Off The Shelf 2013.....Completed!!!

So, I have completed my Off The Shelf 2013 challenge of 15 books - and I was done by the end of March! I am obviously going to continue reading but won't be blogging anymore about the challenge.

So I not only ended up finishing Karin Slaughter's Blindsighted & Indelible but also managed the only other book of hers I have in my collection called Genesis - all brilliant books. I have managed to start on my Patricia Cornwell collection but that will be that for the reading blogs - for now at least.

It is amazing how quickly in this time of technology we forget the wonder and joy turning the pages of a good book can bring us. I've been in to Waterstones' recently and it is absolutely wonderful seeing little kids practically dragging their parents into the bookshop so they can get immerse themselves in the amazing world books can offer.

Anyhow, I can wax lyrical about books forever if you let me and I do have plenty of things to be getting on with so signing off for now.

Congratulations to me though!

Books...The list continues...

So okay, I haven't blogged soon enough...AGAIN..but I was DOING things and y'know... Reading. So much so, that I am...nearly done with my Off The Shelf 2013 challenge which I have previously blogged about. So since my last challenge blog ,

I have not only finished:

The Overlook - again by Michael Connelly another Bosch novel which I do feel is great because it's like he's improving Bosch's character with every book - but also:

The Drop - also by Connelly - and ironically enough I had the next book in the list after The Overlook but went for this one which was his absolute latest Bosch novel but no harm done. Just went back and finished the other one, which was:

Nine Dragons - another Connelly book which means I have read all the Michael Connelly books on my shelf. RESULT! Now this was a great book because it gave the whole background to how his daughter came to live with him which was quite good since it tied up a few things from some previous/later books.






So I come to the next set of books - more mystery and whodunnits. This time it's Karin Slaughter - another awesome crime/mystery writer I love.

So the books are:

Blindsighted : Slaughter's debut novel about her character Sara Linton.. one of my favourites - even though I have many in this list.

Indelible : A few books along but still part of the Sara Linton series









I should be finished with these two and one other, I think, fairly soon since I don't think I have many of her books at present, after which next on my list will be the great Patricia Cornwell .....

The challenge continues....

Off The Shelf...Continued....

So. It has been absolutely ages since I blogged which doesn't bode well for the whole "I will blog more" policy I have tried to adopt. Ah well. Shall continue trying. The one thing that has happened certainly is I have finished more books as part of my Off The Shelf 2013 challenge. The last time I blogged about the challenge I mentioned I was going to read:

A Darkness More Than Night - Michael Connelly
The Mayor of Lexington Avenue - James Sheehan & finally
The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly

All 3 were absolutely brilliant and The Lincoln Lawyer was even better than the film and I kept imagining Matthew Mcconaughey saying all the dialogues and it was great.
After which I managed to ALSO finish:

The Brass Verdict  - Michael Connelly - the 2nd Mickey Haller novel - which was brilliant as usual - kept you on the edge of your seat all along. Apparently they're turning this into a film as well. Hope they keep the same main cast!

The Reversal - Michael Connelly - the next Haller book, this time though he's a prosecutor and a brilliant one but obviously. He teams up with his ex-wife and Bosch to make a brilliant team who you root for until the end.

The Fifth Witness - Michael Conn elly - The last Haller book and again absolutely brilliant - and this time Haller has associates and everything - and with a great twist at the end which is making me wait with bated breath for the next Haller novel. Hope it comes soon.







So I was going to go on to the next set of books but then realised I still had Michael Connelly books to get through and I know I said I was going to stick to different books since I didn't have all of the Connelly ones in order but then I thought, well, if that is the case then I'd never get a lot of books finished so have decided to continue with the Connelly books I have. So the next on my list are:

The Overlook and The Drop both by the great MC - so hopefully by the end of March I should have finished my challenge. I shall of course keep reading but perhaps not detailing it in blogs so much - and keep blogging in general!

Let The Music Play...

So, I was thinking about a conversation I had with my friend M about the kind of music I like and remember telling her about how I came to find most of it. Last night, while trying to get to bed, once again, I thought about all this wonderful music and realized that most of it has come to me in a very strange way. So here goes:

I absolutely love ABBA and discovered them a fair few years ago when I was up late at night watching a film called Muriel's Wedding - so, obviously, heard some of the songs and then found some more tracks and that was me hooked.

Next comes ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. Some of his tracks were featured in What Women Want and that was it for me, hooked again. Did a proper search and in turn discovered a whole new world of Big Band - Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis, etc.

One of my favourite tracks - It Must Be Love - by Labi Siffre, I heard on a phone advert on TV - It was for Vodafone or something. The same thing with The Turtles - So Happy Together - found while watching a drama on TV which featured it. The majority of my favourite songs I've either heard on TV on some show, or it's been featured in an advert. For instance, Adele - I discovered her music, when of all things, her song Set Fire to The Rain was featured during a montage of cricket world cup matches. Go figure.

Oh and this rendition of Ave Maria that I love - I first heard it properly and recognised that I absolutely loved it was on an episode of The West Wing. Strange huh?

Yes I have songs that I've heard on the radio etc but the majority of tracks I love have come to me in some weird and wonderful way and I quite like that. My musical tastes are eclectic to say the least but then the way that I've discovered that music is that too and I like that. I don't fit in any sort of box and that to me is a good thing.

Weather woes!

Disclaimer: This is going to be a random post about the weather

Its cold. Freezing. Arctic.

For someone who was born in January, I have a very strange relationship with the cold weather. Most of the time I love it and find heatwaves unbearable - only the ones where there is no breeze and it's just plain dry heat. I do wonder how I survived for 16 years in the hot, humid climate of Calcutta. Anyway. The cold.

If I am wrapped up and outside, the fresh air and the biting cold are my friends. However, if I'm not covered up and it's cold I will curse and moan and be miserable until I can get some heat. I am the one who gets out of a warm bed / a hot shower and immediately wants the heating on because I'm cold. I am also the one who will have the heating on and the window open to let some fresh air in when it's freezing outside.

And then I choose to come live in Scotland. Heaven AND Hell for me.

At present I am curled up in bed, typing this blog, have the heating on, can hear the wind and rain howling outside and am contemplating getting up and opening the window to let some fresh air in. Go figure

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So the UK, especially England has had some terrible weather recently. All we've heard about is school and road closures and weather warnings and what not and two things come to mind. 

1. WHY can we never cope with the weather? The weather people have been predicting all sorts for absolutely ages and yet, everything comes to a standstill. Especially in Scotland - a country you would think would know to expect these things and then prepare accordingly but no sir, we still choose to run around like headless chickens without any organisation. Why can countries like Canada with -20 + weather be able to function with normality whereas us with our few degrees below freezing weather means we are totally clueless?

2. Saying the above, I personally feel way too much has been made about schools closing and teachers shirking their responsibilities etc and parents having to take time off work etc etc. I mean, seriously? Heads of schools don't take the responsibility of closing a school lightly I would think. I would also think that making sure your child isn't in any danger due to the adverse weather is more important than anything else? Also, I would think that sending kids home on school buses before the roads get too dangerous is the sensible thing to do rather than keep them in school and have some poor bus driver have the responsibility of ferrying these wee souls across and worrying about not skidding and crashing on an icy patch?

Sometimes using some of those brain cells we have is not a bad idea.

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The downside of this weather is that you don't feel like being out and doing things whereas the upside is that you get lots and lots of stuff done because you can't go out and do things. Saying which, I have had a duvet day today and done none of things I should have done having stayed indoors most of the day. Maybe tomorrow. 

Books..books...and oh.. Books

I can't believe I actually finished reading 3 books in such little time. I'm not surprised because this is a huge achievement per se but more so because this is what I used to do a long time ago. Just read. So, to be able to actually get back to it was quite pleasant. I do wish I was able to spend hours just curled up in my favourite chair and read, but have to you know, do grown up things like go to work, do the dishes, laundry etc.

My reading these books ( Michael Connelly - Three Great Novels Vol 1 also means that I am 3 books in to my 15 book challenge - taken up as part of Off The Shelf 2013 and which hopefully means I should be putting a small dent into the "have read" section of my book collection.

I love legal fiction and I love whodunnits as well and Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series is a bit of both which is perfect for me. So the next set of books on my list are:

A Darkness More Than Night - Michael Connelly - the next in the Bosch series and also brings in Terry McCaleb, another Connelly regular. Lots of suspense, intrigue and drama - the perfect mix for me.

The Mayor Of Lexington Avenue - James Sheehan - Now as I mentioned before, I love legal fiction and this book promises me that if I "...like crime novels, legal thrillers and courtroom dramas..." I'll love this book so let's see if Sheehan matches up to John Grisham.

The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly - the first in the Mickey Haller series! Strangely enough it was the film version of the book that got me reading Connelly and from Haller I went to Bosch - totally the wrong way around. Also, I love Matthew Mcconaughey so although the film is brilliant, am sure the book is better.




Now I was going to continue with the Bosch series but I seem to have a few books in between missing and I'm weird that way - I have to read/watch things in order - so since the point is to read what you have and not what you've bought this year, I shall mix it up a little with a different book in between and then continue with the Mickey Haller series because those I have in order!!!

Let the challenge continue....

Off The Shelf: 2013

Off The Shelf

So. I'm going to take a page from Legally Alien and take part in Off The Shelf - mainly because I think, like a lot of people I have forgotten the joy in sitting down with a nice fat book and getting lost in the different worlds it contains. Also, it's nice to check off lists.

So I'm going for maybe 15 books (The "Trying" Challenge) this year - mainly because I have WAY too many books to finish reading.

I think I'm going to go for my Michael Connelly collection. Haven't got all the names yet.

Here are the first 3: Michael Connelly - Three Great Novels : The version I have is 3 books in one so hopefully can finish it quicker.

The Last Coyote: from the Harry Bosch series, this books gives you the more of an insight into the dour detective's mind.

Trunk Music: from the Harry Bosch series as well, more Hollywood crime to get to grips with.

Angels Flight: Another Bosch book, more gritty crime to get you hooked.

So here begins the challenge!