Winter/Summer Reads

The cold snap has finally hit Australia and we've got snowfalls in the Australian Alps. Yep, everyone is feeling the chilliness all around. Last night, it was 3 degrees Celsius here in Brisbane and it's still cold here - and it's almost midday - why, right now, it's 15 degrees Celsius... and I don't think it's gonna get much warmer.

So, this calls for the Winter reads I'm going to get my nose into this year. I've already started 'The Stand' by Stephen King (an all-time favourite of mine). And I'm writing a book about books - which is going well. Then, I'm reading 'The Turning' by Tim Winton - short stories he's written; some of which were turned into three-minute films on the ABC. I didn't know until one day I saw them there by channel-surfing one day... very interesting.

I'm also looking through my art books and reading up on how to do some different types of art - as I'm working on another book-related painting. I'm actually hoping to get together an exhibition - but I'm not sure when I'll get into the gallery. 

I'm still reading copies of 'Good Reading' Magazine and enjoying looking up knitting patterns as well at this time of year - as it keeps my hands moving. Otherwise, I'm hoping to get in and read some of the books by my bed that have been there for a while. There's one by Dean Koontz about a family dog and another 'Dandelion Wine' by Ray Bradbury. Yep, it's good weather to catch up with all the reading I've been putting off as the mercury plummets. 

So, how about all of you out there? I know that as it's getting colder here in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, it's becoming hotter elsewhere. What are you Summer Reads as you cool off in the shade of a sprawling Oak tree in the park? Or are you by the pool under the shade of a huge umbrella? Or are you fortunate enough to be by the beach and digging your toes into the sand while you've got your nose in a good book or two? Let us all know what you're reading and your opinions of your favourite authors at this time of year. Until my next post, happy reading.

Writing A New Book

I've come down with Laryngitis. Yep, I can't leave the house and I'm not allowed to talk... not fun.

So, I've been getting in and cleaning the house, throwing out rubbish and doing laundry; all in complete silence - well okay, the radio's going, but really it does get very boring with just that going.

But I have been writing again. I've written a flash fiction where my character had laryngitis; and the story was creepy too. It turned out to be a good story; I thought.
I'm also working on a new book at the moment I'm calling 'The Red Ledger'. It's a book about books I've read in my life, which are all in my collection and are from my reading list from over the last 13 years of reading. This book is mainly about how the books I've read have changed my life, how good or bad they are and how writing has become a way of life for me. 

It's going along well so far. 

Since the beginning of the week, I've written up around 10 pages in longhand - and that's good. Most of the time I've written that in bed before I turned out the light. This is where I get a lot of my thinking done about what I read. I've yet to go through my collection and find the books that I truly use from day to day and write about them in a big way. I'm only 15 pages into it - but I'm enjoying how it's being written; in longhand. It makes me think about how to write what I want to put out there instead of just typing it out.

Have you ever written something like this? If you have, what was it like? Did you enjoy talking about your books and your passion for reading and writing? Until my next post, happy reading.

Ultimate Reads

In my last post, I wrote about the great re-reads of my life... and why. This time, I want to ask you, my readers, what your most favourite books of all time are and how many times you've read them. Is there a reason why you go back to it - the characters, the storyline, the way it's written?

And I have another question as well: if there was an ultimate read you've been wanting and pining after what would it be? Have you been looking at that book in the bookstore, at the library, on Amazon and wished you could get your head around or you have it in your Mt To Be Read and just haven't gotten around to it - and don't know why. Tell us about it.

I have a few books that I have stored here in my collection which I'd love to just sit down and lose myself in; but it's finding the time to do just that I find is the problem. In between writing books, editing my current work and doing my craft, cleaning out my house and working on my garden, I think I have spread myself a little too thin. But I do love to just look at my books and recall where they come from (this is what I'm doing with one of my books I'm calling The Red Ledger; ie: the book ledger). It's a book about my writing and books I've read and have in my collection and how this collection came to be so big and why.

The ultimate reads in my collection are varied:

'A Suitable Boy' Vikram Seth
'The Dark Tower Series' by Stephen King
'The Portable Dorothy Parker' by Brendan Gill
'The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter'
'Wrestling With The Angel' by Michael King
'The Call of Cthulhu and other weird stories' by H.P Lovecraft

There's others, but these are my top six of my list... and yes, I know that the second one is a series of books (of which I'm up to book 4). This list doesn't vary much but I do enjoy getting in and working on it when I can.

So, do tell... what books are you ultimate reads, your whale, your mountain to climb? Until my next post, happy reading.

The Great Re-Read List

Whenever I want to jump back into reading big books again, I'll reread something I have cracked the cover of for years. 

Dontcha just love doing that? I sure do!

Right now, I'm reading my all-time favourite book: 'The Stand' by Stephen King. This book normally gets me back into my reading mojo again - I don't know how it does, but I once I read it, it just gets me into another book and then another; and not necessarily by him.

There's always those books that do that to us, right? Well, I do have a few books I reread along with 'The Stand' to kick myself into reading again... and I usually get into doing this in Winter (yes! The best time to wallow well into a book is at the coldest time of the year) in my Reading Chair.

So, when do you get in and do the great reread of your favourite authors? Or are you one of those rare readers who, once you've read a book, you never reread it again? Until my next post, happy reading! 

In the Movies

During the huge deluge of rain over the last few days, I watched 'The Stand' miniseries - made from the book of the same name by Stephen King. And speaking of Sai King himself, I noticed that this brilliant author shows up in this miniseries as Teddy Weizak; an everyday guy who survived Captain Trips and was on his way to Colorado with a convoy of other folks who had been having the same dream as he was - of Mother Abigail. 

But this isn't the first time we've seen this author in a movie which was made from his books. Stephen King has made a cameo in so many of the movies that sometimes you really have to look for him to realise it's him. It's easy to pick him in the early movies like 'The Langoliers', 'Pet Semetary' and he got to play a creepy part in 'Sons of Anarchy' where he was a dude who a 'Caregiver' or a cleaner... creepy - I think that was in season 3 or 4. But he played that part well.

Another famous person we all know showed up in his own movies was Alfred Hitchcock. He was a brilliant director who had a thing for blonds and enjoyed making cameo appearances in his own movies. You have to really watch for him in a lot of the movies as he isn't in the credits. In 'Rear Window', he was in the musician's apartment winding the clock. In 'The Birds', he was seen in the beginning of the film leaving a petshop with two of his own pets as the main character enters. I found a Wikipedia site which lists a lot of them (I don't often go through Wiki, but this is a big list) and so here it is for you to look at.

Have you seen writer or directors show up in films you've been watching and looked for them in the credits? If so, which ones? Until my next post, happy reading.