I do hope that you all had a great Christmas and that 2022 will be a wonderful year! We were so happy that Younger Son was able to visit for a few days and that the four of us were together again. New Year was very quiet, but relatively peaceful.
So, for my first post of 2022 (starting the sixth year of the blog), I will show you my Christmas presents…
Christmas presents 2022
Yes, I am a very lucky person! Lovely Husband gave me a gorgeous purple cashmere crew neck jumper from Pure Collection. My “boys”’ present was the superb purple resin and gold plated necklace from Grand Tour Collection. And you will have already seen the beautiful Hermès scarf, Le Premier Chant, that I bought for myself before Christmas. Doesn’t it tie everything together nicely?
Here is a better photo of the necklace…
Necklace by Grand Tour Collection
I managed to wear all of these gifts on Christmas Day…
Outfit of the day 25/12/21 with Hermès’ Le Premier Chant scarf
A quick reminder of the full scarf – Hermès’ Le Premier Chant…
Hermès – Le Premier Chant, by Sophia Andreotti and Edouard Baribeaud, 90cm, violet/bleu glacier/jaune, H003799S 06
The scarf has been designed for the Spring/Summer 2022 season, but I think it looks great with a Winter outfit. Very versatile! And, NO, those aren’t depictions of COVID-19 around the hem!!! Eek!
OK, I think that is enough for now. With this new year, I will try to continue the pattern of posts from the last couple of years: something general or pertinent on Mondays, the Reading Roundup on Wednesdays and Outfits of the Week on Fridays (hoping that there are some outfits to write about!). Sometimes my health issues are overwhelming and I have to take a break, but I will try my best to be consistent.
Hi everyone! Today’s post is the last one for a while as I am taking an extended break between Christmas and New Year. I hope to return in early January when the festive season is all over.
So, let’s get on with the final Reading Roundup of 2021…
My Sister’s Child by Karen Clarke
My Sister’s Child by Karen Clarke was another of those serendipitous selections from the ebook service. This is the blurb!
”I promised her I’d protect him… and I’ll do anything to keep him safe.
Five years ago, my sister Rachel left her baby boy on my doorstep. A little bundle wrapped in blankets.
I loved him. I cared for him. I called him Noah and raised him as my own.
Rachel was full of secrets, and the truth about Noah was one we shared. A secret just between sisters.
Now, my sister is dead. The police say it was an accident… But I’m convinced that’s a lie.
I owe it to Rachel to uncover the truth… Even if I risk losing the family I’ve fought so hard for.”
I awarded the book three stars on Goodreads and wrote the following review:
I am struggling to write this response to the book. In many ways, it was quite well-written with plenty of suspenseful moments and mystery. But, all in all, I found the plot a bit much. So many reveals, in fact too many. It all began to irritate me by the time I reached the end.
I thought that this book would be worth four stars, but when I eventually finished it felt more like a three star: OK, with good parts, but overall not really satisfying to read.
So, after this book I decided to go for something more tried and tested…
Dark Sky by C J Box
C J Box’s Dark Sky is the 21st instalment in his Joe Pickett series and I have read all of the books up to this, except one! I must like the books and the genre. Anyway, here is the blurb:
“Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett must accompany a Silicon Valley CEO on a hunting trip – but soon learns that he himself may be the hunted…
THE TIME HAS COME
It’s a crisp October morning in Wyoming’s Twelve Sleep County, and game warden Joe Pickett should be keeping watch over his patch. Instead, the state governor has roped him into leading Silicon Valley billionaire Steven Price on a hunting trip. The department is facing major budget cuts and Price’s social media empire could bring serious business into the state – if someone can persuade him of Wyoming’s charms.
It looks like a straightforward job, but unbeknownst to Joe, there is a hunter hot on their heels, one with a different manner of prey in mind.
When Joe’s daughter Sheridan and his closest friend Nate Romanowksi learn of the threat, they head out to rescue Joe and his charge. To get out of the woods alive, they will all have to draw on their wits and knowledge of the outdoors as they confront the worst man – and nature – can throw at them.”
I am pleased to be able to say that this was a much more successful choice than the previous book! Here is my short response on Goodreads where I also awarded the book four stars:
Yet again, I really enjoyed the latest installment of this very long series. There was such an exciting plot that held me on edge until the final chapters. Also the continued development of favourite characters. With two stories running alongside each other, one was concluded but the other’s finale has been held over until the next book.
My negatives are the political background. The attempt to bring in COVID, antifa and social media didn’t really work for me. But then, I am an English reader, so the US situation is very different for me.
I do tend to be rather impulsive and jump in to the new season’s scarves very quickly. So, please bear that in mind as you look at this reveal of my latest scarf! 😅😂🤣😂😅
First, we have the superb packaging…
Then we have the special Christmas box cover, front and back (they are the same size – just my poor photography!)…
Now, the iconic Hermès orange box…
Here is the first reveal of the folded scarf…
And opened out a little…
The full scarf: Le Premier Chant by Sophia Andreotti and Edouard Baribeaud, 90cm, violet/bleu glacier/jaune, H003799S 06.
Le Premier Chant by Hermès
A slideshow to show you a range of closeups of the scarf…
Of course, it was the central purple “swoosh” that absolutely sold this scarf to me. I adore purples and have a few scarves in shades such as lilac, lavender, violet and mauve, but nothing in this lovely rich colour.
After the holidays, when things have calmed down and there is more information about this scarf design, I will write a full Scarf of the Moment post. But for now, I am eagerly awaiting an item of clothing which will enhance this scarf perfectly!
Whoopee!!!! After a really difficult week, I am feeling quite cheerful this afternoon! Over the last few days the new Spring/Summer 2022 scarves, shawls and twillies are beginning to appear on the Hermès website. As usual, I have no self-restraint and have already bought my first one, which I will show you all next week.
Anyway, here are some hints…
Hermès’ Spring/Summer 2022
These are a mixture of sizes and formats: 90cm, 70cm, shawls, double-faced, etc. For more information and to see the new season as it rolls out, it is really worth following the Spring/Summer 2022 scarves thread on The Purse Forum.
It’s Wednesday again and that means Reading Roundup time! I have three books to write about this week, both chosen at random from our library’s ebook collection.
Before I Say I Do by Vicki Bradley
The first of the three was Before I Say I Do by Vicki Bradley. Here is the blurb:
”It’s Julia’s wedding day. Her nerves are to be expected – every bride feels the same – but there’s another layer to her fear, one that she cannot explain to her soon-to-be husband, Mark. She’s never told him the details – and she is determined he never finds out.
As she begins down the aisle, spotting Mark in his tailored suit, she knows she is taking her first steps to happiness – her past is behind her, it can’t catch her now. Mark turns to face her . . .
But it isn’t Mark in the beautiful suit – it’s his best man.
Because Mark is missing.
And Julia’s past is closer than she thinks . . .”
Well, I thought that blurb sounded intriguing, so I took the plunge and this is my three star response…
This book was a really mixed bag. I thought that the first half was a good and interesting mystery, with plenty of twists and turns. Then the second part became rushed and badly written, with a string of implausible revelations that careered towards the finish line. There was so much stuffed into the plot that it burst at the seams! So, all in all, OK but not note-worthy.
So, that book was a bit “meh” and I hoped for an improvement after that. This was my next choice:
Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan
This was another serendipitous choice: Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan. Here is the blurb:
”Near the dying English seaside town of Ilmarsh, local police detective Alec Nichols discovers sixteen horses’ heads on a farm, each buried with a single eye facing the low winter sun. After forensic veterinarian Cooper Allen travels to the scene, the investigators soon uncover evidence of a chain of crimes in the community – disappearances, arson and mutilations – all culminating in the reveal of something deadly lurking in the ground itself. In the dark days that follow, the town slips into panic and paranoia. Everything is not as it seems. Anyone could be a suspect. And as Cooper finds herself unable to leave town, Alec is stalked by an unseen threat. The two investigators race to uncover the truth behind these frightening and insidious mysteries – no matter the cost.”
This next review comes with a content warning, although I felt that the book deserved at least four stars…
First of all, a warning! Do not read this book if you don’t have a strong stomach and/or if you are particularly partial to horses.
This is a bleak, grim and gruesome murder/mystery and was very hard for me to read. I cannot say that I enjoyed it, because there was nothing to leaven the sheer horror of the book. Several times I nearly put it down, but something kept me reading.
This is a pretty amazing first book and is very well written with a unique style, in my opinion. But only try it if you can stand a very black tale.
My third book of the week was another powerful and well-written tale…
The Bone Cay by Eliza Nellums
The Bone Cay by Eliza Nellums was such an unusual choice, or so it seemed at first! This is the blurb:
“Magda Trudell is the present-day caretaker of Whimbrel Estate, the Key West home of the famous poet Isobel Reyes. Isobel’s suicide at the residence in 1918 has nearly overshadowed her creative legacy–but Magda, a botanist and avid historian, is determined to protect it. Over the past decade, Magda has lovingly restored the house to the exact condition Isobel would have known. And even though a fierce October hurricane is headed straight for the Keys, she isn’t about to abandon her life’s work to evacuate.
As the mighty storm makes landfall, the dangers mount. First, a fire and flood threaten to destroy the house. Then the storm claims most of Magda’s supplies. When part of the house collapses, she unearths an old steamer trunk in the rubble that contains a woman’s remains. Is there more to Isobel’s story than Magda knows?
The unexpected appearance of a teenage girl and her father seeking shelter from the storm poses unnerving new questions. Are they really who they seem? And could they have a connection to the house’s shadowy past? As the storm rages, Magda desperately tries to solve the real mystery of Isobel’s death–and keep the living in one piece.”
This was such an unexpected find. Chosen at random, I began the book wondering whether it was for me. The setting, an old house on the Florida Keys, with echoes from the past life of a young female poet, was so atmospheric that it held my interest as the story began. The main character was also very engaging. Then the plot developed as a hurricane approached.
Eventually I became totally gripped by this immensely well-written thriller as I continued to read. Revelations came, and new characters arrived and the pace of the tale picked up as the winds picked up speed.
I am so glad that I chose this book and will look for others by the same author. She has such wide-ranging skills. Why not try this for yourself?
Well, that was a fabulous week of reading! And most unexpected. I have a load of great books in my queue that I don’t want to read quite yet as they are the final parts of series or books I have been waiting for for a while. So, instead of reading those, I have been choosing books from the library. Very successfully!
I do hope that all of my visitors/readers/friends had a very pleasant weekend and that, if you celebrate Christmas, your preparations are going well. Most of the gifts that I have ordered for the family have now arrived and I am only waiting for a couple now.
There has been a small issue niggling at me with reference to one retailer, who I am not going to name. We usually give our “boys” money at this time of year, but in addition I always buy them some t-shirts and sweatshirts so that they have something to open. Anyway, I was amazed when the very large retailer emailed to say that all six items would not be arriving as one parcel, but as – not two, or three – SIX separate parcels! Can you believe this? What a waste of fuel, time and packaging!
I know that the whole online purchasing business is not very “green”, but I have to do my shopping this way as I cannot travel any more.
At the same time as all of the planning, shopping and card writing, we have been struggling with Elder Son’s autism issues again. I won’t go into any details, but it has been such an emotional struggle again. He always finds the run up to Christmas hard, but now he is trying (and not really succeeding) to cope with worries about COVID-19 variants, my health, his Dad’s health, his future, his job and now OCD. This is becoming almost unbearable for LH and I to cope with and we are very concerned about the future.
Right, I now need to try to focus on something else for a while. Perhaps a good book, a pot of tea and a nibble will help? I will leave you with this image (well, I think it’s a funny visual pun!).
I had a lovely post planned for today. Yesterday, I was supposed to get my hair done and I had a gorgeous outfit laid out on my bed with all the accessories. But it was not to be. Instead, I felt terrified by the prospect of leaving the house, had a nasty coughing fit, then cancelled the appointment.
This is the outfit and I will try to wear it next week and take a quick photo…
Outfit of the day 09/12/21 with Fetolia’s Olympian Gods scarf
I am not sure about the pearl earrings, so I might choose something different from my collection. Oh, and I must say that in real life these greys blend really well. I had also intended to carry my Massaccesi croco leather Victoria handbag in “grape” as a contrast – I think it would have worked…
Victoria handbag in grape croco leather by Massaccesi
Or, perhaps this silver and pewter leather Diane handbag also by Massaccesi would have been better?
Diane handbag by Marco Massaccesi
OK, I will now try to nurse myself into a better state with plenty of tea and a good book! I do hope that you all have a great weekend.
It is now a fortnight since I last wrote one of these posts and you might be expecting quite a few book reviews today. Unfortunately, as I wrote in Monday’s post, I suffered from a serious issue for a few days and was unable to concentrate on reading. Anyway, I do have two books to write about in this week’s Reading Roundup.
Here is the first book…
Five Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K Le Guin
The book was Five Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K Le Guin – a collection of short stories based around her Science Fiction writing. This is the blurb:
”Here for the first time is the complete suite of five linked stories from Ursula K. Le Guin’s acclaimed Hainish series, which tells the history of the Ekumen, the galactic confederation of human colonies founded by the planet Hain. First published in 1995 as Four Ways to Forgiveness, and now joined by a fifth story, Five Ways to Forgiveness focuses on the twin planets Werel and Yeowe, two worlds whose peoples, long known as “owners” and “assets,” together face an uncertain future after civil war and revolution. In “Betrayals” a retired science teacher must make peace with her new neighbor, a disgraced revolutionary leader. In “Forgiveness Day,” a female official from the Ekumen arrives to survey the situation on Werel and struggles against its rigidly patriarchal culture. Embedded within “A Man of the People,” which describes the coming of age of Havzhiva, an Ekumen ambassador to Yeowe, is Le Guin’s most sustained description of the Ur-planet Hain. “A Woman’s Liberation” is the remarkable narrative of Rakam, born an asset on Werel, who must twice escape from slavery to freedom. Joined to them is “Old Music and the Slave Women,” in which the charismatic Hainish embassy worker, who appears in two of the four original stories, returns for a tale of his own. Of this capstone tale Le Guin has written, “the character called Old Music began to tell me a fifth tale about the latter days of the civil war . . . I’m glad to see it joined to the others at last.””
I gave this collection four stars on Goodreads and wrote the following short review:
An excellent collection of short stories. I have only read one book set in this world: Left Hand of Darkness, and it is one of my favourites. These tales were all interlinked and covered a range of important issues, such as slavery, sexism and feminism, as you would expect from Le Guin. The book has inspired me to read more and I hope that ai can find them as ebooks.
On finishing this book, I had a browse around the Library’s ebook collection and this was one of my choices…
Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins
Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins was my rather randomly chosen book. First, we have the blurb:
”When Fern Douglas sees the news about Astrid Sullivan, a thirty-four-year-old missing woman from Maine, she is positive that she knows her. Fern’s husband is sure it’s because of Astrid’s famous kidnapping—and equally famous return—twenty years ago, but Fern has no memory of that, even though it happened an hour outside her New Hampshire hometown. And when Astrid appears in Fern’s recurring nightmare, one in which a girl reaches out to her, pleading, Fern fears that it’s not a dream at all, but a memory.
Back home in New Hampshire, Fern purchases a copy of Astrid’s recently published memoir—which may have provoked her original kidnapper to abduct her again—and as she reads through its chapters and visits the people and places within it, she discovers more evidence that she has an unsettling connection to the missing woman. As Fern’s search becomes increasingly desperate, she hopes to remember her past so she can save Astrid in the present…before it’s too late.”
I read this book fairly quickly and awarded it four stars. This is my short response:
This was a gut-churning (for me), excellent psychological thriller. A tale of multiple kidnapping, dreadful parenting, recovering memories and child abuse. As I am suffering from my own difficult mental issues, I found the book hard to read, but I didn’t want to put it down. The whole plot was unusual and interesting, also gripping in parts. The characters were very varied.
I am now about halfway through my next book, which I will tell you about next week. Also, I have some great books in the queue, most of which I have actually purchased! Yes, that is unusual for me 😁. So, there is plenty to keep me occupied for quite some time.
Well, I’m back! It has been an “interesting” time since I last posted: some lovely days, some awful days and some in the middle.
There were definitely some lovely days with Younger Son visiting. He brings lightness, hugs, happiness and a quirky sense of humour which really help to put smiles on all of our faces. Several useful things were done, with his help, including putting up the Christmas Tree. He also went out with Elder Son for a meal, which was so nice.
Unfortunately, I had a few really difficult days. As it turns out, a medicine mix up meant that I was actually taking a double dose of one tablet and a zero dose of another. This caused me horrible mental issues on several afternoons. In fact, because these nasty symptoms hit me at the same time on each day, I eventually worked out what was happening. After taking the correct meds for a few days, I began to feel like my usual self and was able to really enjoy the rest of YS’s time with us. With any luck, we will see him again soon for his Christmas visit.
For now, I will leave you with this gorgeous image…
Leap by Victo Ngai
Now I will return to my book so that I have something to write about for Wednesday’s Reading Roundup post!
Once again, it has been a difficult week for us. There has been a lot of stress in the house, brought on by a number of incidents together with my and Lovely Husband’s medical issues. I just hope that everything will calm down, especially with Younger Son visiting next week.
As my health has been so poor this week, I have been snuggling up in my cashmere shawls. As I now have three, I have been using them in rotation. Here is a quick photo with my gorgeous Hermès Plumes en Fête cashmere/silk shawl…
And here are all three shawls: Hermès’ Plumes en Fête cashmere/silk, Johnstons of Elgin’s Pixellated Check cashmere stole and Liberty of London’s Hera cashmere/silk. These images are not to scale, e.g. the Hermès and Liberty shawls are the same size at 140x140cm.
Hermès’ Plumes en Fête shawl (H243433S 04)Johnstons of Elgin’s Pixellated Check cashmere stoleLiberty of London’s Hera cashmere/silk shawl
Next week, whilst Younger Son is here, I am going to make a huge effort to get out of bed and dress properly, even if I only manage this on a couple of days. Also, I am taking a break from posting on the blog so that I can spend time with him.
So, I do hope that you have a good weekend and that next week is great!
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 Librain
The Librain......retired 
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