Tag: reading

Yelly Reads

Good read: Fractured

Yelly

I’m on a reading roll (non-bread, mind!)!  I’ve always had my nose in a book for as long as I can remember, but for the past several years, work has taken over my life.  I’ve been working and spending my non-working hours either baking or resting and completely vegging out (by watching TV).

But I’ve been reading a lot the past few months: I’ve finished the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness (A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night and the Book of Life), the Languedoc Series by Kate Mosse (Citadel, Sepulchre and Citadel), Gillian Flynn’s books (Gone Girl, Dark Places, and Sharp Objects), The Cousins War Series by Philippa Gregory (The White Queen, The Red Queen, The Lady of the Rivers, The King Maker’s Daughter, The White Princess, and the King’s Curse), Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, and Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy by Helen Fielding.  Two weeks ago, I finished Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins.

On Friday, I finished another book.  Continuing on the amnesia-lit theme (Girl On The Train was mostly because the character experiences a sort of amnesia), I started on Fractured last weekend.  The premise was about this girl who has an accident and wakes up from it with a life that’s perfect and far from what she had before she had the accident and what happens after as she tries to figure out why her life is what it is.  Before this book, I’d been lamenting my reading speed.  But considering that I only read on the train after Alan gets off the train on the way to work, and on the way home, I read only until Alan gets home, my reading speed is relatively back to where it used to be.  The only downside is that I’m experiencing a twitching on the left side of my forehead!  My eyebrow and top and bottom eyelids are twitching too.  I’m constantly afraid that people will think I’m winking at them!

Fractured

I’ve got a book lined up for my next read.  It’s called The Book of You by Claire Kendal.  Bring on the daily commute!

But now, I’ve got to make Chinese coconut tarts!  See y’all later!

Yelly Reads

Book du jour: Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously

Yelly

Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell.  “A culinary legend provides a frustrated office worker a new recipe for life.”

I’ve got the paperback version. 320 pages, size 1.9 x 13.2 x 19.8 cm.  Published by Penguin Books.  That being said, I also have the Kindle version!  But because this is one of my favourite books, I am going to go old style and read the actual book!

I’ve probably read this book at least 9 times.  I’ve watched the movie more!  In fact, as I write this blog entry, it’s on.  Right now.  I’ve got Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Amy Adams on my TV screen.

It’s my comfort movie because I watch it whenever I’m home ill.  It fills me with hope that someday, my blog will mean something, that someone will read it and think, “Hey, that girl has something to say and she says it well!”  That is the dream.

I love this book because it’s about someone I can relate to.  I can relate to the experiences and it’s someone who knows about the Bataan Death March (which my grandfather was part of — he was a Philippine World War II veteran)!  Every time I read it, I just smile.  I would love to meet Julie Powell.  I would love to pick her brains.  I would love to say, “How in the world did you manage to start living the dream?!?”

Because that is the dream.  To write.  In my case it’s to write about food.

So I am about to embark into another journey into the world of Julie Powell challenging herself to cook through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  And, oh boy, am I going to enjoy this particular ride.  Again.

Julie_and_julia

Yelly Reads

Welcome back Bridget!

Yelly

I am still reading Kate Mosse’s Citadel, the last of the Languedoc trilogy but I am so very excited to start the next book that’s on my book list!: Helen Fielding’s much-awaited addition to her Bridget Jones’ series, Mad About the Boy.

The book is now downloaded onto my Kindle and is now waiting for me to read it.

I do know one thing though:  Mark Darcy is dead!

Now before you raise your fist at me, shouting “Spoiler!” this has been discussed to death, with Helen Fielding making appearances on TV shows, ostensibly, to defend her decision to kill off the lovely Mark Darcy.  This was revealed to me by a cousin on Facebook who thought I’d already heard.  Just to underline the point that Mark Darcy’s death was publicized before the book was even released for sale, my cousin lives in the Philippines and she heard before me!

I am struggling with finishing the last installment to Kate Mosse’s trilogy because I am fairly desperate to read about Bridget!  But I am determined to finish Citadel properly and then move on to find out what 51 year old Bridget is up to now.

Fingers crossed I finish Citadel soon, eh?

Helen Fielding's Mad About the Boy

Yelly Writes

The Reading List for 2013

Yelly

I finally have my reading list for 2013 (HURRAH!).  The goal is to read these books, and add a few more.  Although, the first book in my list is fairly ambitious, even when you factor in the fact that I do read parts of it everyday as part of my daily devotion!

This is my reading list for 2013:Stack of Library Books

  1. The Bible — yes ALL of it!
  2. The Jane Austen Miscellany by Harry Berry
  3. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
  4. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
  5. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
  6. The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language by Mark Forsyth
  7. I Remember Nothing and other reflections by Nora Ephron
  8. The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory
  9. Room by Emma Donoghue
  10. Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace
  11. How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran
  12. French Lessons by Ellen Sussman

I wanted to make sure that I read books by authors that I’d never read before but I couldn’t resist adding a Philippa Gregory book because I love her books so much!  I’ve discovered that I love historical fiction and this was all because I started reading PG’s books.  I started with The Other Boleyn Girl and was hooked!

Some of the books on the list are already on my Kindle and have been languishing there for ages.  I haven’t had the opportunity (and if I’m honest, most of the time, the inclination to read!  Bad, I know!) to read them yet, so to encourage (read: prod me with a red-hot fireplace poker!) me to read them, I’m adding them to my list.

One book a month, except the Bible because I plan to read that everyday, although the Bible is still on my list of 12 books.  There are 1189 chapters in the Bible and 365 days in a year.  If I read 4 chapters a day, I’ll finish reading the Bible from cover to cover.  Big ask, yes, very definitely.  But I am determined to achieve this particular goal because, as a Christian, I am determined to be able to say that I’ve read the bible.  Properly!

As they say, each approaching new year prompts people into a frenzied goal-setting mindset.  My goal is simply to read more.  I’ve always loved to read.  It’s just giving my reading a little direction!

Yelly Reads

Book du jour!

Yelly

Someone has very kindly given me the book I so wanted (see post on 25 September!).

It has now been added to my Kindle and I cannot wait to get stuck in!

Apart from that new development, there is nothing new.  I’ve still got so much to write about but as usual, I am plagued with inertia and the lack of initiative to find the time to write about things.  Not good, I know.  I will get over this writing hump though.  I really will!

Yelly Reads

I want this book!!!

Yelly

I’ve got a list of favourite authors and I collect cookbooks.  I have stopped counting my cookbooks since I started this blog because, considering the size of my flat, I’ve got an obscene amount.  At least in my opinion, it’s obscene, considering the storage limitations.  My next project is to source a book case that can hold my burgeoning cookbook collection!

I do, however, want this book.  It’s supposed to be released on Thursday, 27 September.  And it’s already creating quite the ruckus.

It’s J.K. Rowling’s next book, aimed at grown up readers.  The tagline they’re using to promote it is “A big novel about a small town.”  I should have pre-ordered my book, but things have been hectic and I didn’t get around to doing anything about securing my copy.  The Kindle edition is more expensive than the hardcopy.  But really, I am a J.K. Rowling fan.  I think I’m more than likely to get the actual book!