What could be better than Christmas reading?

Not a lot in my opinion. I've been reading a couple of books. Les Mis doesn't seem to have a last page, but I press on all the same. At present there is a revolution in progress and I cannot see it ending well. I have a favourite character, a small street boy, but I'm worried he may end up dead too. I am bracing myself for the end.

I did manage to finish the Cuckoo's Calling, and you can find out what I thought about it here.

Also I did some reading of Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World. I wanted to read this because I enjoyed a biography of Jane Austen and I really like Dickens. It has a more somber feel to it than The Real Jane Austen, but I am interested by what I am reading.

Christmas wouldn't have been complete without some stitching and this is what I managed to get done:

What's on the Shelf?

Racing Through the Dark - The Fall and Rise of David Millar

A Life's Ambition - Alexandre Dumas

The Journal of Madame Giovanni - Alexandre Dumas

The Prince of Thieves - Alexandre Dumas

Le Tour - Geoffrey Wheatcroft

On Looking - Alexandra Horowitz

Time Warped - Claudia Hammond

The Neapolitan Lovers - Alexandre Dumas

How to find Fulfilling Work - Roman Krznaric

Intuition Pumps and Other Thinking Tools - Daniel C. Dennett

Mastermind - Maria Konnikova

How Children Succeed - Paul Tough

Thinking - edited by John Brockman

Manage Your Day-to Day - edited by Jocelyn K. Glei

Give and Take - Adam Grant

Les Miserables - Victor Hugo 

The Examined Life - Stephen Grosz

Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World - Simon Callow

It felt a lot like...

...Christmas.

Our family tradition is to have Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve and, if we are feeling adventurous, by candlelight. This year was an adventurous year, although it proved difficult to read the cracker jokes by the light of three candles. Some of us had to wait for the lights to come back on before they could read theirs.

I was thinking about how we all got to be there. My thoughts were a combo of family tree research and remembering all the good things God has done for us (if you can't think about that at Christmas, when can you?). What really made me marvel was how God plans everything out from before time. So in our family, I'm fairly sure that when an illegitimate child was born in 1865 his single mum had no idea that his decendants would have a happy family meal nearly 200 years later. But God knew and had planned it all. 

Which is why Christmas is so brilliant because it is God putting into action part of His plan (a very big part) that He had in mind before the creation of the world. And it was a plan for our good. 

Sofa Spotlight - The Cuckoo's Calling, Robert Galbraith

It's true I've finished it! My second book this month - it would seem that I am on a roll. And this book was genius, one of the best books I've read.

Strike is a private detective who is hired to investigate the "suicide" of a model. There is some doubt about whether it was actually a suicide or not, and that is what Strike is called in to investigate. Crime fiction is not a genre I know much about but I did enjoy this. I couldn't work it out, although I did have a suspicion which turned out to be correct, and I loved that I was on the edge of my seat right until the very end.

Not only is the drama good, and the writing of it is beautiful, but there are some brilliant characters. The relationship between Strike and his temp secretary Robin gives the novel the edge. There is nothing stereotypical about it and there is a lot that is comedic. In some ways the non-romantic nature of their relationship is what makes it refreshing but I think that it does a lot to lighten the tone of the book.

This is one that is definitely well worth a read. I can't wait to read the second one!

Merry Christmas...

...from the Arm of the Sofa!

I hope it was all you wanted it to be :)

Don't forget to check out my good friend EG's blog http://whimsyandfrip.wordpress.com

It's full of good laughs!

Why Read John Stott?

John Stott died a couple of years ago and he has written more books than you can shake a stick at, but why would you want to read any of them? Here a couple of reasons why I think you should:

1. He has something to say to everyone, no matter what they think of Jesus.

It's true, whether you are a Christian or not, mature in your faith or just working out who Jesus is, there will be a book that he has written that will help you. Basic Christianity is one that I would recommend for everyone.

2. Writers who speak the truth are sometimes hard to find.

There is a lot of people writing books, but how can you know if they are telling the truth when it comes to God? Stott is honest about what he believes, and how he came to believe it. When he isn't sure about something he says so, and he isn't arrogant about his opinions. He is very straightforward and I find it refreshing.

3. It is nice to read something where the writer cares for his reader.

Enough said. Stott wasn't out to make money he was out to save souls.

Bats in the Belfry?

Once again the weather is foul, but I have been able to avoid and spend sometime reading. And stitching of course. Nothing has been finished, but I have started a new book. It is a biography of Charles Dickens, and it is apt that as I write The Mystery of Edwin Drood is on TV. It is one of the few novels by Dickens that I haven't read because I have always been put off by the fact that it was never finished. Having seen the BBC's version I have changed my mind and one day I intend to read it.

With book in one hand and stitching in the other I have managed to finish stitching a bat. Which has already been mistaken for a reindeer. It's fine I shall console myself by tring to finish Les Mis, only 350 pages to go, how hard can it be to get it done by Christmas? 

EG is reading hard to finish our book challenge. I think that out of the two of us she is the only one that stands a chance of accomplishing our goal. I am looking forward to the challenges that we will have next year. They are going to be good, some are more energitic than others. 

I've started to think about life after Les Mis. One of the things that I want to do is watch the film, but I also want to start reading some of the works of Rudyard Kipling. So watch this space.

What's on the Shelf

The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith

Racing Through the Dark - The Fall and Rise of David Millar

A Life's Ambition - Alexandre Dumas

The Journal of Madame Giovanni - Alexandre Dumas

The Prince of Thieves - Alexandre Dumas

Le Tour - Geoffrey Wheatcroft

On Looking - Alexandra Horowitz

Time Warped - Claudia Hammond

The Neapolitan Lovers - Alexandre Dumas

How to find Fulfilling Work - Roman Krznaric

Intuition Pumps and Other Thinking Tools - Daniel C. Dennett

Mastermind - Maria Konnikova

How Children Succeed - Paul Tough

Thinking - edited by John Brockman

Manage Your Day-to Day - edited by Jocelyn K. Glei

Give and Take - Adam Grant

Les Miserables - Victor Hugo 

The Examined Life - Stephen Grosz

Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World - Simon Callow

Sofa Shelf - What the Dickens!

I have a new book on the shelf:

Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World - Simon Callow

Given how much I liked The Real Jane Austen I thought that the next book I read should be about one of my favourite authors of all time, Charles Dickens. There isn't much of his that I haven't read and, apart from a walking tour of London based on Dickens, I don't know too much about him. So I have hopes that this book will help to continue my education. And what better time to read it than at Christmas, maybe I should re-read A Christmas Carol next!

Bugs and Stuff

I had a very happy weekend curled up with some books and a little bit of stitching too. The weather was perfect for it. I love to read when it is pouring with rain or blowing a gale, or even if it is just cold out there.

Remarkably for me I stuck to just two books, Les Mis and The Cuckoo's Calling. Both are hard to put down, and I think I must be three quarters of the way through both of them. I am now 901 pages into Les Mis and my goal of finishing it before Christmas is becoming more realistic. With less than 100 pages of The Cuckoo's Calling left to go, I still cannot fathom out who the murderer is. It's one that I hope to finish this week - I can bear the suspense no more!

Tomorrow is an exciting day because I will start a new book. I wanted to start it at the weekend but it didn't happen for me. The above explains why. It looks good and I have high hopes for it. You will have to come back soon to find out what it is.

Having finished stitching the badger I moved on to stitch the weird bug below. I got the face a bit wrong, so she has more of an evil expression than the contented face that the pattern showed!

What's on the Shelf

The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith

Racing Through the Dark - The Fall and Rise of David Millar


A Life's Ambition - Alexandre Dumas


The Journal of Madame Giovanni - Alexandre Dumas


The Prince of Thieves - Alexandre Dumas


Le Tour - Geoffrey Wheatcroft


On Looking - Alexandra Horowitz


Time Warped - Claudia Hammond

The Neapolitan Lovers - Alexandre Dumas

How to find Fulfilling Work - Roman Krznaric

Intuition Pumps and Other Thinking Tools - Daniel C. Dennett


Mastermind - Maria Konnikova

How Children Succeed - Paul Tough

Thinking - edited by John Brockman

Manage Your Day-to Day - edited by Jocelyn K. Glei

Give and Take - Adam Grant

Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
The Examined Life - Stephen Grosz

Star Amnesty

EG and I have lost the star stickers that we need for our chart. Awkward. We also both have at least two stars waiting to go onto the chart. We have both done a little search, but the truth is that the most likely location of the stars is behind the Christmas Tree. Which involves a lot of reaching and possible encounters with spiders.

I can do the reaching but I don't do spiders.

By the end of today I want to have made a decent attempt at getting at least one more star. It's far too cold to go outside so I am wrapping myself in blankets and settling in with The Cuckoo's Calling. The problem is this makes me want to watch either a Poirot or Miss Marple, but I suppose those are nice things to get distracted by.

No doubt I will do some stitching as well, so looks like it is shaping up for a productive yet chilled day. So long as I don't have to take one any spiders!

Badgers

This weekend was much better for reading. I managed to finish a book! Shocking, I know! If you missed the post on Sunday the book that I finished was The Real Jane Austen. I recommend checking it out. To be fair this weekend was the perfect weekend for reading. The weather has taken a turn in the direction of very cold, and the rain and hail has been lashing against the windows. In such weather there is nothing better to do than to curl up in a blanket and read.

Or, stitch. That was my other accomplishment of the weekend. I finished stitching the badger, and it now looks like a badger and not a squirrel or a house. With badger complete I started to stitch something else. Keep your eyes peeled for that!

So with more vile weather forecast, this weekend could prove to be productive on the reading and stitching front. That is, if vast amounts of snow don't trap me away from home. That would be awful. What I am looking forward to the most this weekend is starting a new book. EG knows what it is and is of the opinion that it is good that we will mostly be apart while I read it. Bit rude, but she is probably right. 

Sofa Spotlight - The Real Jane Austen, Paula Byrne

Hooray! I have finished this book! Although I feel hooray is the wrong word for this achievement, as it has been one of those books that I didn't want to end. I feel a bit empty now that it is no longer in my life.

It is hooray though, because it is the first time in over a month that I have finished a book. I will celebrate by adding a star to the chart, just as soon as I find the stars. 

Anyway, this was a book about the life of Jane Austen, but it is a different take on the biography. From reading this book I have learnt not only about Jane Austen's life, but also about the time in which she lived and the events and culture that influenced her writing. It has been an education, but a fun one.

What resonated the most with me from this book was Austen's relationship with her sister Cassandra. When reading this book you get the impression that they had a strong relationship and were the most important people in each other's worlds. That is something that I can relate to and if there had been nothing else good about this book, that fact alone would have kept me reading. But it wasn't the only good thing, as this is a book crammed with gems.

At the end Byrne talks about how some of Austen's life is shrouded in mystery, for instance we are not entirely sure what she looked like. In all I loved this book (EG is glad I have finished it as presumably I will stop raving about it) and it has given me an urge to read all the Jane Austen novels all at once. 

What if your name was Sherlock?

I'm reading a book called Mastermind: how to think like Sherlock Holmes. Which got me thinking, if you had the brain of Sherlock Holmes what would you do with it? If you had that brain would you use it for solving crime, like Sherlock himself, or would you put it to a different use?

In the original Sherlock Holmes novels, Sherlock has a brother, Mycroft, who has chosen a different career path. If it was me, I think that I would be more inclined to do something other than detective work. I find Mycroft's role in the government more appealing. Or maybe I could use it to write detective novels. There really is no end to the possibilities that have gone through my mind! 

What about you? How would you use Sherlock's mighty brain? Or do you have a favourite line from the original Conan Doyle stories?

I once spent a summer reading my way through all the Sherlock Holmes stories. It was a good way to spend a summer and reading them all in succession helped to give me a feel for the characters of Holmes and Watson. I think that I was not only shocked by the stupidity of Watson, which I already knew about, but the arrogance of Holmes that was almost absurd. Well worth the read.

The Book that Lasts Forever

Les Mis is in no way a short book. I am 775 pages in of 1232 and fast losing the certainty I had of finishing it by Christmas. Having said that, it is a good book and one that I am enjoying. I know nothing of the story but the title and what people have told me about it makes me despair of a happy ending.

As well as reading Les Mis I have also been stitching my badger. Unfortunately my badger has now not only been mistaken for a squirrel but now also a house. I am very nearly finished so hopefully it looks a bit more like a badger.


EG is still feeling confident of a victory in our competition. On Saturday she managed to get two stars in one day. I can't remember the last time I got a star. I was also impeded in my reading by having to put up the Chritmas Tree, and by that I mean that I wasn't able to sit on the sofa for a while as EG decorated. It was still a productive evening as EG went on to wrap all the presents that I have bought. In my mind there is nothing worse than wrapping presents. Sadly though I still have to wrap the one's for EG. She did get to choose the wrapping paper though, it is pretty crazy! See below for a sample.

Book of the Month November '14

Or not. Because you have probably noticed that I didn't manage to finish a single book in November. Not one! I am shocked.

So please accept my apologies for this shambles of a month. I can promise you that December will see some completed books. Les Miserables can't last forever (although at times it feels like it could do) and I am close to finishing a few others. Over the next couple of weeks there should be posts about The Real Jane Austen and The Cuckoo's Calling. So keep watch for those.

Because I am so appalled at my lack of reading, I am going to eat a consolatory piece of fudge. I suggest that you do so too. (Chocolate and other sweet items such as mince pies and peanut butter are also acceptable.) Sorry folks.