Monday 6 August 2012

Weather Woes


Well, my previous post suggested that perhaps I needed some bad weather to get some good reading done.

We haven't had much of a summer yet here in Scotland!  And I still haven't got all that much reading done either... work's been crazy and life has been busy.

Thunder storms and rain showers tend to distract me from the books just now... after a heavy downpour I like to explore the neighbourhood.  I live in a part of a city where trees are protected, it's illegal to just chop one down... and they're old trees which have roots that are playing havoc with the drainage systems.  So there's often mini floods on the roads... which can be quite entertaining as long as I'm not getting splashed head to toe by cars driving through 3 ft deep puddles at full speed... which has happened recently!

I'm now going to the gym every second day, trying to keep as active as possible and with the Olympics in London happening thinking about taking up another sport.

I used to be a keen surfer and into canoeing.  Now that I live in a city and there isn't a beach within easy walking distance I've given these up.  What else can I do?  I was born with a slight problem with my spine so I can't run fast etc, I have terrible hand eye coordination so maybe tennis is out of the question (though I used to play badminton at school, I didn't really enjoy it that much).  Maybe marathon reading should be a part of the Olympics but I am in desperate need of some training before the next time the Olympics comes around!

I did manage to get through New York by Edward Rutherfurd since my last update.  At last!

It really was a remarkable read.  I loved the way the book told the story of the city from the days when it was called New Amsterdam.  The stories of the families involved in the city were incredible!  I felt like I knew each central character... or maybe I can relate their quirks to that of people I know.  Still, all the families followed through the story crossed paths with each other so it read quite smoothly.

I also read A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow by George R. R. Martin which was slightly more tedious than the previous books in the series for me.  I was thoroughly frustrated by Catelyn's 'woe is me' attitude, though to be fair I'd be utterly miserable if I were in her position as well.  Tyrion remains one of my favourite characters and the events involving him in this book made for an interesting twist to the plot (the marriage, but I won't mention it in case there's anyone out there who's also just plodding through the books at their own, slow pace lol).

Fallen by Karin Slaughter... FINALLY!  Will and Sara... well, that was the highlight for me.  It was an enjoyable read, it had me gripping the book tightly with suspense.  It also concentrates on Faith as the daughter, sister and mother rather than the GBI agent which I liked.

I'm thinking another take on Amanda would be very interesting and would love to see what Karin would be able to do with her character.

Currently on the bedside table is:
Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick (YA paranormal romance)
Mort by Terry Pratchett (book 4 of the Discworld series, reading sporadically on my kindle)
Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James... I'm not sure that this is worth the hype.  It's either incredibly badly written or edited by an idiot. I don't quite see the connection between this and Twilight though, but I haven't read Twilight and don't intend to... though I do have it and I might one day.

As to buying books... yes, I'm still hoarding them.  I have several shelves which are overflowing with books that I haven't read yet and frustratingly I keep adding to them!  I'll catch up with the rate at which I flash the cash in book stores eventually lol

Until next time... xx

No comments:

Post a Comment