October Book Buys!

This month, I've been really good in my book purchases.  I have bought only one book; and that was for my niece for her birthday:  'Barrington's Introduction to Drawing'.  And she loves it!  Otherwise, I didn't buy any other books.

But I was tempted.  Like yesterday, while I was over at Carindale Westfield Shopping Centre.  And what a place that is!  There's a Dymocs' there near the food court upstairs.  Initially we were there to get my iPod looked at at the Apple Store (and that place is massive in itself!) but it didn't work out all that great.
This Dymocs was very expensive; but had some great books.  I was very tempted to buy a book, but seeing I have so many books to read, I thought to give them a miss.  And with so many books on my Mt TBR that are yet to be read, I'm backing off on the purchases to catch up on my reading.  And I was darned proud of myself when I didn't buy any books; so was Mum.

Well, that was me.  I am still reading a lot and writing my new sci-fi book 'Fry Nelson: Bounty Hunter' but otherwise, I'm not purshasing any books at the moment.  Have you bought any books this month?  If so, let us know which bargains you've found where?  Until my next post, happy reading!   

Book Blogs

Okay, this sounds really confusing, but do you like to read book blogs?  I don't mean blogs that are about book reviews, I mean blogs that have books written into them?  I run two such blogs and they've got a small number of followers - and any number of looky-loos who just drop in to have a read once in a while.  So, do you read book blogs and enjoy reading an unknown author's written works?  If so, let us know of some of the blogs you all follow and read.  Here are my two.

Fry Nelson: Bounty Hunter 

Okay, this one is of novella/short stories.  But please do start with Chapter One - Initiation (book 1) and go from there otherwise you won't know what's going on; as it juxtaposes back and forth between the stories from time to time.  I have had some great feedback from this blog from people all over.

You Can't Go Back: And Other Impossibilities  

This one is of vampire romance and other mixed stories from time travel, weirdness and darkness I've only thought of while traveling around on holidays, had nightmares about (and thought would make a great story and found they did) and anything else I can think of to write... these are the odds and ends of the 'what if...' situations that run through my brain from time to time.  And yes, I did get published.  But it's fun to read the collection of stories here; and I will be adding to them soon as well.

I hope you guys enjoy these two blogs for your reading pleasure.  But do let us addicted to reading just about anything know of any blogs you've discovered where an unknown author has put their work on a blog to entertain the masses.  Until my next post, happy reading!  

Current Reads

I've been getting into some great reads this Spring.  Some have been holding my attention, while others haven't.  But all were either on my Mt TBR or came through the mail and were put ahead of that list because they were a bookring from Bookcrossing.  
The first book I've had my nose into was 'The Wastelands' by Stephen King.  This is third book of the Dark Tower Series and it's going really well so far.  I love the grittiness of it and the conflict between all the characters as they work with each other and the history hidden within Roland's mind.  This is a history that is slowly starting to eat away at Roland's sanity; and it's up to Eddie and Susannah to help their friend through it, to keep his mind on his target:  to get to the Dark Tower.
The next book I've been reading has been a struggle.  It's 'A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers' by Xiaolu Guo.  This book arrived in the mail and I started reading it while I was at Brighton on my week away.  However I found I couldn't concentrate on it.  It's been a tough one to get into.  And 70 pages in, I've unfortunately put it down.  The storyline hasn't really held my interest; however the imagery in it is beautifully written.
I've picked up a third book 'Crossing Paths' by Debbie Robson.  This book is going well so far, and I'm only around 30 pages into it.  Debbie is a good friend and Bookcrosser who decided it was high time to write a book about Bookcrossing.  Now, a lot of us Bookcrossers - me included - have been trying to figure out how to do this with our passion for books and Bookcrossing, however she has managed to do something we haven't.  So far, I'm enjoying this book.  The storyline pushed me right into the middle of her journey with characters who were fully-formed and jumped off the page at me immediately. I've been making time to get in some reading of this book - as well as 'The Wastelands' each day.  
So, that's what's I've been reading lately.  Seeing it's been so hot - and it will get hotter soon - I'm hoping to read more as the days move closer to Summer here in Australia.  Until my next post, happy reading.

I've Been Interviewed!

Today, I had an interview with the editor of the Southside Bulletin here in Logan City, Wendy Johnson.  She asked on Facebook if anyone had any hobbies that had nothing to do with books or writing and I straight away said I did - painting.  And she asked me to write her an article about my hobby, so I did.  It wasn't long and had to stay under 500 words.  
Well, last week, she e-mailed me and asked for photos of my paintings and a photo of me.  I sent them in with a quick description of when and where I painted them and a few details about how I went about them - you know what kind of music I listened to when I was doing them - and she was quick to reply, asking for a get-together for coffee.

Today was it!  We chatted for about half an hour and she looked at my art and enjoy a cup of Green Tea each and she revealed to me that I was the only person who contacted her about the outside hobby I had.  I told her that I have other hobbies besides painting; that I collect vinyls and love collecting dvds and teapots and other things as well.  She nodded saying that it can't just be me who has other hobbies as she knows a few writers have other hobbies besides writing; they're just not saying so.  But Wendy said she'd use my article and let me know when it was going in.  she asked if it was okay to use my photo and the pictures of my paintings - of course I said yes.  I can't wait to get a copy of the Southside Bulletin to read my piece and see what it looks like.  Actually, I'd like to get a few copies of it so I can send it to a few of my family members who don't get it in the areas where they live.  Well, until my next post, happy reading!

Results

Have you ever inadvertently collected other things as a result of your main collection?  For example, if you paint, have you found old-fashioned easels your weakness?  Or, let's say music, you go out and collect cds and the next thing you know, you've become a vinyls collector (yep, I'm putting my hand up here because that happened to me in recent years).
Well, I have had a collection creep up on me that I never thought would; and it's because of my main collection.  And this secondary collection is bookmarks.  Now, I started out with about 10 or so and have ended up with around 500 in about 3 years.  I know what you're all thinking... how in the heck did that happen?  I did an art project where I needed a large number of bookmarks very quickly and so asked my friends on Bookcrossing.com and they all pitched in and helped me out.  Over 3 - 4 months, I received so much mail, my little PO box was overflowing with parcels, envelopes and boxes filled to the brim with bookmarks.  And there I was busily sorting through them.
Some of them were old and lovely - and didn't make it into the art piece as they were just to nice to glue - while others were gifts from my Bookcrossing friends who thought what I was doing was great!  And once the piece was finished, I counted up the bookmarks that were arranged, glued and found I had around 200 bookmarks in my collage of 'Spread The Word'.  Now, the bookmarks that were leftover are living all over my house.  They are mainly in my office in a purple mini-crate where they all stand up on end, cramming for space, but yet they are all used, loved, creased and borrowed by various people in my family.  I've given a few to my niece, Riley, and still I receive them through the mail as books are sent to me...  and I don't know where to put them.  The little purple crate is overflowing now, and I've nowhere to put them.  So, now, I put them on the top shelf next to the modem and hope and pray I get to use them at some point.

So, do you have a collection that started out small, but kind of exploded out of control - which isn't your Mt TBR or your book collection?  If you do, please do share it with us here... mine is bookmarks.  Thankfully, they can be contained and are small enough to fit in a box or something tiny, but it could have been worse... much, much worse, right? Until my next post, happy reading.

Secret Books

I have a big secret; and it's a weird one too!  I love secret books.  These are books that have been hollowed out, have a magnet installed and you can hide things in them.  In fact, I have one in my office here and it's fooled many people who have picked it up by accident, thinking it's an ordinary book; including my Dad who thought I had a book out of place and thought it was very cool to find a book such as this with all the goodies inside it. 

However finding these books aren't easy.  I have a secret book made from a Reader's Digest Condensed Book and it's all done up in felt on the inside and has a trademark on the inside cover of Marcus Rowe Designs 2000.  I have tried looking up this trademark on Google but what it coughs up takes off in all kinds of directions about all kinds of people.  So, there's no real source of where my first Secret Book Box came from.
I have another one in my living room where people have been fooled about where it's sitting - in amongst my gardening books.  It's a thick and heavy 'Fashion Disasters' book.  But when you open it, it's a locked metal safe.  I have hidden the keys in a place where nobody but me can find them.  And I have been working on trying to save money in this one.  Because I often forget it's there, I have been using my various money boxes spread around the house to save money instead.  So, there's not much in it right now.
My third Secret Book Box came for my birthday - and it's a real doozey!  I didn't know they made them this big!  When I pulled the wrapping off it, I thought it was one massive book, but then, I pulled the cover open and I was so blissfully happy to find it was a Secret Book Box!  It held my gifts and now, it's in my bedroom holding more books - mainly my dream journals that have been filled up, so there's only one dream journal sitting there waiting to be written in.  I love this Secret Book Box as it's so gorgeous and I don't intend to have it anywhere else but on display. 

So, do you have any Secret Book Boxes - or any unusual books in your bookcases you'd like to share with us?  If so, leave a comment and let us all know of them.  Until my next post, happy reading.

Christmas Reading List

Yep, you read the title right!  I'm planning for my Summer Reading at the moment.  You see my Birthday has just been and gone last Friday and I have received some wonderful gifts and I thought to put into order the Summer Reading List so I can read the books I got now at that time so I can savour them.  Sounds good?  I hope so.  So, here's the list so far:

'Crossing Paths' By Debbie Robson
'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins
'Kiss of Steel' by Bec McMaster
'Gothic Hospital' by Gary Crew

I know this list doesn't look much.  But I'm a moderate reader when it comes to Christmas time; and so I thought to keep it nice and short and add to it when I've finished these books - if I do - and see how many more I can read after these are ever finished and reviewed.
So, have you thought about what you may be reading over Christmas?  Or don't you think that far ahead?  I've started doing this because I'm hoping to get into Christmas shopping soon and I don't want to be ambushed by me wondering what I'll be reading at this time of the year.  Until my next post, happy reading.

My Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday and I had a great day of going out and eating fish'n'chips at Sandgate with my Dad.  But in the morning, I had organised my own presents; seeing we had a family member in the hospital.  
I had ordered in a book for myself titled 'Crossing Paths' by Debbie Robson.  It's a dream book which most Bookcrossers have only wished they could write, about a Bookcrosser who travels overseas with the plans to release eight bookcrossing books.  However, when the main character - Jane Townsend - meets Jeremy, her life begins to unravel.  I've yet to read the book, but it does sound great!
I also got myself another present of the full 8 seasons of 'That 70's Show' ... really daggy of me, I know. But I think that show is so funny and it's about to go off the air; so I thought to get it for a good laugh once in a while.  Well, until my next post, happy reading.

My Brother's Reading List

Here I am at Brighton house sitting for my brother and his partner.  It's been a couple of days and I've found they have a great lot of books here in the living room; where most people keep their bookcases.  
He's a great cook and so, there's plenty of cookbooks in these shelves and gardening books too.  And looking outside, their veggie and herb patch is growing really well too!  In amongst all the cookbooks are books about motorcycles, nude photography (okay, there's only one of those, but it's a fantastic book!) and other non-fiction books too.  There's books about Jimi Hendrix, 'Your Birthday Sign Through Time' and books on countries such as Spain and Portugal as well as this wonderful country of Australia.
There's a great collection of Robin Hobb books - about 8 of them - and they all look well-read too!  And I've spotted a copy of 'Catch-22' as well and other books that Kat loves to read.  On top of the bookcase is a small - but growing - pile of dictionaries.  Some of them are old, some new; and there's a tiny little Thesaurus too.
And there's the books in Riley's room too!  Now, I've given her most of these books; as I was a young reader and I want her to develop into.  She has the whole 'Faraway Tree' Series - all five books - which I gave her when she turned five.  I gave her a three on her fifth birthday and the other two for Christmas that year.  She loves them so much she doesn't want to give them away; and asked for more Enid Blyton.  So, I found more for her.  As she's gotten older, I found some great books for her to get into.  There's 'The Vampire Academies' and a King Arthur book.  But as Riley's gone into high school, I've been collecting together books that she might be given to read while she's there - classics - and I've handed them to her so she has a leg-up in her English classes.  She has them in her bookcase waiting for the right time to read them.
So... these are books around my brother's house and what they read on a regular basis.  What kinds of books do your relatives read?  Are they the same or similar to your tastes?  If not, what kinds of books are they into?  If you all read the same things, do you swap books with each other?  For me, I've gotten into 'The Dark Tower Series' and Gabe - my brother - has been meaning to get into.  When he found out I was reading it, he asked if he could borrow the books off me once I was finished.  Well, of course he could.  Until my next post, happy reading!

October-fest!

October means a lot of things in Australia.  It's the second month of Spring - well it's supposed to be, but today it's pouring rain and looks like Winter has revisited us - it's the month of my birthday and it's the month of Halloween.  It's also the month where I try to get into reading as much as I can before Christmas really gets under way and I slacken off on my reading to get my relatives presents for the Silly Seasons.

So, seeing I'm at Brighton house sitting for the next few days, I'll be sussing out a few things things around here... bookcases and cookbooks and what the family loves to read, as well as what I'm getting my nose into over the next week. And seeing my birthday is on Friday, I'll let you know what goes on that day too!  

But today, I've been writing.  I've begun working on a Young Adult short story - which I think is going to turn into a novella.  I got the idea for it last night while dinner was being prepared; and I can't wait to get familiar with the character.  
Then, I've been working on an article about how to care for first edition and out of print books - and how to find them without looking.  It's only in the beginning stages right now, but it has promise.  

So, this is going to be going on over the next month.  However, I will be working on some stories and writing over the next week as well as visiting a charity store and telling you guys about what kinds of books people give away there too.  Until my next post, happy reading!