
I found this very confusing to read – couldn’t get a grip on what was happening until the final sections. Most of the characters were thoroughly unlikeable, apart from one. All of the switching around left me lost. The final revelations were interesting, but I wonder why I persevered with the book!
Hello and welcome to a new week on my blog. Today I am going to show you my lovely birthday presents, plus some early images of the Spring/Summer 2024 Hermès scarves.
I was fortunate to receive some gorgeous jewellery from my two sons and my sister. Here is a collage with them all. Please bear in mind that these are not to scale…
Birthday gifts November 2022
These will enhance my outfits so well. I am still waiting for Lovely Husband’s gift, but I know it will be worth the wait! Thanks everyone 💕💗💖💗💕.
Now for the scarves and shawls. I posted a while ago that The Purse Forum thread for Hermès’ Spring/Summer 2023 season had been started. A couple of days ago the first really clear images began to appear. This is a selection, chosen at random:
I already have my eye on a couple of designs, but that may change when all of the colourways are revealed. Which do you like best?
Back on Wednesday with the usual Reading Roundup post.
Hello and welcome to the final post of the week. On Monday, I wrote that my birthday was the next day and I had planned to centre today’s post on my presents. However, they haven’t all arrived yet, so I am going to hold that post over until next week. One item may not even arrive for a few more weeks, but I am sure that it will be worth the wait!
So, instead I am showing you the outfit that I wore on my birthday:
Outfit of the day 08/11/22 with Hermès’ A L’Ombre des Pivoines scarf
There are actually two of my birthday presents in this collage – the turquoise cashmere jumper and the amazing earrings – but I will wait until Monday to give you the details. The trousers are in navy cord and by Lands’ End; the Hermès silk scarf is 90cm and called A L’Ombre des Pivoines. Here is a larger image:
A L’Ombre des Pivoines scarf by Hermès
I adore this scarf! The above image doesn’t quite show the beautiful colours accurately. My modelling photo is much closer to the real shades. In particular, the architectural background is finely drawn in a dark navy. I wasn’t sure whether the scarf would work with the jumper, but it does, and it also complements my other cashmere jumpers in navy, pale and dark grey.
Well, that is all for this week. I do hope that you all have a great weekend.
Welcome to this week’s Reading Roundup. As it is two weeks since I last wrote one of these posts, there are quite a lot of books to tell you about. I don’t really want to make a very long post, so will talk about three books this week and hold the rest over until next time.
Bear Head by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The first book is Bear Head by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This is the sequel to Dogs of War, which I reviewed in the Reading Roundup post on 27/07/22. Here is the blurb:
“Mars. The red planet. A new frontier for humanity, a civilization where humans can live in peace, lord and master of all they survey.
But this isn’t Space City from those old science-fiction books. We live in Hell City, built into and from a huge subcontinent-sized crater. There’s a big silk canopy over it, feeding out atmosphere as we generate it, little by little, until we can breathe the air.
It’s a perfect place to live, if you actually want to live on Mars. I guess at some point I had actually wanted to live on Mars, because here I am. The money was supposed to be good, and how else was a working Joe like me supposed to get off-planet exactly? But I remember the videos they showed us – guys, not even in suits, watching robots and bees and Bioforms doing all the work – and they didn’t quite get it right…”
I seem to have become a real fan of Tchaikovsky’s work over the last couple of years! This is the review which I posted on Goodreads:
This was a good sequel to Dogs of War but not quite as brilliant. That said, it was a great read with an inventive plot and intriguing characters. Tchaikovsky’s imagination simply amazes me and I really enjoy his writing. He manages to slip in important messages without labouring them.
All in all, this was a very gripping and satisfying read and I cannot wait to read another book by this author! Highly recommended.
After the science fiction, I wanted a complete change of genre. I had been in a long reservation queue for the most recent book in the Vera series by Ann Cleeves and it popped into my list at just the right moment!
The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves
So, here we have The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves (#10 Vera Stanhope series). I haven’t read all of the series yet, although I try to get hold of the ebooks when the library has them on their system. Anyway, this is the blurb:
“Fifty years ago, a group of teenagers spent a weekend on Holy Island, forging a bond that has lasted a lifetime. Now, they still return every five years to celebrate their friendship, and remember the friend they lost to the rising waters of the causeway at the first reunion.
Now, when one of them is found hanged, Vera is called in. Learning that the dead man had recently been fired after misconduct allegations, Vera knows she must discover what the friends are hiding, and whether the events of many years before could have led to murder then, and now . . .
But with the tide rising, secrets long-hidden are finding their way to the surface, and Vera and the team may find themselves in more danger than they could have believed possible . . .”
Once again, I really enjoyed the book and awarded it four stars. Here is my review:
Having read a lot of this series and all of Ann Cleeves’ Shetland series, as well as watching almost all of the TV spin offs, I think that I am quite immersed in this author’s writing! I have always wanted to see Holy Island but, despite having been to Northumberland several times, I haven’t quite made it. Anyway, it was interesting to read such a book set in the area. The setting was so well-written, as were the characters, and I didn’t guess the murderer at all, which is very unusual for me.
This time I changed genres again to dystopian alternative history!
Widow land by C J Carey
I was intrigued by the blurb written for C J Carey’s Widowland:
“To control the past, they edited history. To control the future, they edited literature.
London, 1953, Coronation year – but not the Coronation of Elizabeth II.
Thirteen years have passed since a Grand Alliance between Great Britain and Germany was formalized. George VI and his family have been murdered and Edward VIII rules as King. Yet, in practice, all power is vested in Alfred Rosenberg, Britain’s Protector. The role and status of women is Rosenberg’s particular interest.
Rose Ransom belongs to the elite caste of women and works at the Ministry of Culture, rewriting literature to correct the views of the past. But now she has been given a special task.
Outbreaks of insurgency have been seen across the country; graffiti daubed on public buildings. Disturbingly, the graffiti is made up of lines from forbidden works, subversive words from the voices of women. Suspicion has fallen on Widowland, the run-down slums where childless women over fifty have been banished. These women are known to be mutinous, for they have nothing to lose.
Before the Leader arrives for the Coronation ceremony of King Edward and Queen Wallis, Rose must infiltrate Widowland to find the source of this rebellion and ensure that it is quashed.”
Looking on Goodreads, it seems that the book is part one of a series! I will have to think about whether I might look for this. Anyway, here is my response:
The plot of this book was certainly a mixture of others: Fatherland, Handmaid’s Tale and SS-GB etc., but, all the same, it kept me interested until the end. The author cleverly tied in alternatives to the real historical events and worked out a plausible version of what could have happened. I must say that I think that the British would not have rolled over quite so easily to a German takeover, but, perhaps, I am being sentimental! Even though I was born a good decade after WWII, I was brought up with images of the plucky Brits and bulldog Churchill and I don’t like the idea that people would have collaborated to the extent that the book portrayed.
The fact that this tale was told from a female point of view, certainly gave it a good twist. Well worth reading.
I am pleased to say that I have now read 66 books this year! My challenge on Goodreads was 60, so I have done well. Not quite the number that I used to be able to read before I had the stroke, but eyesight and memory issues have now come into play. I try to spend two or three hours every afternoon with a book and that seems to work well at the moment. I try to look at this time as a more positive aspect of being bedridden – 😀.
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!
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
The Librain
The Librain......retired 
Dear Lauren, you always write the loveliest comments! Thank you so much, love Anne X