Comes around every year.....

Yes I've had another birthday 😊
Lots of lovely presents including another me

from Hubby, so no excuse for clothes that don't fit properly because I can't pin them on myself. I need to spend some time getting her to my size. Think she needs a name too. 

This birthday seems to be a continuous eating out celebration. 

Last Tuesday was a Mexican birthday dinner with my girl friends. 

I eat out every Wednesday night anyway.

Friday lunchtime we had a birthday lunch with Daughter, M, R, E and O. That pub was chosen mainly because it had a great outside play area but unfortunately it was raining so O nerve got to use it. 

Saturday (my actual birthday) Hubby took me out and after a couple of rainy days all day Saturday was sunny and very warm. 

We started at Thorpeness and had a good walk around 

Lunch was by the boating lake watching ducks, swans and the various techniques of the rowers.

We then took a drive to Aldeburgh (normally we could walk from one to the other but my knees were objecting). As I'd said it was very sunny and warm and Aldeburgh is a very popular place so nowhere to park! Driving on we made a stop at Snape for another walk around, along the river, shop, gallery and museum.

Last stop was into Woodbridge and a walk along the High Street and bought a few bits including the last two fresh scones in the bakery so just had to supermarket for some clotted cream and had our own cream tea when we got home. Well you have to have cake in your birthday right?  Half was cream then jam, the other half jam then cream so as not to offend either the Cornish or the Devonians.

Sunday (today) lunch was another pub with Son&fiancé.

And amazingly I've lunch Monday and Thursday and dinner Tuesday and Wednesday at different venues with different friends still to come this week hahaha. 

Birthdays are fun! 

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2016 reading.........

It's been a dreadful year for reading, seems like I'm not sitting still long enough, or crafting and playing online Words With Friends is taking preference, or I haven't found the right book to grab my interest. So here is the meagre list......

MICHAEL McINTYRE LIFE AND LAUGHING by Michael McIntyre
Hardback. Bought used from Amazon with Christmas gift voucher
Started  11/1/16 - finished 21/1/16
An excellent and very entertaining read. So refreshing that it wasn't the usual rags-to-riches celebrity autobiography as Michael was born into wealth and privilege but of course privilege is relative as his parents divorced and he passionately describes his relationships with family members, teenage angst, finding love and the huge struggle to work his chosen career to success. It's so funny.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S WIFE by Nick Alexander
eBook. Paid for download to Kindle reader with Christmas gift voucher.
Started  22/1/16 - finished 3/2/16
This had been recommended to me by SisterS and I'm just about to thank her as I've thoroughly enjoyed it. The twists and turns of emotion and comparisons between how the generations grew up and how it had influenced their relationships with each other. Secrets and lies and how the truth unfolds. I highly recommend it.

*REMEMBER WHEN by T.Torrest
eBook. Free download to Kindle reader.
Started  4/5/16 - unfinished
Carrying this forward to 2017

THE ART OF BEING NORMAL by Lisa Williamson
Paperback. Lent to me by GranddaughterE.
Started  14/5/16 - finished 16/5/16
A brilliant look at teenage peer pressure, bullying and support when there is added pressure of gender issues. The families were described so well that it showed why the teens had some of their problems. For all the young adult readers I'm pleased it ended on a positive note.  Highly recommended.

NORWEGIAN WOOD by Haruki Murakami
Daughter read this and recommended it,  I found it as an audiobook on YouTube.
Started 1/10/16 - never finished, seems my lifestyle doesn't go well with audio books.
A little bit odd as this book is very Japanese but is read by a young male American. No heavy story but all mixed relationships well implied without being totally described (does that make sense? ). Yes enjoyed as far as I got but easily picked up and put down.

*THE WOMAN IN WHITE by Wilkie Collins
eBook. Free download to Kindle reader. Another that Daughter had recommended.
Started 26/11/16  - unfinished
Carrying this forward to 2017

2015 reading....

LEAVING TIME by Jodie Picoult
eBook. Paid for download to Kindle reader, recommended by Lesley.
Started 13/02/2015 - finished 21/03/2015
Shouldn't have taken me so long as it was a really good read. The story unfolds from the different perspectives of four characters. Based around elephant sanctuaries and their researchers, we are given lots of interesting information about elephant relationships and feelings which seem very relevant to human behaviour too. I won't give anything away about this story of a teenage girl looking for her mother and trying to find the answers to a tragic night ten years before. The ending had me quite choked.

OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY by Candida Lycett Green
Paperback. From my pile of donated "waiting to read" books.
Started 27/04/2015  - finished 5/5/2015
True story or more of a diary than a story of the author getting back her life after cancer. Candida is the daughter of the late Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman so grew up in upper class England in a world full of horses and famous people although that doesn't detract from her telling of struggles and victories. Written to paint beautiful images of where she had been.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT by Mark Haddon
Paperback. Second hand from our Isle of Wight holiday
Started 22/07/2015 - finished 09/08/2015
A very moving insight into the mind of a 15 year old boy with Aspergers Syndrome. It started with the murder of a neighbour's dog which Christopher has to investigate but the story moves a long way from that. Excellent descriptions of what he does and how he feels.

DURING THE DANCE by Mark Lawrence
eBook. Free download to my new Kindle Paperwhite.
A short story of 2,000 words
Started 19/09/2015 - finished 25 minutes later
An unusual fantasy fairytale that has quite sad undertones. Excellent as a short story.

PAYBACK AND A BOTTLE OF MERLOT by Bria Marche
eBook. Free download to Kindle.
Started  27/9/2015 - finished 3/10/2015
It's a chic romance comedy ish, about a group of wine drinking young women who band together to give out some justified revenge, but you must have guessed that from the title! A good light holiday read.

SKINNY ME by Charlene Carr
eBook. Free download to Kindle.
Started  24/10/2015 - finished 6/11/2015
As a reader who has experienced a lot of what this is about (fat girl becoming skinny girl but it's not the answer to happiness) I think it's quite well written, highlighting the struggles with relationships because she struggles with liking herself. Also brings home the message that health is more important than image.

ROSE OF THORNE by Mia Michelle
eBook. Free download to Kindle.
Started 8/11/2015 - finished 29/11/2015
A good holiday read although very repetitive to drag it out to be a whole book. Lots of secrets, lots of sex, lots of caught just in time before the worst happens and an inconclusive end so you buy the next book. ....I'll not bother.

CLOSE YOUR EYES AND COUNT TO THREE by Mark Haysom
eBook. Free download to Kindle (advertised on facebook).
Started  11/11/2015 - finished in about an hour.
An excellent short story written from a seven year old's view, about a camping adventure and relationships. Made me cry!

THE GIFT by Mark Haysom
eBook. Free download to Kindle.
Started 1/12/2015 - finished in about an hour on flight home.
Another deeply moving short story about a grandmothers desperate need to do well for her family.
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2014 reading......

The 3 Mistakes Of My Life by Chetan Bhagat
eBook. Free download as pdf on the Playbook.
Started 1/1/2014 - finished 31/1/2014
This is all about cricket and even though that has no interest for me the story that weaves round it held me. The opening was amazing and intriguing and the rest highlights Indian culture, religious differences and conflicts and relationships between young and old and the young with each other. I found it an excellent read.

 

Frugal Stuff That Works by Elaine Collins
eBook. Free download to Kindle reader on the Playbook.
Started January 2014  - unfinished
An ongoing dip-into book of hints and tips on saving and not wasting money.
Can't really comment on this as I keep forgetting to go back to it, oops!

 

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Paperback. Has been on the shelf with the children's books for ever and I realised I'd never read it, tut tut.
Started 4/3/2014 - finished 11/5/2014
A really easy and quick read (yes quick, I had lots of interruptions including a holiday). Lovely details creating the images of their lives and relationships. Children's books are definitely not just for children hahaha. Got R to read it too and she enjoyed it.

 

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Paperback. Lent to me by Daughter after her and R both read it.
Started 21/3/2014  - finished 23/3/2014
Just a year in the life of a 10 year old girl from normal to post war refugee. Written through her eyes in freeform poetry I found it very emotional.

 

The Italian Job by Nick Earls
eBook. Free download to Kindle reader on the Playbook.
Started 12/4/2014 and finished an hour(ish) later on the flight to Rome.
Not the best written work but an unusual amusing story line, about a hired driver called Mal (old man) and his PR passenger (young woman) driving between publicity events, which made it a fun short story.

 

Shut Up and Kiss Me by Christie Craig
eBook. Free download to Kindle reader on the Playbook.
Started 17/4/2014  - finished 23/4/2014
Just about OK as a very light holiday read but far too corny, so many unbelievable events all happening at the same time to the same people and ending with a totally predictable happy ever after to all three couples.....don't think me saying that spoils any surprises!

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Paperback that's been on my "to read" shelf for ever.
Started 24/6/14 (while R had her drumming lesson) - never finished, gave up 6/12/14.

I can't remember the last book I ever gave up on, I'm always of the opinion that it may get better on the next page, but I've tried so hard with this one and it just got worse! Bizarre religious extremes imposed on a child making her a total freak within her own community just ain't my thing.

 

Have to say I'm not reading books very much at the moment, I seem to relax reading other people's blogs and playing Words-With-Friends online as I'm trying to sit less and move more (not working yet). So as I'm not going to start another book this year I'll post this now.

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2013 reads...

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
Paperback. Passed on to me by Daughter. Started 1st January - finished 23rd January
This is set in Mississippi 1962, "Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver". A brilliant read, the characters so well described both in looks and personality. It made me laugh out loud and feel very sad too.

Grammar-Land by M L Nesbitt
An on-going dip-into reference book on the correct use of English grammar.
Published 1878. Started 10th January
Downloaded free to my Kobo reader. Recommended by a HomeEd blogger.

Crossing the Paradise Line by Annabel Giles
Paperback. Bought for me by Hubby for my birthday 2011 but only getting round to reading it now.
Started 2/2/2013 - finished 19/2/2013 (delayed by knitting then got a cold so curled up and read the book quickly)
Really enjoyed this light read with a very amusingly exaggerated story line. Annabel is brilliant at describing her characters. Very predictable happy ending.

The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
Paperback. Bought for me by HelenM for my birthday 2012 but only getting round to reading it now. Winner of the Man Booker prize 2010.
Started 20/2/2013 - finished 13/05/2013
Yes it took me so long to reach the end because basically I didn't enjoy it. Why oh why can I not give up on a book as soon as I realise it's not my thing? Guess I'm always hopeful that it's going to get better!
Though there are various characters with different agendas, to me the whole thing was just a crazy, twisted analysis of Zionists, anti-Semitics and what it means to be a Jew (guess that's why my friend thought it would appeal). It is written in the most convoluted and confusing way and the Jewish references made me both angry and sad. It has gone straight into the charity collection bag!

Pedigree Mum by Fiona Gibson
Paperback. Bought for me by FayeL as a thank you for collecting her cat from the vet.
Started 14/5/2013 - finished 5/6/2013
Lovely light read, enough humour and character descriptions to keep me smiling at events happening to people I felt I understood well.

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappesred  by Jonas Jonasson
Paperback. Borrowed from Alf
Started 5/6/2013 - finished 5/7/2013
An excellent read, very funny and a very different type of story line to anything I've read before which includes totally outrageous events wrapped around true historical events. Would recommend it to everyone.

The Defrosting of Charlotte Small by Annabel Giles
Paperback. Bought for me by Hubby for my birthday 2011 but only getting round to reading it now.
Started 6/7/2013 - finished 9/7/2013
A well written story with larger than life characters. Good descriptions of the depths of despair to a happy ending.

Trouble in Mudbug by Jana DeLeon
eBook. Free download to Kobo on the Playbook
Started 13/7/2013 - finished 31/07/2013
A fun but very light-weight story line with only a few main characters, one of which is a ghost!

Infant Barbarian by Jenny Worstall
eBook. Free download to Kindle reader on the Playbook
Started 3/8/2013 - finished 10/8/2013
This is actually two short stories. The first one "Old School" and the second one "Infant Barbarian" are very light reads with a moral tale.


Two Brothers by Ben Elton
Hardback. Loaned to me by Ann and David
Started 14/9/2013 - finished 24/913
Set in Berlin 1920. Description on the front cover reads "As Germany marches towards its Nazi Armageddon, the ties of family, friendship and love are tested to the very limits of endurance. And the brothers are faced with an unimaginable choice..."
An excellent read, seeing a very well known part of history from the perspective of just a few people. It was tragic and amusing and horrific and felt so so real. At the end of the book Ben Elton explains how the characters and events, although fiction, closely relates to the people and history if his very own family. How hard it must have been for his relatives to relive the events to give him details and how hard for Ben to hear what had happened to his own family.


Bermondsey Boy by Tommy Steele
Paperback. Loaned to me by DaveJ
Started 26/9/2013 - finished 02/11/2013
Really enjoyed this and it only took me so long because of my kidney operation when I didn't feel like reading anything! Even though it was an East End era before mine I enjoyed all the references to East London life. I clearly remember Tommy Steele and found it interesting to read all he'd done before being a celebrity. Very well written too.

Witch Weigh by Caroline Mickelson
eBook. Free download to Kindle reader on the Playbook.
Started 8/11/2013 (coach trip to Luxembourg) - finished 10/11/13
Very very light read, romance between a rebel witch and a drop dead gorgeous male fairy......perfect rubbish for sitting on a coach.


No It's Us Too by Miranda Hart + General Public
eBook. Free download to Kindle reader on the Playbook.
Started sometime this year and dipped into occasionally - finished 18/11/13
Very amusing collection of tweets about embarrassing situations. 

Dear Fatty by Dawn French
Hardback. A lend from TrishaH
Started 5/12/2013 - finished 31/12/2013
A lovely biog written as letters to people important to her. Sometimes trying too hard to be funny but mostly a good read. I was though a little sad to read all the lovely things she'd written about her life with Lenny and what a great man he is, now I know that they have since ended their marriage if more than 25 years!


And as you've probably guessed I've sat here for the last two hours in my dressing gown just so I could finish this book and consequently this post this year!
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