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.