Month: May 2016

Cover Characteristics – Benches

Today’s Cover Characteristics – Benches Cover Characteristics is a weekly meme hosted by Sugar and Snark. Every week they give us these gorgeous themes and then you have to pick 5 (or more – whatever blows your hair back) covers featuring that theme. If you want to participate: Pick your covers Post it to your blog Share your post’s URL in the linky provided by Sugar and Snark Go and check out the other guys who also posted! (This might influence your current TBR list a great deal.) My favourite cover for today is again going to be the first book that popped into my head when I saw the theme. (But now I really need to pop a chocolate in my mouth) Forest Gump by Winston Groom “Life is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you gonna get” The rest were a bit tricky….. I couldn’t find any other book on my cyber or wooden book shelves featuring a bench. So I had to go on a bench-hunt. I haven’t read any of the following, although I might look into a few. Memories of a marriage by Louis Begley This cover makes me feel sad. The lady looks heartbroken […]

Posted May 30, 2016
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The Sunday Post – 29 May 2016

Sunday 29 May 2016 The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This is a post to recap the past week on your blog, tell everyone about books and things you can showcase and share news for the upcoming week. Remember to link your post and to visit others who have linked up.Winter is coming to South Africa! Next week it is officially winter in the southern hemisphere. Time for red red wine, read red books and wear a red coat. This past week we had more than one day where the temperature dropped below 20 degrees Celsius in Nelspruit. Yes, that is considered as very, very cold here. But if this were you: you would be cold too! No, those are not statues. Those are real giraffes and zebras grazing right on our doorstep. No, they are not dangerous. Unless you are grass or a tree aloe. I’ve finished King Solomon’s mines on Thursday and just realized for the gazillionth time how blessed we are to live in South Africa. Yes, we have a parliament of baboons (in the Kruger National Park – what did you think I referred to?) But we have Table Mountain, The Big Five, lovely weather […]

Posted May 29, 2016
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King Solomon's mines – H. Rider Haggard

Audio book: May 20 – May 26, 2016 Librivox recording – recorded by John Nicholson (I still vote for Sean Connery to do this reading) You know what I love about book reviewing and blogging the most? It gives you the freedom to google your favourite books and characters for hours and hours and if someone asks what you are doing you can quite honestly say: RESEARCH. (You might even glare at them over the rim of your glasses. For effect you know. Also make sure to have a pencil at hand. Again – for effect) Afterwards, you might sound extremely clever and give lots and lots of useless information to anyone who would be interested in listening. (I strongly suggest that you keep your glasses down on your nose and have that pencil either in your hand or stuck in your hair). Alan Quartermain was born in 1817 Physically he was small, wiry, unattractive, with a beard and short hair that sticks up. (So very, very unattractive as you can see) He was married twice, but widowed quickly in both instances. No, let’s not jump to any conclusions. He lived in Durban, Natal, South Africa He was a professional big game hunter […]

Posted May 28, 2016
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Friday Meets – 27 May 2016

Yes, yes – I am aware that it is Saturday already (believe me, I am far more horror struck than you regarding the quick passing of time)Meet me on Friday @ Friday 56 for a bit of Book Blogger Hop to kick-start the weekend with Book Beginnings. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice. For this date, you will need the following: Grab a book (Yes, any book. But it might get you to your other Friday activities a bit quicker if you just grab the book you are currently reading) Turn to page 56 or 56% on your e-reader Find a sentence or two (your other Friday activities might determine this) Post it! Remember to post your link on Freda’s Voice and to visit the other guys in the linky. And don’t forget to list the title of the book and the author as well. My pick for today is a book that I have been dragging my feet with for the past two months (yes, that is 2 – I know. How dreadful). And it’s not that I don’t like it, in fact I love it! Maybe it is my subconscious at work here. I mean – this book is about a tortoise, thus: It has to be read slowly (to […]

Posted May 28, 2016
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Cover Characteristics – 23 May 2016

Today’s Cover Characteristics – Don’t you turn your back on me! (Okay, actually it is covers featuring only the back of people) Cover Characteristics is a weekly meme hosted by Sugar and Snark. Every week they give us these gorgeous themes and then you have to pick 5 (or more – whatever blows your hair back) covers featuring that theme. If you want to participate: Pick your covers Post it to your blog Share your post’s URL in the linky provided by Sugar and Snark Go and check out the other guys who also posted! (This might influence your current TBR list a great deal.) I was quite amazed to see how many books feature only the backs of people. I’ve only browsed through the list of books that I have read already and there were more than enough for this week’s theme. Gmmf, now I don’t feel so bad anymore for turning my back on a book this past weekend – there are plenty of books who turn their backs on us! Every week I struggle to decide which book to mark as my favourite cover. I’ve decided to place the book that I thought of first every week – FIRST. So for […]

Posted May 23, 2016
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The Sunday Post – 22 May 2016

Sunday 22 May 2016 The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This is a post to recap the past week on your blog, tell everyone about books and things you can showcase and share news for the upcoming week. Remember to link your post and to visit others who have linked up.Helllloooooo all you lovely people out there!! Yes, I am trying to sound like the lovely Mrs Doubtfire. I need the image of MrsDoubtfire or Maria/Mary (same same) or I will even settle for Nanny Mcphee. I need to think of puppies and rainbows and nannies who provide sugar in your medicine and not be called Sugar. May I start with the let-down of my week. The literal let-down. I let myself put a book down. This is not a very common occurrence, I don’t like to hurt a book’s feelings. But the problem with this book is that it is common (like in “common with a capital K”. You might have to be South African to understand that expression) and it doesn’t have any feelings. Or regards for anyone who might have feelings. And this is very very sad. I actually rooted for this novel on my Friday Meets post. I […]

Posted May 22, 2016
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Friday Meets – 20 May 2016

Meet me on Friday @ Friday 56 for a bit of Book Blogger Hop to kick-start the weekend with Book Beginnings. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice. For this date, you will need the following: Grab a book (Yes, any book. But it might get you to your other Friday activities a bit quicker if you just grab the book you are currently reading) Turn to page 56 or 56% on your e-reader Find a sentence or two (your other Friday activities might determine this) Post it! Remember to post your link on Freda’s Voice and to visit the other guys in the linky. And don’t forget to list the title of the book and the author as well. After watching The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen last weekend, I realized that I haven’t read most of the novels hosting all those interesting and extraordinary characters. So I’ve decided to start with Allan Quatermain (he is the first character to make an appearance in the movie after all). I’ve been listening to this as an audio book and enjoying it way more than expected (if the reading could have been done by Sean Connery, it would have been terrific). Seeing that it is an old classic and thus easily spotted in many households, it […]

Posted May 20, 2016
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Top Ten Tuesday

This week’s Top Ten: Ten books I picked up on a whim (however you decide to interpret that – bought, read, downloaded or stolen) Top Ten Tuesday is a feature/weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a ‘Top Ten’ list and everyone is welcome to join. Just link back to The Broke and the Bookish and add your name to the linky. Divine secrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood by Rebecca Wells – I received this book from someone as a ‘thank you’ gift for a favor done. Apparently this book reminded her of me. Never heard of it, but started reading that same night. Loved it. And yes, there might be a bit of me stuck in there. The Memory Keeper’s daughter by Kim Edwards – One of those titles that begs you to read it. Also no idea what it was about. A stunning read, but it was very sad. After Anna by Alex Lake – This was one of those cheap-cheapies on BookBub. I bought it (because it was so cheap) and then I needed a book with something pink on the cover for a reading challenge. Oh my word! This was one of the […]

Posted May 17, 2016
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Cover Characteristics – Silhouettes

Today’s Cover Characteristics – Silhouettes Cover Characteristics is a weekly meme hosted by Sugar and Snark. Every week they give us these gorgeous themes and then you have to pick 5 (or more – whatever blows your hair back) covers featuring that theme. If you want to participate: Pick your covers Post it to your blog Share your post’s URL in the linky provided by Sugar and Snark Go and check out the other guys who also posted! (This might influence your current TBR list a great deal.) When I saw today’s theme, a song immediately popped into my head and yes – I’ve been singing the whole day to the music in my head. (I also march to the beat of my own drum, but that’s completely besides the point today). Who of you remember Bonnie Tyler’s album Silhouette in Red? I remember this soooooo well. I had (still have, thanks to facebook) this lovely friend in Primary School who introduced me to Bonnie Tyler when we were about 11 or 12. When this album was released, we listened to it constantly. She had an amazing sound system in her room, and when those first notes of the first song (When Sally […]

Posted May 16, 2016
9 Comments

The Sunday Post – RIP HP

Sunday 15 May 2016 The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This is a post to recap the past week on your blog, tell everyone about books and things you can showcase and share news for the upcoming week. Remember to link your post and to visit others who have linked up.My good-old trusted friend and companion – HP my laptop, decided to retire early in 2016. My husband and I thought it wise to put him in an “old age home” for computers. The type of home where they minimize your daily schedule to maybe just one or two chores and for very limited time. All HP-my-old-pal had to do, was wake-up every morning, go to just one folder, open it and connect to his HP nephew, the printer. Not too much strain on those old wires. But alas…. It was with the greatest of sadness that I declared HP as dead as a doorstop 6 weeks ago. (My husband suggested that we use HP as a doorstop in future – to honor the memory of our profound loss).I told my husband that I don’t need a new computer at the moment. He is at work during the […]

Posted May 15, 2016
6 Comments

Month: May 2016

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