Plugging Away, One-handed...

man, if it's not one thing, i's another... right?

after my car, my Mum was in hospital with bad blood pressure. then, a dear family friend passed away, and we had his funeral to go to. the very next day, i was in hospital.

i went in to all the sun cancers off my arms and hands. that was on Thursday.

now, it's saturday, and i'm typing with just one hand; but it hasn't stopped me from working on NaNoWriMo over the last few days, and i have typedup around 700 words - with one hand - this morning to keep up with my numbers. however, this first year of NaNoWriMo has helped me start my next book - 'The Angel Wars' - and it's been  failure as well because i didn't finish it at the word count i had hoped to have - i only reached around 7,000 words, but it's better than i thought i'd get.

i am reading though! 

YAY! 

i've gotten my nose into 'Revival' by Stephen King. just yesterday, i think i read around 20 or so pages of it - today, i'm hoping to read more. 

if you'd like to find out what's been going on with me, check out 'my book-crazy life' blog, and you can keep up with it all. until my next post, happy reading.

My New Favourite Place to Read!

I have it!  It's absolute bliss!  It's a new favourite reading spot in my backyard; and it took me a long time to create!  
Over the last 4 months, I've been working on The Four Month Makeover in my home and garden and it's finally coming to an end very soon; so much so, I'm just adding on the finishing touches - well for now anyway.  Since July, I've had access to a car - my Mum's - and anyone who knows me offline, knows I haven't driven a car in over 10 years.  Now, before you guys all swear yourselves off the footpaths and the roads, I'm not that bad at driving... actually it all came back to me pretty darned quick!  And yes, I gotta say, there's more nuts, idjits and a.... umm.. I can't say that word here!  Well, you get the jist.
And just now, it's only 2 weeks from my folks returning from overseas, and my backyard has had a major makeover!  A lot of plants have been repotted, an outdoor setting has been thrown out (being replaced with a new one) and I've bought some statues, a garden mirror and I've had some fun with the front garden too.  However I've created a lovely new place to chill out and read while sipping on coffee, tea or Hank's Root Beer this Summer.. and boy is it heating up here Brisbane!  We've had some really hot days!
So, where is your favourite reading place when the weather warms up?  Seeing I've now created the ideal one in my backyard, I'm hoping to chill out under the trees and read in the afternoons there.  Oh!  And, of course, it's not good enough just telling you guys about this place, I must show you the lovely little haven I've created!  Until my next post, happy reading!

Outdoor Haven1 

Outdoor Haven2 

Outdoor Haven3

New Specs!

Today, I was very busy, mainly driving everywhere, and wishing I could get my front garden completed so I could work on my back yard to make it look better to live in.

However, I had to pick up my new glasses today - both pairs.  My private health fund provided full cover for two pairs per year, and I thought that seeing I have access to a car at the moment, to get my eyes seen to (pardon the pun!) and score myself a new couple of pairs.  And aren't they lovely?
On the same token, I also handed in my old pairs of glasses to be donated to Third World Countries so people who are less fortunate than me can have a pair of glasses when they can't afford to buy a pair.  I don't see any reason why I need to keep my old pairs and toss them in the bin when somebody out there could be using the lenses for their own eyes to read while they're studying or going to school... especially when I've cared for them so well.

So, does your optometrist do this for Third World Countries?  If so, have you contributed by handing in your old glasses?  If they don't, why don't you ask if they would?  It'd help so many people out there who really do need to help their eyesight; after all, they've got needs just like us, right?  Until my next post, happy reading.

Books On My Mind... the painting

I love seeing book-related art on Facebook and collecting postcards with book-art on them too.  And bookmarks can be just beautiful as well, can't they?  But, then, you get a wonderful idea about how to put across your own feelings about books and you jump feet first into the deep end just to express yourself.  This is what I've done in this painting I've been working on lately titled 'Books On My Mind'... and believe me, there's a lot of books there to look at!

I started out with books flying through the air, then painted over it and came up writing the titles into lochs of my red hair on the canvas.  Here, have a look and let me know what you think! 

First attempt: Flying Books 

Second attempt: progress

Finished Product! 



Well, I hope you enjoyed the photos of my work about books.  I know this might belong in an art blog, and it does, but really when it's about books I think it also belongs here too.  Until my next post, happy reading.

PS:  And my tennis elbow is getting better... little by little - still hurts a lot, but not as much as it did when I first had it.

Advertising Reading...

I just saw these on Facebook.  Would you love to have these adverts grace your television screens or even be on a billboard in your city or maybe in a magazine or in a newspaper?  They're fun and colourful, and I think they're great!

Book Advertising 

Until my next post, happy reading!

Saying What You Mean

Today, I was perusing Facebook and came across a link one of my friends put up in a chat box while he talked to me.  He thought I'd like it; and I do!  Tell me what you think of it.

10 Words That You've Probably Been Misusing 

It's amazing what you think you've been saying is correct, when in fact it's not quite true.  And before I read the list, I thought I was right in saying some of the words listed there... but I do stand corrected. Until my next post, happy reading.

Office Clean-out Time

It's the middle of Winter here and the perfect time to get in and clean out my house; because it's not too hot and not too cold.  So, I've grabbed some rubbish bags and got in to work on the office over the last 2 days.

And boy, do I have a lot of rubbish in this room!

So far, I have tossed out 3 bags of rubbish and 1 bag of charity items.  My wheelie bin is almost filled up!  I'm so happy I've thrown out so much, and I have found so many things and books!  Wow, have I found books.

I didn't realise I had so many books hiding around the place.  I have around 5 bags of books I can't shelve, honestly, there's no place for them - and I have tried looking for a place for them all.  So, I have them sitting around and I'll find a place for them eventually, but it just seems that I'll have to squeeze them in at some point - I don't know when.

So, are you doing out your office or library?  If so, how are you doing at it?  Until my next post, happy reading.

Winter Reads Time!

Winter is just around the corner here in Australia, and the cold has visited us in the South East Corner of Queensland to give us a taste of what it's going to be like when it really hits!  But in other parts of the world, you're welcoming the Summer days... the long, hazy, lazy days of summer where the afternoons stretch good'n'long and don't ever seem to end.  

So, my question for you - my followers from all over the globe - today is:  what are you planning to read through the middle of the year?  

Me? I have some great plans.  Some include my iPod; as I scored myself a gift voucher from Paul D. Dail (have you guys entered his competition below to score yourself a free copy of his new e-book 'The Imaginings' yet?  If not, do and do so, I've got a copy of it off Smashwords and am enjoying it totally!).  Then, I thought to get my nose into 'Dandelion Wine' by Ray Bradbury to remind me of warmer days long gone.  I have other books on my Mt TBR by the office door of the likes of 'I Am Leather-Man' by Ged Maybury & Anna Venczel and 'Touchstone' by Letitia Coyne; both books I do plan to read over Winter.  

So, there's my Winter Reading Pile all organised.  I haven't named many as I love to absorb my reads more than zoom through them.  Have you got any books you'd like to get through this Winter/Summer?  Of course you do... leave a comment and let us know of them and it might lead the rest of us to find more to read as the year goes on.  Until my next post, happy reading!  

Burnt Out

I haven't been in here lately, and there's a good reason for it.  Over the last fortnight, I've been so very busy that I finally burnt out yesterday while working at the Logan Art Gallery during my volunteer work.  I just felt horrible and I really didn't want to be there.

So, I haven't been reading anything, doing much and even my house is only just starting to see the sight of being cleaned up because I need to cook meals.  But the rest of the place isn't good.  

I'm sure I'll be feeling better soon and back to my usual antics of reading, looking at books and book-related things.  But my system just needs a well-earned rest for a few days... you know, plenty of TLC and I'll be back to my old self again in no time.  Otherwise, until my next post, happy reading! 

Reading and Writing

As much as I love to read, I also love to write; it's like oxygen to me.  However, there are times where my passion for the written word wanes in one part of my life whereas it flourishes in another.  Over the last week or so, that's what has happened to me.

I've been reading a lot lately.  There's been 'The Wastelands' by Stephen King, 'The Invisible Man' by H.G Wells and 'Nosebleed' by Ged Maybury.  However, only one of those books was finished by me, another got posted away on its merry way to the next person the bookray list unfinished (as I barely got up to chapter 2 in it and put it down); and I got to read over 30 pages in Stephen King's book while I was away at Brighton.  But I feel as though I didn't get anywhere as I'm only barely halfway through it.

Now, I'm back at home, I've gotten back into my writing and painting again.  But my writing is fresher as I have been away from it for a while.  And while I write, I don't read - which is a bummer - but instead, I work on my writing, to keep my brain into it.  
I'm currently working on my Fry Nelson:  Bounty Hunter book... and I'm up to the final fourth book of this series.  It's been a great couple of years writing this book.  I'll upload it onto his blog right up until the last chapter, then I will close the blog and make it into a real book for everyone to read properly.  This will take time; time is what I have.  

So, what projects are you currently working on that don't have anything to do with reading but everything to do with books?  Until my next post, happy reading!   

'Nelson Mandela: The Authorised Book of Quotations' by Himself

I've had a lot of time to kick back and read here at my brother's house; and one of the books I brought with me to read is this one.  Now with books like this, I don't read them from front to back; as there's no real storyline or plot.  These books are just quotes of a famed person at different times in their lives.  However, normally, these books are done up by a second party - a biographer or family member - who's been there right from the beginning.  With this wonderful little book, Nelson Mandela has pulled together his quotes over his whole lifetime himself.  And what a book it is!

I have admired Nelson Mandela since I was in high school and the whole world was fighting Apartheid in South Africa; and this great man was in prison for something he said and did.  Once he was let out, and I found out exactly who he was I followed his life.  I have tracked down a couple of his books down at bookstores (and have yet to read them; but at least I have them on hand when I want to get into them).  But when I found this one, I knew I just had to have it as it was purely about him, by him; and that's something wonderful as it speaks volumes about how much he has influenced people and the globe and history as we know it when we see what a single, important person has said over their whole lifetime that has changed the way the world works.  Until my next post, happy reading. 

Betty's Reading Room

I just read on Bookcrossing about a little bothy which has been renovated in Orkney, Scotland in memory of a dear friend of a couple who passed away suddenly.  Betty's Reading Room is a little hideaway for the book-loving people of the world, which has cosy lounges, a warm fire and oil lamps hanging from the ceiling along with shelves and shelves of bookcases filled with books of all kinds.  These are for people to settle in and read, put back, take home, exchange or keep; but by all means, enjoy them as Betty would have too.  For the complete story, here's the report on it.

Betty's Reading Room 

The Heat Is On!

Well, it's smack dab in the middle of Summer here in Australia and we're sweating it out horribly!  I'm sitting here in the only room in my townhouse which has an air-conditioner in it, reluctant to leave because the rest of the house is stinking hot.  And do you blame me?  This little room is also where my stock of books are; now if only I had an endless supply of food here I'd be set!  Only joking.

So, this really had got me thinking.  What do you read when the extremes hit your country?  If you've got a blizzard outside and there's no phone lines, internet and the television isn't working (no reception or cable) I'm wondering if you guys break out the board games, sit and talk to each other or do you all get in and do a big read-a-thon and see who reads the most in the amount of time it takes for the blizzard or bad weather to pass?

As for Australia?  When it gets hot, we stop moving.  Moving just takes up too much energy and we sweat too much when we move.  So watching television or reading or sleeping is a good thing to do.  I much prefer reading as it's something I enjoy.  However, when the heat reflects off the concrete and into my house and carport, there's really nowhere to go.  So, I close up the house as much as I can and drink loads of water and keep on reading until I snooze the afternoon away.  And the books I read?  Well, I try to read books that have a lot of snow, cold and skiing in them.  Or if I can't find those, I try to find ones where the characters are by the water and enjoy swimming and water activities.  Yep, my imagination gets a work out that way.  Until my next post, happy reading! 

Colds & Flu Reads

It's that time of the year here in Australia - cold and flu season that is - and people are being knocked off their feet and into bed for days on end by this dreaded flu season.  However, I've noticed that when I'm sick, I read like you wouldn't believe, and I don't stay in bed for long.  Normally, I force myself out of bed, have a boiling hot shower and get my butt out into the Winter sunshine and have a good, thick book in my hands while there's a hot cup of tea in the other.

So, my question to you guys is:  do you read while you're laid up with the colds and flu?  Or do you listen to your ipod, surf the net or make tons of popcorn and watch all the dvds in your collection?  What do you get up to during the times you're sick; seeing you know what I get up to... until my next post, happy reading!

Collections Exhbition

I haven't written much lately, but that's because I'm working on something really exciting right now in my artistic arena.  About three weeks ago, I was asked if I'd like to take part in an exhibition to show off one of my collections.  As you all know I collect all kinds and types of books.  Well, I collect other things as well (including vinyls, handbags, coin purses and dvds).  So, I thought to apply to the five workshops at the Logan Art Gallery - where I work as a volunteer - and take part.

I'll be showing off my passion for books, the written word, Bookcrossing and why I collect rare, out-of-print and first edition books.  However, the great part of this is that I won't be showing the originals of my collection.  I'll be making copies of them and making sure I keep them at home.  This is where the artistic side of me comes into play.  So far we are into the 2nd week and I'm totally enjoying myself with the nine other collectors; and I'm the only book collector out of them.

Last week, I got to show off some of my lovely books to the others and tell them how I got into collecting - which totally fascinated them.  And today, we went on a bus outing into the Brisbane City to the Art Gallery to suss out the different ways we could display our collections and brainstorm our ideas in a different setting other than the Logan Art Gallery.

Next week, we'll be back at the workshop area at the Logan Art Gallery starting work on our individual exhibits which are going to come together at the Home Festival in Pineapple Park next month.  I can't wait until Monday to go to the Thrift Shop down the road to buy some books and get into working with the pages from old books with the preparation.  If you'd like to read up on it all, just go to the link below:

Collections Exhibition Workshops 2012 

There's an album attached to the second post if you'd like to have a look at our outing today.  Until my next post, happy reading!

Judging A Book By Its Cover

It's getting late here and it's become very quiet.  However, I'm surrounded by books with all kinds of cover art on each of them.  And a question has popped into my head... did I buy these books just for the cover art, or to read?  

Well, there are books that I do love to look at and the storyline really does leave a lot to be desired.  But on the other side of the coin, there's also books I bought with the best intention of reading; and never got around to it.

In my collection, I have some great Stephen King books that have brilliant covers, but I don't like reading them.  But then, the ones that have the most ugly covers have the best stories; how ironic is that?  Then, there's books that I have acquired that have the most boring covers and yet the storyline inside is just a boring as the cover.  Then, I've bought a few books of an author - such as Hugh Lunn - and I've never read a single one!  And he's such a great character in writing as well as in person.  But then, there's great classics which have nothing but the title on the cover (you know the Penguin Classics books which are orange and white; very plain really) and yet the story inside is brilliant!  

In fact, I have collected a few John Irving books - who I've been trying to get into - but my brain just seems to enjoy the tactile description of his characters and not the storyline he depicts.  And after around four chapters, I lose interest every time... stupid really... and I really should give those books of his away if I can't get into them.

I have so many books by so many authors that I want to read - but I haven't gotten into - and yet they are all surrounding me in my small home office in their shelves patiently awaiting for me to read them.  However, I still wonder if it's the cover art that pulled me in and not the author's work - their skill as a storyteller - that did it.  

So, what does it for you?  Are you an arty person and pulled in by the pretty pictures on the front of the book; or are you a pure, avid reader and are pulled in by the author and their ability... or are you a bit of both?  I think we are all a bit of both as we are very visual creatures yet we also love a good story to keep our minds active and stimulated.  Until my next post, happy reading!

Scribblings

I bought my monthly magazine of 'Good Reading' on Thursday afternoon and began reading it at my chiropractors while I waited for my appointment to come up (I'm always a little early with doctors). Anyway, I came upon an article in the magazine for this month about books that have notes in the margins, highlighted bits and underlines.  The editor herself does these things to her own books and says it's her way of understanding the books she reads better, finding parts she enjoys easier and being able to look up parts she needs as well.

Personally, I find this kind of thing done to a book a big turn-off.  When I peruse a book in a second-hand bookstore, I want nice clean pages to read, without underlines, notes or any other bits of other people's thoughts in the margins.  If I want to take notes from a book, I'll get a separate notepad and a pen and note down the page number, chapter and where exactly I saw the thing that I spotted and put in a little post-it note to remind me to look there later.  Writing in a book isn't needed seeing post-it notes have been invented and they don't damage or leave marks in your books.  And if you keep good-enough notebooks, you need not lose them.

Besides, I was always taught that writing in a book - any book - was something you just didn't do.  Even in high school, it was frowned upon by my teachers; and so I didn't do anything like it.  I didn't even dog-ear my books - instead using a bookmark of some kind.  So, I've been very kind to my books and they have been kept nice, clean and free of pen/pencil marks or highlighter pens.  

Now, what do you think?  Do you write in the margins and underline in your own personal books?  If so, why?  If not, is it because of what you were taught?  Or is it because of your own personal reasons?  Well until my next post, Happy Reading!

Broken Promises

Aarrgh!  I made myself a promise this year, and I've promptly broken it!  This doesn't look good, not good at all.  It's May and I've gone out and bought up to seven books this month; when I made myself the big promise not to buy too many each month and to try to read the ones I already have in my collection.  

However, with a reading slump that haunted me and more books than I know what to do with, I found myself cleaning up my house more than reading.  Isn't it strange how other things take over when you really don't have your nose in between the pages as you've promised yourself?

Now, though, I've begun reading again - three months after I found myself stuck - and I'm happily flying through another new book.  Yay!  But this means I've been buying books.  Darn!  I went out last week and forgot to take a book with me; so while I was out at Garden City, I thought to browse through QBD and promised myself not to buy anything; and yet, I came out of there with two books!  Jeez!  Will I ever learn?  I had to find a place to put these new additions to my collection.  Thankfully, one of them is a cookbook, so that wasn't too hard to put away as there's plenty of room in the cookbook shelf to fill.

So, have you promised yourself something like this - a ban on buying new books - and broken it just as easily?  Or was it something else you broke your own promise on?  Let us know.  Until my next post, happy reading!

Wet Weekends

It's a cold, wet weekend here in Brisbane; so much so, I've dressed in comfy trackpants and slippers for the whole day and my budgie has been kept nice and toasty in her cage as I've left her covers on it so she can snooze all day on her swing (such a cutie!).  

With the rest of the house closed up to keep the cold out, I've been reading a lot and knitting as well while drinking hot chocolate and eating defrosted Hot Cross Buns left over from Easter.  However, I'm reading two books right now that have been of interest to me.  There's 'Last Night In Twisted River' by John Irving who has the most brilliant ways of making you remember characters!  However, the strange thing I've found is that I have tried reading his other books without success... oh well, as least I've gotten in to this one!

Then, there's 'Death, Taxes and a French Manicure' by Diane Kelly.  This is a romance novel with a funny twist.  The main character is an IRS agent who can kick butt and yet, she gets a manicure when she needs to get on top of things.  However, her most recent case includes a drug dealer, a company that isn't legit and a hot, sexy landscape gardener who is stuck in the middle of it all who she's got the hots for... wow!  What a plot!  And seeing that within the first two pages, I got three good laugh-out-loud laughs from it, I kept reading!  And it's a great book; and yes, it's a romance novel something really not my style.  But I'm giving it a big chance seeing I haven't read all that many books this year.

So, what do you read on wet, wet days?  Do you push through a Biography or Autobiography?  Or are mystery/thrillers more like your style?  Or if you can't stand those, what about sci-fi fantasy?  Right now, I'm reading anything that keeps my interest seeing my mind's focus is so dreadful.  Until my next post, happy reading!

Deceased Collections

This past Sunday, my family lost a wonderful Uncle to Prostate Cancer.  His service is this Friday and we're all just taking this week one day at a time.  However, I've always wondered what happens to people's collections when they pass away.  I mean, what will happen to my 1,000+ books when I'm gone?  Will my niece like the books I've picked out for her to add to her collection?  Or will she send them off to have them picked up by a charity because there's just too many?

With my Uncle passed on now, I know he has some books in his house in a spare room.  But I'm not sure who will get them.  He never specified who was going to be getting what from his Will; but I'm sure we will find out soon enough.

However, I have always wondered what happens to collections of famous people once they've passed on.  Did their families split up the books and share them around?  Or were they shipped off to a charity, a school or somewhere else?  Or did the unfortunate person who passed on not have a family to give their books to and the whole collection ended up being stuck somewhere else or given to a second-hand bookstore where it was split up completely?

So, have you ever picked up books from deceased relatives and found them to be a wonderful reminder of who they are?  I have.  I picked up my Grandparents' books - which are taking up a shelf here in my office.  And I have my Grandpa's complete collection of journals from 1926 - 1984.  What a life he had.  Grandpa may not have left a big mark in Australian history, but his journals speak of what kind of life it was over those decades; and that's just remarkable in itself.  Well, until my next post, happy reading!