Eclecticdodo moves on up to 75

Hi, I'm Jo. I've been in the 50 books group for a while but found it rather, um, quiet. Besides, this last year I've managed to read over 80 books (YAY!) so I finally feel justified in moving up. My previous years threads are 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012.

A little about me: I'm 35, married, with a 5 year old son who is part time at school. It's been a pretty crappy year to be honest with major health issues, as well as bereavements and parenting problems, so I'll be glad to put it behind me and move on to 2016. One good thing of all the time in hospital has been the extra reading. We'll have to wait and see if I can keep it up or drop back to my previous one-book-a-week average.

I aim to read about equal numbers of fiction and non-fiction. Without this target I would probably read more non-fiction, but my life would be the poorer for it.

I'm also planning on stealing an idea from my good friend Heather (Souloftherose) and tracking where I am with series.

Wish me luck...

Books Read:

January
1) DIY Dentistry And Other Alarming Inventions
2) Game Of Scones: All Men Must Dine
3) How It Works: The Husband & How It Works: The Wife
4) Food From The Wild
5) The Lord's Day
6) Americanah
7) The Victorian Asylum
8) Crochet Master Class
9) Christmas, Actually
10) The Watchmaker Of Filigree Street
11) So Much Cooking
12) The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying
13) Seven Years In Tibet

February
14) Reggae Reggae Cookbook
15) Fortunately, The Milk
16) Mother Of Eden
17) Getting Past The First 30 Seconds
18) A Wayne In A Manger
19) All You Zombies
20) The Mousehole Cat
21) The Hairy Dieters: Good Eating
22) Don't Swallow Your Gum
23) The Fox And The Star
24) Waiting For The Wild Beasts To Vote

March
25) The Incredible Years
26) Blue Shoes And Happiness
27) Recovering From Child Abuse
28) Protecting Children From Abuse In The Church
29) When Cancer Interrupts
30) Where's Will? Find Shakespeare Hidden In His Plays
31) Intentional: Evangelism that takes people to Jesus
32) First Wives Club
33) Relationships: A Mess Worth Making
34) Take Heart
35) Plainsong
36) Angry Children
37) Romans: Momentous News

April
38) True Friendship
39) Unreached
40) The Antidote
41) Tales Of Mystery And Magic
42) Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2015 Highlights

May
43) The Book Thief
44) M Shed Bristol Museum
45) Esther: Silent But Sovereign
46) Sita's Ramayana

(bold=acquired, italicised=currently reading, crossed out=completed)

These are the series I'm (semi) actively reading, and the next book in the series:

- Chronicles Of Kazam by Jasper Fforde: book 2/4 The Song Of The Quarkbeast
- Dark Eden by Chris Beckett: book 2/2 Mother Of Eden up to date
- Discworld by Terry Pratchet: I've read a completely random selection in a random order so I need to restart from the beginning, whether I'll ever actually manage that is another matter entirely...
- The Girl Who by Catherynne M Valente: book 1/5 The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making (I've read the prequel)
- The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry: book 4/4 Son
- J. W. Wells by Tom Holt: book 4/7 You Don't Have To Be Evil To Work Here, But It Helps
- Mary Poppins by P L Travers: book 4/8 Mary Poppins In The Park
- Mary Russell by Laurie R King: book 2/14 A Monstrous Regiment Of Women
- Midwife Trilogy by Jennifer Worth: book 3/3 Farewell To The East End
- No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith: book 7/16 Blue Shoes And Happiness, next up 8/16 The Good Husband Of Zebra Drive
- Peter Grant by Ben Aaronovitch: book 5/5 Foxglove Summer
- Pirates! by Gideon Defoe: book 2/5 The Pirates In An Adventure With Ahab
- Plainsong by Kent Haruf: book 2/3 Eventide
- Series Of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket: book 2/13 The Reptile Room
- Thursday Next by Jasper Fforde: book 5/7 First Among Sequels

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This is a 2016 Fiction Challenge I amalgamated off the web:

- A book published this year Ed Bear Versus
- A book recommended by a local librarian or bookseller - Plainsong
- A book you studied in school - Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry
- A book chosen for you by your spouse
- A book published in the year of your birth
- A book that's been banned
- A book you have owned for years but never read
- A book that intimidates you
- A book translated from another language - Waiting For The Wild Beasts To Vote
- book about a culture you do not know - Americanah
- A book over 400 pages - The Book Thief
- A book chosen because you like the cover - The Watchmaker Of Filigree Street
- A book being made into a film this year
- A graphic novel adaptation - Sita's Ramayana

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Books Acquired:

January
1) Mother Of Eden
2) The Watchmaker Of Filigree Street
3) The Antidote
4) Divergent (free)
5) The Book Thief
6) The Victorian Asylum
7) Reggae Reggae Cookbook
8) Save With Jamie

February
9) The Hairy Dieters: Good Eating
10) Plainsong
11) The Fox And The Star

March
12) Beyond Chocolate
13) Beyond Temptation
14) Old Wives Tales
15) First Wives Club
16) Duties Of Parents
17) True Friendship
18) Intentional
19) Incomparable
20) Take Heart
21) When Cancer Interrupts
22) Protecting Children From Abuse In The Church
23) Recovering From Child Abuse
24) Galatians: The Life I Live Now
25) The Only Way Is Ethics
26) Ed Bear Versus (gift)

April
27) Unreached
28) Honest Evangelism
29) Money Counts
30) Spurgeon's Sorrows
31) A Heart Set Free
32) Deep Magic, Dragons, And Talking Mice
33) Table Talk 1
34) Table Talk 2
35) Esther: Silent But Sovereign
36) Ezekiel: For His Glory
37) Mark: The Suffering Servant
38) Making Church Accessible To All
39) Through Changing Scenes (free)
40) The War On Terror: How Should Christians Respond (free)
41) Tortured For Christ (free)
42) Prosperity: Seeking The True Gospel (free)
43) M Shed Bristol Museum
44) Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2015 Highlights

May
45) Foxglove Summer

Hi Jo I am Bryony. Welcome to the 75's it gets very busy here! Congratz on all that reading you did this year. Sorry you where unwell, I was too for the end of the year. Feel welcome to pop by my thread. Have a happy New Year.

A Books meme stolen off BBGirl55 (and others), using books I read last year...

Describe yourself: Out Of My Mind

Describe how you feel: Something Rotten

Describe where you currently live: Banksy: You Are An Acceptable Level Of Threat

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Wild

Your favorite form of transportation: Travelling To Infinity

Your best friend is: Tim The Tiny Horse

You and your friends are: What The **** Is Normal?

What’s the weather like: Umbrella

You fear: The Enormous Crocodile

What is the best advice you have to give: Parenting Against The Tide

Thought for the day: The One True Light

How I would like to die: In The Company Of Cheerful Ladies

My soul’s present condition: Wrestling With God

I love your answers for you meme. I am also in the middle of alot of the series that you mentioned. Though I am up to date with all the Fforde books and I am yet to start Dark Eden.

Welcome! You've got some great series going. I'm looking forward to watching your reading this year!

>7 drneutron: Dark Eden is brilliant and well worth a read. I picked it up cheap on a kindle sale or daily deal or something.

I love Jasper Fforde and I'm looking forward to the next Thursday next. I also have The Big Over Easy and The Fourth Bear lined up ready to go so I'll be adding the Nursery Crime series to my list soon.

Great meme answers!

Hi, Jo, and welcome!!

>9 lkernagh: Thanks, it was fun.

Mother of Eden (sequel to Dark Eden) is on kindle daily deal today if anyones interested.

In other exciting news, we just went and got a new guinea pig to replace one of ours who died over Christmas. Reuben rejected our suggestion of calling her Papua, and instead we have Clarabel 2. She has been introduced to Annie but so far is pretty terrified so I'm giving her a rest back in the carrier for a bit. She's only young, so Annie looks like a giant in comparison, I'm not surprised she's scared. Plus these massive people who keep insisting on checking on her. Poor thing. Now, let me see if I can post a picture...

Ooh, welcome to the 75ers group!

>3 eclecticdodo: I like the meme! 'Describe how you feel: Something Rotten' I hope that improves in 2016 (surely it can't be worse than 2015?)

>8 eclecticdodo: I got very excited a while ago when I saw Jasper Fforde had a new book due for release this month (not a Thursday Next, a standalone). But last time I checked amazon showed the release date as pushed back to Jan 2017 :-(

Hope the new guinea pig settles in ok. I like Reuben's logic in the name.

>12 souloftherose: Hi Heather, thanks for the welcome. I'm still working my way through Jasper Fforde's existing books so maybe I'll be ready for it in 2017!

An update on Clarabel - she is now introduced to Annie and they've been getting on fine all day in a cardboard box in the dining room, and even grooming each other. They're spending their first night together tonight; it's very mild so we're happy to put them out in the hutch. Even if Annie is a bully and won't let her in the main sleeping area there's a backup cozy place for Clarabel to sleep so she will be fine. Oh, and I still haven't managed to take a picture let alone figure out how to post it so you'll have to wait a while. Maybe tomorrow...

My first two books of the year are slightly cheating, in that they're picture books for grown ups. Plus I'm already reading about 15 books (no kidding!), so maybe I shouldn't have spent the afternoon pouring over these, but hey ho, I'm going to count them anyway.

1) DIY Dentistry And Other Alarming Inventions by Andy Riley (author of the Bunny Suicides books)

This was a Christmas present. It is a series of cartoons of bizarre inventions. With all sorts of things, from musical toilet paper (with punch holes), to self-enforcing give way signs, to machines for making unlucky people more lucky. There are several devices for dealing with moped thieves, making me thing the author has a vested interest. My favourite is the Asshole Trap, essentially a big hole with a sign for Big Brother auditions above it.

2) Game Of Scones: All Men Must Dine by Jammy Lannister

A surprisingly detailed book of recipes and decoration instructions for Game Of Thrones inspired baking. They are pretty gruesome and absolutely hilarious. I've neither read the books (yet) nor watched the TV series, but my Brother-in-law tells me it is clearly written by someone who has spent a LOT of time on both. I'm inspired to see what I can do on a theme of my favourite books.

Two more not-really-long-enough books today, so I'll count them as one:

3) How It Works: The Husband & How It Works: The Wife by Jason Hazeley

These are two short mock Ladybird early reader books for grownups. The Husband one I thought was funnier than The Wife. I would like to think that's because the Wife's preoccupation with wine did not strike a chord with me, though it's probably more likely that I'm happier laughing at a caricature of my husband than myself.

So today didn't exactly go to plan. I grabbed my coat and Reuben's book bag, and rushed out of the house on the school run, and DOH! I forgot my keys. And my money. And in fact everything except my clothes and mobile phone. This wouldn't be such an issue except husband works over an hours train commute away, and he was, well, working. My knight on shining bicycle came to the rescue about lunchtime (and hot-desked in the Bristol office for the rest of the day). So, I didn't do any tidying, or make it to the gym, or to the prayer meeting, or to the shops. But on the bright side I had a pleasant morning in the local library reading. So:

4) Food From The Wild by Ian Burrows

A guide to food that can be foraged in the UK. It covers all sorts of flowers, foliage, roots, mushrooms, fruits, and even sea weed. My only complaint is it's far too big a book to take out with you, but there are too many plants to possibly remember and recognise them all. I went on a foraging walk with a local charity early last summer, and found it fascinating. This has prompted me to look out for a pocket reference equivalent.

I also half read a really bad anime about Japanese Americans in relationship angst. It had gushing reviews on the back, from people I'd actually heard of, so I kept thinking it would get better. But no, I should have given up earlier. I can't remember what it was called now.

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Oh, and we have a mouse problem: poor Reuben saw one outside our bedroom doors on Monday morning and screamed RAT! at the top of his voice. We showed him how the traps work by breaking a pencil (better than his little fingers), unfortunately now he's terrified of the mice AND the traps - he wouldn't walk into a room on his own yesterday. We caught two overnight (woohoo!) so he's feeling a little safer today. I'm just worrying how many more there are if it was that easy to catch the first two. We had exactly the same thing a few years ago, they moved in while we're away at Christmas time. We caught 12 last time. We don't even live in the country. Still, at least it's not rats!

Oooh, best of luck with the mice! We had problems with them in our previous house, which was next to cornfields, so we'd get them in the fall during harvest season. Thankfully Charlie was little enough that he didn't even know about them (he's a bit of a scaredy-cat, so he would have flipped).

>17 scaifea: Thanks. We haven't had any more yet, or heard any scrabbling, but it's way too early to be optimistic.
We always had mice at home when I was growing up. I remember being slightly freaked out the first time I saw one in my room, but then I decided they were cute and pestered my parents until they let me get a pet one. Of course, after that I had loads more house mice in the room - after dropped bits of food mainly, but one of my pet girls used to entertain male visitors...

This is a 2016 Fiction Challenge I amalgamated off the web. I'll update progress in post 3.
(italicised=currently reading)

- A book published this year
- A book recommended by a local librarian or bookseller
- A book you studied in school Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry
- A book chosen for you by your spouse
- A book published in the year of your birth
- A book that's been banned
- A book you have owned for years but never read
- A book that intimidates you
- A book translated from another language Waiting For The Wild Beasts To Vote
- A book about a culture you do not know
- A book over 400 pages Americanah
- A book chosen because you like the cover
- A book being made into a film this year

I'd appreciate any suggestions, particularly for books published in 1980 that are "of the time".

And I've started keeping a track of books acquired at the top of the thread. If it disappears that's because I decided it was too scary...

Saw your moniker on another thread and had to come over quickly to make sure you were a Jasper Fforde fan! I see that you are, so all is well, and I have starred your thread because I also read Pratchett, Valente, Aaronovitch and have Dark Eden in my TBR pile.

#19 might have to do that myself.

Sorry about the mice. We had the same problem about 5 years ago. We had just lost our last cat and became a little overrun. The cats were missed that winter.

>21 ronincats: Hi Roni. I am indebted to Heather (Souloftherose) for introducing me to Jasper Fforde a few years ago. He's a genius. I just wish I had more time to read.

>22 BBGirl55: Bryony, I stole the book meme from you, so that makes us even...

We caught another mouse yesterday evening, this time in the dining room. Not a clean kill sadly so that was a little traumatic. And I keep hearing little noises in the house so I think there must be more still. If only we weren't allergic to cats.

I bought another book yesterday The Book Thief.

That's 5 acquired so far this year. Others were Mother Of Eden, The Watchmaker Of Filigree Street, The Antidote, and Divergent. In my defence the first three were almost entirely paid for with a voucher, and the last one was free.

I also finished a book, so that makes me even, for now.

5) The Lord's Day by David Campbell

A short book from Day One Publishing about the importance of attending church, and in particular of often neglected Sunday evening services. It's written in a rather archaic style (which can seem a little pompous to modern ears) so I had to check it wasn't a much older book reprinted, but apparently not. The author sets out a variety of arguments, some more convincing than others. At the end of the day, I'm not really the target audience for the book since we already attend twice most weeks. However, many of the same arguments apply to midweek meetings, which I am much more inclined to let get squeezed out of my diary, so it was certainly helpful. It is also good to think through the reasons we are so counter cultural, to be prepared to answer the questions we often get from friends and family.

At last, a picture of Clarabel the second


And here with Annie the first

I am SO MAD right now. My mother-in-law is annoyed because we tried to arrange a family holiday with them and my sister-in-laws family. Apparently we owe them a holiday just us and them because she helped out while I was in hospital last year. I can't believe she would use my ectopic pregnancies and cancer for her own ends. I didn't realise there were strings attached. I honestly can't cope with a week away just us and them. The last holiday we all had together was a nightmare because she got upset that my husband ATE SOME OF THEIR BREAKFAST CEREAL and the argument rumbled on all week (I would add that she laid the breakfast table with only their cereal, the same brand as ours, and this was 4 o'clock in the flipping morning because that's what time our son woke up). It's taken us 2 years to pluck up the courage to try again, and now this. I just want to tell her to F off. But I won't. Instead I'm sitting here seething, eating chocolate and drinking petrol station cocktail (random mix of alcohol from the cupboard and mixers from the petrol station round the corner). This is not good. I hate that she has this much power over our lives. I can totally see how families stop talking to each other. One thing's for sure - if (when) I get ill again we won't be asking them for help.

So Sorry to here about this Jo! I have people like that in my life too. I would go on holiday with your Sister-in -law. I think it would be bad for you give in to someone who would use your illness, that person would have to much power as you said they need to be spoken too. All paerents act like 3 year olds, sometimes they have the right too other times not so much. Sit down and talk tell her how you feel, she may not like it but that is her problem not yours. I am here if you need to talk more don't make yourself ill. Your are very right to beannoyed right now! This has made me kind of mad now. I send you a hug. It will work its self out. :)

>26 eclecticdodo: Jo, you have my sympathy. Thinking of you. Hugs

Thank you both for the sympathy. I'm feeling more forgiving after a good night's sleep. We are however looking at holiday houses to go without them.

6) Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I loved this book. It's rather long but well worth the investment. It follows a young couple from Nigeria in their very separate lives in America and England, then back in Nigeria. It gave me a fascinating view of Nigerian culture, as well as the reflected insights into British and American ways too. The author weaves themes of equality (race and gender mainly) throughout, sometimes explicitly, other times more subtly. It is part social commentary, part political.

Oh, and it ticked off the first of my Fiction Challenge - a book over 400 pages. Or perhaps about a culture I do not know? I'll reserve the final decision based on what else I read this year.

It's good to see you here, Jo!

I'm sorry about your MIL problems. I hope you can get it all worked out. You've had a rough year and truly deserve a relaxing vacation.

Your review confirmed that I need to get to Americanah sooner rather than later.

#29 good to hear! Oh great another BB!

Oh, no, I'm so sorry to hear that your MIL is like mine. I feel for you, sister! Hang in there and Stand Your Ground!

Wishing you a most lovely weekend, Jo.

>30 streamsong:, >32 scaifea: I think I'm taking it so bad with MIL because I thought things were finally improving. She stayed over at our house for the first time in our 13 year marriage, and has had a couple of day visits since when she seemed to want to spend time with me. Now I'm questioning it all. We're also back to the constant pressure to visit them. I thought they'd finally understood how hard it is to fit in the 2 hour drive each way what with church commitments, work/school, and son sleeping on the journey thus completely screwing up sleep patterns for a week or more every time. But apparently she was just making temporary allowances. Oh, I'm getting riled up again... change of subject.

>31 BBGirl55: sorry for the book bullet!

>33 Ameise1: beautiful photo, reminds me how calming the quietness of snowy days is. Just what I need.

I'm sorry your mother-in-law is so horrible!

But that really is a beautiful calming snow photo.

>26 eclecticdodo: Aargh! Sorry to hear she's being like that again. I'd be tempted to say just tell her no, but I know it's not that simple.

>29 eclecticdodo: Americanah sounds very good. Have you read her other novels? They're very good, but quite dark, which I think is probably why I haven't got round to reading Americanah yet.

Welcome to the group! I'm American and was born and raised in Tennessee, where I live now. However, I spent the first half of my twenties in and around London. I'm pretty sure I never made it as far as Bristol in my trips out and about, but I did get as far as Bath and Glastonbury, which are fairly close.

Americanah is on my TBR list. I really liked Half of a Yellow Sun and I'm eager to read more of her work.

>35 _Zoe_: I feel like I need to defend her. She's not all bad. Just struggling to let go of her "little" boy.

>36 souloftherose: I'm not sure I can cope with darker at the moment. I am interested in We Should All Be Feminists though.

>37 cbl_tn: Ah yes, dare I say Bath is a bit of an American tourist trap. I've spoken to quite a few people who didn't get any further west. Clifton (part of Bristol) is rather like Bath in many ways, but the rest of the city has a lot to offer too. We have quite a few museums, many of which are free, and lots of lovely urban parks.

Welcome to the 75ers, Jo! I really liked Americanah when I read it last year. It's not really a book that was on my radar until a friend recommended it, and I felt like I learned a lot without being bashed on the head with a Lesson. Always glad to see another Jasper Fforde fan (I have a few series to try still, but I love Thursday Next!). And sorry about the drama with your MIL. Hope your weekend has been relaxing & full of good reading.

>39 bell7: Thanks Mary. We've had a lovely relaxing weekend. I was up early with our son both days but my wonderful husband took over about 9am so I could go back to bed. Sadly today that meant I didn't get up again for morning church, thus calling into question my review in post >24 eclecticdodo:, but never mind.

Yesterday we went to one of our favourite Bristol museums: the SS Great Britain (http://www.ssgreatbritain.org). I stole some photos off the web to show you:


This afternoon we went to a model railway show. To be honest I wasn't terribly impressed as the layouts were all about the rolling stock (trains) with little scenery, which is my main interest, and the venue used lots of small rooms with poor ventilation. But I had a relaxing time reading my books in the library while husband and son got their fill. And I overheard a conversation between the organisers that they'd had over 1000 through the door, so even a conservative estimate of 50% children they would have made £3000 for the charity it was in aid of.

Like you, I was ready to put 2015 behind me. Americanah is on my radar. It's a shame The Lord's Day was written in such an archaic style. I'm concerned that the church has de-emphasized "the assembling of ourselves together" which brings encouragement to Christians and let too much of the cares of the world crowd out evening worship and the Sabbath rest principle. It sounds like Campbell's presentation was less than convincing.

>41 thornton37814: coincidentally our Sunday evening sermon was on the Church, local and universal. A lot of the same themes came up along with a call to commit to membership and regular attendance. Commitment seems to be an unpopular concept these days.

While sat in a waiting room I finished the book I bought at the SS Great Britain shop on Saturday:

7) The Victorian Asylum by Sarah Rutherford

As I've come to expect from the Shire Library series it is full of fascinating details and lots of wonderful illustrations. Some would find the writing style too dense but I think it makes a good quick read. As someone who would likely have been committed to such an asylum were I alive then, the subject interested me. All I can say is I was surprised to read some positive features of the system, but I am still very glad we have moved on from there.

>42 eclecticdodo: Our Sunday morning service was an accountability. Our pastor said that we had over 2500 members and that the FBI couldn't find half of them. He did say that he wasn't talking about the people who had been faithful over the years and were now shut-ins, but just the people who were L-A-Z-Y. He got a big laugh.

That book does sound like an interesting piece of social history.

Phew, it's been a hard week so far. Son was sent home from school with a stomach upset on Monday. He was completely recovered Tuesday and bouncing off the walls, but rules are rules so no school for 24 hours. Wednesday was his usual morning off, so I didn't actually get any time to myself until yesterday afternoon. Actually, that's not true. I was feeling terribly headachy on Tuesday so my husband came home early and took Reuben out for a walk while I got a bit of peace and quiet. It's amazing how quickly I've got used to that regular free time while he's in school. And how little I get done in just a couple of hours.

Yesterday evening I went for a run in the cold and rain! Yes, you read right. I did the first of a group "couch to 5km" course. It starts easy and builds up every week, with a couple of homework runs in between sessions. Yesterday was just 1min running 1.5min fast walking repeated 8 times (plus a warm up and cool down). It seems my fitness hasn't completely disappeared with the recent months of relative inactivity as I found it quite easy. A couple of times I even forgot to stop running when the whistle blew. I met a couple of my friends there too so we're going to team up for the homework runs.

After lunch today I'm off to meet a friend at the gym for a quick workout. I must be careful not to overdo it, but I'm really looking forward to getting my energy levels up again by being more active. Now, housework while listening to audiobooks? Or sit on the sofa and read a real book? I know which one I prefer....

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>43 thornton37814: Wow! 2500 members? That's huge! Do you all meet together or in different groups? I thought our church was large. We have 3 congregations meeting around the city in the morning, then we all come together in the evening. I say "all", but we use the same building as my congregation meets in in the morning and there are about the same total of 300 people even though it's all three congregations. People have all sorts of reasons for not coming out, some very valid, but it always seems such a shame to me because the evening preaching is much more focussed on building up the believer, where the morning tends to be more evangelical and the basics of the gospel (gross generalisation there but I think broadly true). I certainly found when I could only attend mornings due to having a toddler that I missed the meaty teaching and my faith suffered. Thankfully you can either stream online or download the recording later on in the week so I was able to get some benefit. Interestingly one of the points mentioned in The Lord's Day is the availability of online services but that this means a loss in fellowship for the viewer and also the rest of their congregation. It should never be considered a full substitute.

>44 eclecticdodo: We have a traditional service, a contemporary service, and a blended service on Sunday mornings. Sunday School classes meet during the last two worship services. We also still have Sunday evening services. The choir only sings at the blended service. Our church has live streaming of the contemporary and blended services. They are also televised. The evening service is also streamed and televised.

Have a lovely weekend!

Jo, I wish you a relaxed weekend.

>45 thornton37814: this is one of those mega-churches I've heard about isn't it?

>47 Ameise1: Beautiful pic, thank you. I can't quite work out if it's frost or blossom.

>46 DianaNL: sadly I wasn't too pleased for it to be Friday because my husband is working overnight tonight (I've just waved him off). He works for Network Rail and needs to inspect a bridge on the main line between London and Wales/the whole of the west of England, so it has to be done at night when they can work between the much less frequent trains. What with resting today and catching up on sleep tomorrow I'm pretty much parenting solo this weekend. I don't like sleeping alone. And I worry about him driving when he's tired. I could be in for a sleepless night and a very early morning wakeup.

>48 eclecticdodo: That's frost, Jo.

>48 eclecticdodo: I hope you managed to get some sleep and Andy gets home safely.

>49 Ameise1: Sorry. I thought so. But I was looking at it on a tiny screen and confused by the clear road. It's lovely.

>50 souloftherose: Andy got home at about 5am. Unfortunately a bad time to make noise in terms of waking Reuben. We're all tired and grumpy now.

>48 eclecticdodo: I don't consider us a "megachurch." I think our average weekly attendance is under the threshold to fit the definition. Maybe if, as our pastor phrased it, "the FBI could locate" the members who don't show up, we'd qualify. We still have a friendly feel, but we are definitely growing because we have a great pastor.

>52 thornton37814: Fair enough. It must be really hard for churches to know when/if at all to cancel someone's membership if they just don't show up anymore. I was guilty for a number of years of failing to change formal membership from the church I went to as a teenager to the one I now attend. I'd moved a couple of hours drive away and only visited every few months, certainly not for midweek members meetings. But they were very patient with me, just gently asked if it might be more appropriate to make the move formal. The main thing that delayed us was that my husband was brought up Anglican and as such hadn't been baptised except in infancy, but our church (and we) believe in believer baptism, so we waited until he felt ready to face the inevitable rows with his mother over that one. Ah, family politics...

8) Crochet Master Class by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss

A wonderful book of more advanced crochet techniques. Each section is written with a designer specialising in that area and gives a short history, modern applications, and a beautiful project to try. The topics covered are: woven crochet, hairpin lace, tapestry crochet, aran crochet, entrelac crochet, fashion crochet, Tunisian crochet, filet crochet, double ended crochet, tassels, bullion stitch, overlay crochet, bead crochet, bruges crochet, painted crochet, free-form crochet, Irish crochet, and wire crochet. There is also a quick reminder of the basics at the back of the book (note here that the American stitch names are used throughout the book). The great thing about crochet is that once you have learnt the basic stitches it's actually really easy to move onto more complex projects such as these.

9) Christmas, Actually by Katie Rose Guest Pryal

Received through LT early review program. A rather random collection of stories set around Christmas time (I wouldn't describe them as Christmas stories). Some are better than others. They don't really fit together as a book in the way that I've come to expect from short story collections, there aren't any common themes apart from the time of year. Not my cup of tea.

>54 eclecticdodo: Glad you liked it! I am planning to teach myself how to crochet this year although so far I still haven't even managed to dig out my crochet hook.

>54 eclecticdodo: I would love to learn to crochet. I know only a few stitches but I'm not very comfortable with them. I think they are having a crafty chicks weekend next month so if I'm lucky someone will be teaching crochet.

>56 souloftherose: Thanks Heather. I recommend compendium of crochet techniques for a thorough introduction, which I can lend you. Not sure when we're meeting up next though. I can't face another mass trip to Tring in the immediate future, but do harbour vague ambitions to come to LB on my own for one night, if you'll have me.

10) The Watchmaker Of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

The book is about a Japanese man in Victorian London (with a little of his back story in Japan) who makes the most amazingly intricate machines, akin to modern computers in their sophistication, but all out of clockwork. He also sees possibilities and remembers the future. Can he be trusted not to engineer events for his own purposes?
I wouldn't really go along with the description of steampunk; rather the author weaves an elaborate fantasy into a convincing historical setting. I thought it an excellent book and didn't want to put it down after the first few chapters. I rather like the idea of reducing human behaviour to a series of more predictable events. It has left me with a yearning to examine some precision engineering (sewing machines are my thing, but if someone wanted to buy me a pocket watch...).

I've ticked off another of my fiction challenge - a book chosen because I like the cover. Shame I got it electronically so I'll only get to look at the cover in my catalogue on LT.

>57 thornton37814: Take the chance if you get it Lori! I sometimes teach crochet at a church coffee/craft morning. I'm not a very good teacher though.

Happy weekend, Jo. Stay safe and warm.

Currently in an upstairs lounge at church while a noisy kids party goes on downstairs. I'm in a lot of pain and of course I'm worried. If it doesn't improve I'm going to have to see an emergency doctor, who will no doubt send me to A&E. I don't want this again.

Sorry, to hear that you're in such a pain. Gentle hugs and feel better soon.

>58 eclecticdodo: Of course we'll have you! :-) I got a beginner's crochet book for my birthday last year but still haven't got round to trying anything but I have no current knitting projects so this seems a good time to try.

>59 eclecticdodo: I just borrowed that from the library today - there's a group read being discussed in The Green Dragon group for February:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/217181

>63 eclecticdodo: Oh no! Hope you feel better soon.

I've been admitted while they investigated. Seems to be another ovarian cyst combined with adhesions from all the surgery. The pain is much better and I'll be discharged in the morning.

So sorry to hear about the cyst, but glad your pain is much abated!

Jo, sorry to see that your health problems continue but I am pleased nonetheless to see your thread so lively - always space for another Brit!

My sister in law had major problems with cysts a few years ago but has gone from strength over the last 12 months and I trust you will do the same. xx

Thanks all for the thoughts and kind words.

I'm home from hospital now. Ultrasound scan at lunchtime showed fluid in/round my left ovary indicating a cyst which had just burst, so that would be the severe pain from yesterday and also explains why it got better without any intervention. They said it should be gone in a day or two.

On the bright side, I now have no cysts on either ovary. However, it seems my body keeps growing them so it is likely to happen again (and again). Thinking back it's happened several times before and I've just taken painkillers and gone to bed with a hot water bottle. It's hard to tell if it hurts more recently because of the surgery adhesions, or if I'm just more aware of it and scared by it. The hospital were very reassuring though that given everything it was absolutely the right thing to come in. And certainly being on morphine overnight meant I could actually get some sleep. Even if I did post at 2:41am!

Oh, and thank goodness I had a book with me! Waiting for the wild beasts to vote was a great distraction and I could just about follow it despite the pain/drug stupor.

---------------------------------------

My good friend Barbara has just leant me a book that will apparently solve my messiness problems, or some of them at least. Bearing in mind Barbara was as hopelessly disorganised as I am, but is now much improved, I have high hopes. It's called The life-changing magic of tidying: a simple, effective way to banish clutter forever by Japanese author Marie Kondo. Now I just need to find the time to read it.... Oh yes, I'm supposed to take it easy for a few days. Perfect.

I'm cheating again with another short one, this time published in Clarkesworld Magazine, which I found thanks to Archerygirl. But I've re-read it a couple of times, and it's been going round my head, so I'm going to count it...

11) So Much Cooking by Naomi Kritzer available free here

A short story written in the style of a food blog whose author carries on despite a global pandemic flu which is killing a large part of the population. The blogger and her partner choose to isolate themselves, along with an increasing number of children they are looking after, in order to avoid contracting the virus. They start off with a slightly limited supply of food, and towards the end things are getting desperate, making it quite comical. I find this scenario fascinating and thought the blog format worked very well. The ending was a little abrupt, but that is generally the way in this genre and this is not the first time I've been left wondering what happened next. All in all I think this is an excellent short story and I will certainly be looking out for more from the author.

I'm sorry you had to spend time in the hospital, and I'm glad to hear that your health issue resolved itself. I hope you're able to take it easy for a few days so you can catch up on your rest.

I would love to learn to knit and crochet. I wish I could find someone who would give me lessons on this side of Knoxville.
Some of the craft stores offer lessons but they're all at least 40-50 minutes away.

Hello, I found your thread and thought I'd drop a note while dropping a star! :-) I've got The Watchmaker of Filigree Street on my Kindle and every review I see of it makes me want to bump it higher on my TBR list.

Short stories do often end abruptly. I know that the advice given to writers is that a short story needs to hit hard and do its thing without lingering. Trim anything unnecessary, keep it lean and mean, which results in abrupt endings. I find that stories with unresolved threads like this tend to stay in my mind more than ones that are neatly tied with a bow, though, so I guess all those magazine editors are right.

>72 archerygirl: Hi! Yes, I see their point about being punchy.

12) The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying by Marie Kondo translated by Cathy Hirano

Let's get one thing straight. This author is completely bonkers. She advocates greeting your house when you enter, thanking your socks for supporting you, removing tags from newly purchased items to change their aura, that sort of thing. However, she does seem to make a lot of sense on other things - namely the importance of decluttering and proper storage. To reduce the volume of stuff in your house she tells you to throw away (although she includes charity donations in this category, so I'd say any form of recycling/giving/selling is fine) anything that does not spark joy in your heart. It's a bit weird, but she goes on to say don't keep stuff because you are holding on to the past or afraid of the future, only because you want it now. She also tells you to try a new way of sorting. I, along with most people, have always tidied one room at a time, resulting in little caches across the house. Her method is instead to get everything of one type together in a pile and go through it one item at a time. Sort and reduce before tidying. It all sounds great. I'm going to give it a try starting tomorrow. Hopefully I'll remember to write a proper review once I've tried it out...

13) Seven Years In Tibet by Heinrich Harrer translated by Richard Graves

This is a classic account written by a German POW escapee who trekked across the Himalayas and through Tibet to claim asylum in the capital city. He eventually became friend and tutor to the young Dalai Lama. There is surprisingly little of the politics of World War Two despite that being the reason for his journey. Later in the book he does comment on the Chinese invasion of Tibet and the (still ongoing) political situation there. It is an incredible story and fascinating to read of this most closed of countries. There are detailed descriptions of the way of life of peasants along his route to Lassa as well as the monks and nobles of the city. I can't help but wonder what Tibet would be like today if the Dalai Lama had been able to carry out his plans for modernisation uninterrupted by the Chinese.

I did session 3 of my couch to 5k course tonight. We ran 4 lots of 1.5 mins and 2 lots of 3 mins, with walking in between. I hadn't done my homework run on Sunday (for obvious reasons!) but I figured the pain has nearly gone now so it would be ok, and it was. Hoorah! I'm really enjoying the sensation of running again, and my fitness is increasing week on week.

>70 eclecticdodo: That's on my list to read from the discussion on archerygirl's thread. Sounds intriguing.

>74 eclecticdodo: Well done on getting out and running again!

>54 eclecticdodo: I have that book. I read it but haven't gone back to try any of the new techniques!

>73 eclecticdodo: I haven't read Kondo's book but I've read several articles and demos on YouTube and the thing that changed forever for me was the part about folding and storing things in drawers vertically instead of horizontally--unfortunately it fed my hoarding instinct because I can fit more in that way, but it is so easy to see what you have and access it!!

Great progress on the running front!

>73 eclecticdodo: I think I'll skip the book by the author that is bonkers.

>75 souloftherose: Thanks Heather

>76 ronincats: well, so far I've sorted my clothes, but I'm really struggling to get rid of the ones I don't want so they're still sitting in a massive pile in the bedroom. I haven't attempted anything else yet

>77 thornton37814: I was talking to my friend who lent it to me on Sunday and we had a good laugh. There aren't many people either of us feel we could actually recommend it to, who would overlook the insanity and see the good in there. But there is a lot of good I think.

This week I acquired 2 new cookbooks: Reggae Reggae Cookbook and Save With Jamie. Both looked as though they'd never been read but were second hand bargains.

14) Reggae Reggae Cookbook by Levi Roots

The recipes are mostly traditional Caribbean ones broadly based on those he learnt from his Grandmother in his early life in Jamaica. All the specialist ingredients and terms are clearly explained, so that it really does quite well in his aim of introducing this style of food to the British public. Interestingly for a cookbook there is also a short history of the author's life, told in sections spread throughout. Levi Roots is most widely known as the guy who went on Dragons Den with his hot "Reggae Reggae sauce", but he's actually had quite a music career too. There's also a depressingly common story of coming to the UK in the 70s to find the streets were actually paved with dogs**t, not gold, and then of police injustice through the 80s. I know I read a fair few cookbooks, but I do take away a lot of the recipes, and that will certainly be the case with this one; I've always wanted to know how to make curry goat.

I was reminded of a photo I took 6 years ago

This is where I want to be today. In the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but cold, sound-deadening snow, and sunshine. Things seem so much simpler in the mountains.

Hi Jo. Are you sure this is your first time in the 75ers, because I know I've seen your name around before? Well, I suppose you'd know better than me ;0)

I'm sorry to hear about your health problems, and hope / glad things are looking up. As for your in-law problems, I can empathise. Personally, I avoid my husband's family as much as possible, and he (finally) sees my side.

>73 eclecticdodo: Let me know how the organising goes. Goodness knows I need to get seriously organised (in fact, I have all kinds of systems just waiting to be set up - but I haven't got around to setting up yet). I tend to start a room, get almost to the end and then move on to another because I don't know what to do with that last little pile. In the meantime, those last little piles that I've left behind me start proliferating while I'm doing the next room ... I have dreams of getting the kids to muck in and help tidy up, but they tend to have the opposite effect.

>81 humouress: I've read and commented on Heather's (souloftherose) threads for the last few years, and one or two others occasionally as well. That's probably where you know me from.

I was talking with my Mum today about Spark Joy, the follow-on from The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying. Apparently it's a much more practical guide, I think I'm desperate enough to give it a go... I've totally stalled for now. Speaking of Mum, they're visiting next week and our mess is a constant source of disappointment (even though they're just as bad). I'll probably do a frantic tidy the day before and then pretend I just had a quick whip round and that the residual level of mess has been the norm. Who am I kidding???

Mother-in-law situation got worse last weekend when she got offended and cross that I hadn't told her straight away about a meeting with school to get special needs funding for the extra support our son is getting. I've stewed on it all week and today decided to "unfriend" her on Facebook so I have more freedom to say what I've been up to without the comeback/stalking (it's not the first time there have been issues). Of course, now I'm worried how she'll react when she figures it out.

Jo : re cleaning and decluttering: I love this website www.flylady.org Check out the babysteps. You can do anything in 15 minutes a day! I think there's even an essay about frantic cleaning for company.

>83 streamsong: thanks, I've been having a read...

on the comic side, have a look at this review of Spark Joy

Happy weekend, Jo. Sorry to hear about your MIL issues.

>85 Ameise1: ah, he looks like he's enjoying the sun! More than can be said for us at the moment - we're in the middle of severe weather warnings for heavy rain.

15) Fortunately, The Milk

This was a Christmas present for my 5 year old son. Unfortunately it proved to be too scary for him and we had to stop after a half a dozen pages (he is very easily scared for his age, we can't even watch Disney movies). However, by that point I was quite into it, so I carried on. It really is excellent. Basically, a dad goes out for milk but takes a very long time, when he returns home he tells his kids a tall tale about how he's escaped from various situations, usually thanks to the milk he'd just bought. The adventures keep coming. The illustrations are great. And it breaks up easily into sections for reading a little at a time. I don't think my boy will be ready for it for a while yet, but I can't wait until he is.

I have a dilemma: I've been reading Waiting For The Wild Beasts To Vote for weeks now, and I'm just getting slower and slower. I started off loving it but I'm getting bored now so that I'm reluctant to even pick it up. So, do I persevere? Or call it a day? I always feel terrible about giving up on a book, like it's me that's failed somehow... Has anyone else read it? Are the last 150 pages worth it?

Jo, weather here in Switzerland is not much better than yours.

>86 eclecticdodo: My boys both had nightmares (literally) after watching Scooby Doo cartoons at their respective ages of 4.

Fortunately, the Milk was one that I bought for myself. Actually, I may have bought it for my boys to start with, but when I brought it home and looked at that gorgeous shiny cover, I got selfish :0)

It would probably suit my older boy, who's at the stage of being embarassed by parents, but I don't want to tarnish my image in my 7 year old's eyes, who still seems to think parents are cool.

>86 eclecticdodo: Yep, I've got that one on Charlie's shelves, but I'm waiting until he's a bit older than his current 7 years. He, too, is easily spooked. It's an excellent book, though, no?

>86 eclecticdodo: Sorry to hear that was a bit scary but glad you enjoyed it!

>87 eclecticdodo: I feel like I've given up on lots of books so far this year - generally I find that if I push myself to finish them then I don't end up enjoying them.

Have a happy weekend.

Bleugh! Half term holidays - it's been a hard week. Reuben doesn't cope with being out of routine so there have been a lot of meltdowns. And my parents have been visiting the last few days too which adds it's own pressures. I've hardly had any time for reading, or anything else for that matter. Still, we've had fun (highlights include cooking pancakes on an open fire in the woods, going to the theatre, and a visit to school to see the new sensory room in preparation for Monday; lows are the meltdowns and an unfortunate injury at soft play resulting in a lot of blood and a very fat lip). We're nearly there now, and Andy has taken him off for a model railway show while I have a couple of hours to myself.

>89 humouress:, >90 scaifea:, >91 souloftherose: yes it's an excellent book. Thank you Heather for the gift.

>91 souloftherose: I've decided I'm not giving up on Waiting For The Wild Beasts To Vote just yet, but I am putting it down for a couple of weeks. In the mean time I've started Blue Shoes And Happiness for a little light relief. Thanks once again for the loan. I'm also listening to Mother Of Eden on audiobook which is very good but quite thought provoking and hard for me in places due to some of the themes. Perhaps I just overdid it on the heavier fiction all in one go.

>92 DianaNL: Thanks, I'm loving these pictures.

Right. I'm off to warm up (it's cold, and I've been sitting still at the computer for too long). Then I'm going for a run.

Hah - I know that one! My boys have been back at school only for two weeks now, and my seven year old is still out of routine after their long break. He keeps declaring, with no room for discussion, that he is not going to do his class today. He doesn't seem to understand that he doesn't have a choice. Well, putting my foot down is working ...slowly.

>94 humouress: you have my sympathies....

well, I didn't get out for that run until 3pm in the end. I spent a good couple of hours in bed with a hot water bottle warming up and catching up on some sleep first. It felt good!

Aaaah no brain function. I've stupidly run out of antipsychotics so feeling rather off tonight. The doc did me a prescription over the phone this afternoon but, what with the not being able to think straight, I forgot to collect it. Doh! Probably going to be another sleepless night. I ran 15 minutes straight today and finished reading (listening to) Mother Of Eden but I can't string coherent thoughts together for even a short reviews. Back to school went well today, albeit a half day for the regular child psychologist appointment. He's inherited it from me. Time for bed before the intrusive thoughts take over, I'm always worse when I'm tired.

Feel better soon, Jo.

Sorry to hear about half term and the meds. Hoping you can get your prescriptions today and feel better soon.

>98 Ameise1:, >99 souloftherose: Thanks.

Got the meds this morning. Was planning on hanging out in the library next to the doctors while they kicked in then getting on with my day but that didn't quite work out so ended up just home in bed the whole time Reuben was at school. I'm beginning to return to planet normal now - HAH! ok, I'll never be normal, but I am at least back to functioning. I'm thinking I'll be fine tomorrow. I'd better be because Reuben has Wednesday mornings off school still so I can't just go back to bed. Still, worst case scenario: he watches too much TV while I doze on the sofa. It won't kill him. Time for bed now. I'll try to get to a write up of Mother Of Eden tomorrow. In the mean time I started A Wayne In A Manger for some light entertainment.

16) Mother Of Eden by Chris Beckett

This is the sequel to Dark Eden but does not follow on directly from the first book, instead several generations have passed and those events are now surrounded by their own folklore and mythology. Essentially it's a peasant-girl-marries-prince storyline to start with, but then things go awry. As with the first book it is very thought provoking while still being entirely fantasy. By reimagining society on an alien world the reader is led to think about our own society and world in different ways.

17) Getting Past The First 30 Seconds by Julie Creffield

A short book from the creator TooFatToRun.co.uk, a website for plus size runners. It's basically a 5 point magazine article padded out to fill a short book. All valid points as to why it's so tempting to give up running almost as soon as you start, but hardly book-worthy. I'm glad I didn't pay for it.

18) A Wayne In A Manger by Gervase Phinn

A book of anecdotes and the occasional poem, from an OFSTED schools inspector and former teacher, all themed around Christmas. Some bits are laugh out loud funny, some kind of sad, and some just not that interesting. It has been a fun diversion when I needed something light.

19) All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein (can't make the touchstone work....)

This is a short story about time travel, not to be confused with the short story compilation of the same name. Also, there are no zombies. Instead we have a snake eating it's own tail story of the recruitment of a time operative. As I've come to expect from Heinlein, it is excellent. He takes a "what if" scenario and plays it through to it's conclusions, with some interesting commentary on gender in for the mix. Very good.

Glad you're feeling better. It looks like everyone's going through the wars, in one way or another. When you hit Planet Normal, send us out a lifeline, would you :0)

I like the sound of your books (except 17). Maybe one day, when I've conquered Mt TBR...

20) The Mousehole Cat

A real blast from the past. My husband picked this up in a charity shop for our son but I didn't really remember more than the cover until I read it this evening. It was first published when I was about 9 (although the story is from local folklore). It's about a cat, Mowzer, and her human, Tom. There is a great and prolonged storm and the Cornish village of Mousehole (pronounced Mowzel) is on the verge of starvation because no-one can get out to sea to fish. Tom finally succeeds in his attempts to fish thanks to Mowzer's singing and purring which calm the great storm-cat so as to give them safe passage. The villagers guide their return to harbour with dozens of lanterns. Everyone is saved, just in time for Christmas. The illustrations are lovely, and the story sweet. As it says at the end of the book, people still go to Mousehole today to see the lanterns. This book reminded me of summer holidays in Cornwall's beautiful little fishing villages.

>101 eclecticdodo: Mother of Eden does sound interesting - I had thought it was a science fiction series rather than fantasy though?

>107 souloftherose: I think I meant fantasy in the sense of made up, not the genre. I think. Or I was just having an odd 5 minutes. It is science fiction in that it's set on an alien planet. No real science though, they're basically an iron-age civilisation in many respects (EDIT to give examples: in the first book they invent shoes, and by the second they have wheeled carts), stranded by space travellers generations ago but without any of the technology that got them there. It's a very interesting set up.

>108 eclecticdodo: Ah, ok. That makes sense.

21) The Hairy Dieters: Good Eating

Third cookbook from the Hairy Bikers since they went into healthy eating. Not stupidly low calorie or low fat, just good everyday food without the lashings of butter and oil usually found in published recipes. I bought it for the Swedish meatballs as my son is obsessed with the cafe at the local "Big Blue Shop". There are lots of other delicious looking recipes here too including a few gluten free (buckwheat pancakes anyone?) and some yummy curries.

>109 souloftherose: I'm glad it made sense, I seem to be having a bit of a day week of being permanently confused....

After a late night last night, ironically because I was too tired to go up to bed, and a long session of story reading at 2am for a frightened little boy, I did hardly anything today. I slept, and I read, and I slept, and I read. Before I knew it it was school pickup time. But I've made up for the inactivity by being on the go ever since. I'm putting off going to bed again, this time because I have a funeral tomorrow for a friend. I know she is in glory, pain free, with God, but it's still rather sad that we won't see her again. I'm also a bit worried because some of our mutual friends aren't believers and this will basically be their first church service and I don't know what they'll make of it. I know... let go and let God....

>111 eclecticdodo: Praying for the funeral today.

The funeral was lovely, a real celebration of Mary's life. We laughed, we cried, we sighed. Our non-Christian friends seemed a little shell-shocked but that's also because they're waiting for a biopsy result later today.

Oh crap, my friend has breast cancer. And double crap, I'm being really selfish mainly obsessing about my own illness last year and how I forgot to phone for my test results today (they'd have called me in if anything had changed, wouldn't they?).

A friend told me last night how impressed she is with how positive I am through everything that's happened. But you guys know differently...

>114 eclecticdodo: I think it's very understandable for that news to spark anxiety over your own situation and feeling that way doesn't mean you care less for your friend or that you're selfish. I think they'd have called if there were any concerns about your test results too. Thinking of you.

Sending you good wishes.

>115 souloftherose:, >116 humouress: Thank you. I got my blood results this morning and (of course) I'm still clear, so that's one thing off my mind.

Horray, for the results. Happy weekend, Jo.

>117 eclecticdodo: That's a relief. Hope you have a better weekend.

22) Don't Swallow Your Gum

An ok book debunking various myths about the human body. Mostly light diversion but with a more serious section on the vaccines-cause-autism fraud. I found it a little light on the science personally, I would have preferred more depth on a narrower range of subjects.

>118 Ameise1:, >119 souloftherose: Thanks. I'm a bit calmer and more positive this evening. My friend has her double mastectomy on Tuesday. Her and her twin sister (also my friend) are celebrating their birthdays tomorrow so I'm hoping we can make it a positive time through all the stress.

I ran the craft at coffee morning today. We made flying butterflies out of old plastic bottles. Here's one of mine:

Glad the blood results were clear and best wishes for your friend's surgery.

>121 eclecticdodo: Wow, that looks lovely!

>117 eclecticdodo: That is good news Jo but your friend will need plenty of support following her major surgery. I am a twin myself and am not really sure if there is truth in the old wives' tale about feeling the symptoms when your twin is sick - it does seem though that if I am down in the dumps he will invariably call me and vice versa.

Have a lovely weekend.

>122 ronincats: Thanks Roni

>123 souloftherose: Thanks Heather, it's actually really simple, you just use sharpies to trace a butterfly onto the plastic (it's best to cut the bottles roughly to size first so the curve isn't too cumbersome), then colour it in and cut out, then double sided sticky tape to attach it to a long strip of the same plastic so it flies. Some of the ladies did birds instead, but you know me, it has to be butterflies....

>124 PaulCranswick: Yes Paul, I think it's actually harder on the twin who is well in some ways. The cancer has been caused by rounds of radiotherapy for another cancer in their teens. The sick twin got all the sympathy and all the counselling that goes with childhood cancer, while the well teen watched their lives fall apart. It's one of the causes behind some long lasting mental health issues, and now she's petrified it's all going to happen again. Not to say it's harder to watch than go through it, honestly, I know what it's like to go through at least these early stages, but they're both suffering terribly right now and only one has that recognised by the majority. Cancer sucks.

On a lighter note, I bought books....
The Fox And The Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith on a recommendation from LT (I can't remember who though....)
And Plainsong by Kent Haruf which I couldn't decide on but the lady in the bookshop swung me

23) The Fox And The Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith

This is a beautiful picture book, written and illustrated by an experienced illustrator who finally got the chance to publish her own book instead of pictures for other people's. The story is about a fox who loves star, but star disappears, fox is sad, eventually lots of stars appear and he knows his star is among them somewhere. When reading it to my son it brought up conversation about our recent bereavements, but in a positive way.

24) Waiting For The Wild Beasts To Vote by Ahmadou Kourouma

I started reading this book quite a few weeks ago and loved it at first, but three quarters of the way through was getting a little bored. Well, yesterday I picked it up again and have devoured the last 100 pages. It is the history of a dictator in Francophone Africa, as told in a traditional story-telling ceremony held in his honour. It would be laughable if it weren't so close to the truth. It is rather hard going in places, but worth the investment I think.

>126 eclecticdodo: I loved The Fox and the Star. Glad you are a fan too!

>127 thornton37814: Ah yes, it was you who recommended it - I knew it was someone here but couldn't place who. Thank you very much. It's been a very popular book, I asked my local bookshop about it a few weeks ago and they said they and all their suppliers had run out but it was being reprinted, and hey presto, fresh off the press I got a copy this weekend.

25) The Incredible Years by Carolyn Webster-Stratton

This is a parenting book written by an expert in child development and behaviour (a phd) and so I give it more weight than many other parenting books; suggestions are based on established research rather than anecdote. It is focused on ages 3 to 8, with chapters on various aspects of your child's development. I found the part on supporting children learning to regulate their emotion very helpful. Other sections had useful bits, but overall I'd say it is the sort of book one would dip in and out of for the areas relevant to your situation, rather than read cover to cover.

>128 eclecticdodo: I'm glad it's doing so well.

26) Blue Shoes And Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith

Book 7 in the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency Series. The agency deals with a superstition, blackmail, and fraud. As usual, I enjoy the slow style and even Mma Ramotswe's moralising.

I wish you a wonderful weekend, Jo.

>132 Ameise1: Ah, thank you, I'm having a wonderful weekend so far. Today was the Bristol Women's Conference, an event for Christian Women in the region. I may have fallen asleep in the first talk (oops) but the seminars and second main talk were very good. And the book stall was to die for... I bought 11 books! Tonight I've enjoyed a lovely dinner (which I cooked) and a bottle of wine. And tomorrow is mothers' day

books acquired:
1) Old Wives Tales by Claire Heath-Whyte
2) First Wives Club by Claire Heath-Whyte
3) Duties Of Parents by J C Ryle
4) True Friendship by Vaughan Roberts
5) Intentional by Paul Williams
6) Incomparable by Andrew P Wilson
7) Take Heart by Kate Hurley
8) When Cancer Interrupts by David Powlinson
9) Protecting Children From Abuse In The Church by Basyle Tchividjian
10) Recovering From Child Abuse by David Powlinson
11) Galatians: The Life I Live Now by Peter Mead

plus 2 I got this week from Abe books, which I've read before from the library but wanted to reread: Beyond Chocolate and Beyond Temptation by Audrey Boss & Sophie Boss

I had an afternoon reading. Only semi-relaxing due to the nature of the reading material... very challenging and at the same time helpful:

27) Recovering From Child Abuse

A short booklet. The first I've seen on the subject which directs the reader in a helpful Bible study.

28) Protecting Children From Abuse In The Church

A short booklet with (disturbing) information about how abusers access and select their victims as well as practical steps to protect children, and helpful suggestions on how to respond to a disclosure without causing further hurt.

29) When Cancer Interrupts

Another short booklet, written by an experienced counsellor and cancer survivor. I wish I'd had this back in the autumn. Having said that I still found it very useful for thinking about issues after the event.

>134 eclecticdodo: That looks like important but extremely heavy reading for a weekend, Jo.

Have a lovely Sunday.

>135 PaulCranswick: a touch too heavy... so let's lighten things up a bit:

30) Where's Will? Find Shakespeare hidden in his plays

A fun book combining graphic illustrated synopses of 10 key Shakespeare plays with Where's Wally (Where's Waldo in the US) style puzzles. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's had the desired effect of making me want to reread some Shakespeare, plus it kept no1 son occupied for half an hour just looking at the pictures

31) Intentional by Paul Williams
(touchstone won't work http://www.librarything.com/work/17396500)

A short and encouraging book subtitled "evangelism that takes people to Jesus". It starts by reminding the reader the importance of evangelism but also the need for spirit led change as opposed to clever arguments and apologetics. The author suggests answering any question from a seeker by going immediately to what Jesus says on the subject so that it naturally follows on to speak about the cross. There are several helpful worked examples. He also suggests making a point of never being stumped by the same question twice - there is no shame in not knowing the answer first time, but that should prompt us to do some research for next time.

32) First Wives Club by Clare Heath-Whyte

The lives of ordinary women are seldom recorded in history. One way to get around this is to look at the wives of prominent men. In this book we meet wives of some of the great reformers of the 16th century: Luther, Zwingli, Zell, Calvin, and Oecolampadius, Capito and Bucer; there is also a chapter on Argula Von Grumbach who made a name for herself through prolific letter writing. Each of these women is fascinating in different ways and their stories are often moving. At the end of each chapter is a short study prompting the reader to compare that lady to a passage of scripture.

A book I finished a while ago but I've been digesting my thoughts:

33) Relationships: A Mess Worth Making by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp

A detailed book about Christian attitudes to relationships - why we need them, why they are hard, their purpose, how to have better ones, and most importantly how we can serve God and man through them. I bought the book after attending a series of talks by one of the authors because I wanted more detail; I certainly wasn't disappointed. Relationships are messy, but God, in his providence, can use even the most hopeless-seeming ones to bring about good. It has made me realise that beneath my Christian veneer, my attitude to relationships is still often about what I can get out, not how I can glorify God through the situations I find myself in. Whether it is forgiving an abuser, persevering with a challenging personality clash, reaching out to someone new, or just spending time around people when everything in my introvert character is crying out to be alone.

I'm very worried tonight. I have a nasty cold. And my anxiety is reaching new heights, leading to further anxiety that I'm heading for a major depressive episode, since that often seems to follow. I'm trying to arrange a meds review, but in the meantime, thank goodness for lorazepam.

Yesterday I helped on a school trip to the local city farm. It was kind of fun but utterly exhausting. As you know, Reuben doesn't cope with new situations, fortunately we've been there loads before, so it wasn't all new, and I was there, but he still found it pretty tough. As soon as we got back to school I took him home rather than risk meltdowns in the last half hour. We got home and I literally curled up in the armchair and fell asleep, only waking to put my password in the computer to let him exceed his usual daily allowance of screen time. Thank goodness for TV.

My DBS certificate* came through so I'm now "the new Mary" taking over from my friend who died by running the welcome desk at church toddler group twice a week. The group was such a lifeline for me in difficult times so it's nice to be able to help out.

*DBS=disclosure and barring service, basically a check that you're safe to work with vulnerable people in this case children

>139 eclecticdodo: Take good care of yourself Jo. I think you need some TLC and a good book just as much as Beecham's Powders.

Thanks Paul. I'm feeling a bit more positive now, partly because my cold is much improved, and partly due to reading the below

34) Take Heart by Kate Hurley

A Christian book aimed at parents of disabled children and those wishing to support them. Each section looks at a particular topic (for example: the image of God; brokenness; God is in control; prayer) in light of scripture and how it relates to disability, followed by one or two personal stories related to the issue. The brief chapters get to the point without unnecessary wordiness and the personal stories further illuminate. Quite a few of them are about children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, a likely option for my son when he gets diagnosed, so I found those even more helpful. The main point that has stayed with me is how our often strained relationship with our son is a picture of how God feels about me - I am stubborn, wilfully disobedient, struggle to relate to my heavenly father, fail to see things as they are, get overwhelmed by circumstances, fixate on minor details, have emotional meltdowns... all that and more... and yet God loves me unconditionally, far more than I could ever love my son. What a privilege to be given such insights.

35) Plainsong by Kent Haruf

A lovely story of family and community. We meet various residents of the town of Holt and see them through the personal crises of their lives. The dialog is written in a curious style which took a little getting used to, but I think it suits the story. It is in no way twee but will leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling nonetheless. Family is about more than just blood, family is community, and with it we can achieve anything. Religion isn't mentioned at all but it reminded me of my church family in the way we care for each other cross culturally and cross generationally.

>138 eclecticdodo: That one sounds intriguing.

Have a wonderful Easter.

Jo, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

>143 thornton37814: it's well worth reading if you can track it down

>144 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul. A lovely reminder of what the long weekend is about.

>145 Ameise1: Thank you Barbara. Reuben had an Easter egg hunt at school yesterday. The chocolate eggs weren't nearly as pretty but are more popular with the kids.

I'm currently home with Reuben while Andy records and broadcasts the church service. We decided open communion would be a bit too tricky for a 5 year old to understand and keep quiet. I'm also hugging a hot water bottle due to recurrence of the severe pain that has prompted several hospital visits. I had my monthly blood tests last week so I know it is just the ovarian cysts again rather than a return of choriocarcinoma but it's flipping painful and very frustrating when we had a family day out planned.

Sorry to hear that you are in pain. I hope it's getting better soon. Hugs xx

>147 Ameise1: Thank you. I'm getting rather fed up with it now.

((((Hugs))). Hope it gets better soon so you can enjoy this special holiday. Any plans?

Nice review of Plainsong. I have had a copy on MT TBR for several years now - I really need to get to it!

>149 streamsong: Andy has taken Reuben out to "Duckland" (Reuben's name for Slimbridge bird sanctuary on the Severn estuary). They will have a great time. The weather is glorious. And there's "welly boot land" there for kids to splash in lots of puddles, as well as all the other attractions. I had been hoping to go too, but I'm going to content myself with sitting on the sofa instead. I might even sit in the garden for a bit to enjoy the weather, although I should probably get dressed first!

The weather for the rest of the long weekend and most of next week looks shocking so I'm not sure what we're going to be doing. I must make plans to keep no.1 son amused. Then the second week of the school holidays we're off to a Christian conference in north Wales called Word Alive (the same conference where I heard the author of Relationships: A Mess Worth Making talk last year. I've been getting quite anxious about it but they released the detailed program yesterday so we're able to start planning a bit more now.

36) Angry Children by Michael R Emlet

A short but helpful Christian booklet on dealing with an angry child. The main focus is the heart issues at the root of anger and differentiating between sinful and not sinful behaviour. There is an acknowledgement that certain factors contribute to an explosive temper, such as difficulty planning or multitasking, but very little on how to approach or overcome them. For this reason I would say it is not as helpful as I have come to expect from the series.

Despite the pain I had a pleasant afternoon in the garden reading, watching our guinea pigs, and playing with next door's cat. It was beautifully sunny and I didn't get cold (could have something to do with the blanket and hot water bottle). Time for bed now....

Pain is worse again today, and I'm bloated. If it's not improving tomorrow I'll need to get seen, no more excuses. I'm petrified. I can't face it all again. I'm already struggling mentally because last Easter is when I got pregnant with the first ectopic, and so began my year from hell. I've spent the day telling people I'm fine because I want it to be true.

Being realistic: I had the choriocarcinoma followup check last week, they'd have called if it wasn't all clear. That test means I can't be pregnant. I've been too tired to be strict about gluten contamination in the kitchen so the bloating could be that. And I've had similar pains every month since October. I'm probably over-reacting again. I need to stay positive.

Oh dear, sorry for the panic last night. Thanks to those who sent me messages. I'm quite a bit better today.

Well that was an exciting day! I managed to drive into the middle of an incident with armed police. They were closing roads off all around and I somehow got stuck in the middle, where they were suiting and arming up and starting to climb over walls. No-one locally is saying what it was about, and it doesn't seem to have hit the news, so it was probably something and nothing. Still, pretty dramatic. *For those not in the UK - it is very unusual to see armed police here, only the second time in my life I think, outside of airports and Buckingham Palace.

It's school holidays so I've been rushed off my feet. I haven't even managed much audiobook listening while standing around at the park. We're off on holiday Saturday so I'm hoping to get some done then.

37) Romans: Momentous News by David Cook

A book of 50 undated daily devotions based on the book of Romans. Each day has you read a short passage and then gives some interpretation and questions for further thought. This is the first I've used in the series and I found it very helpful. It's taken me 3 months to do 50 days, but the beauty of undated is that I can pick up where I left off rather than have an ever growing list of catching up to do.

I don't know if it's too tricky to see, but I'm posting the existing and proposed drawings for our house.

We're planning a loft conversion to create a third bedroom, and side return extension to create a larger kitchen which will be open to the dining room.

At the moment it's a fairly typical Victorian terraced house, like thousands of others in our neighbourhood.

What do you think?

PROPOSED


EXISTING

Oh, wow - the house plan looks great! Is there a library? :)

Books stored in the loft, Jo? Plans are not extremely clear but house renovation is always exciting and something my company does on a daily basis.

Relieved to see that you are feeling much better despite your narrow scrape with Cody and Doyle.

Have a lovely weekend.

Wow, this house plan looks amazingly. Wishing you a painfree relaxed weekend, Jo.

>158 drneutron: we sort of have a library already, in that our dining room is lined with bookshelves. No cozy armchair though.

>159 PaulCranswick:, >160 Ameise1:, not only have I had a lovely pain free weekend, I've had a week on holiday!

We got back yesterday from Word Alive, a Christian conference in North Wales where Reuben did a kids club and we had great Bible teaching. We had plenty of family time too which was brilliant. When we went last year the weather was atrocious (several of the marquees were badly damaged by strong winds and it rained constantly) but this year was lovely so we spent a lot of time outside. Reuben coped really well with being away from home, I think because it was familiar from last year. Now I'm home and shattered, I should be cleaning because my parents are due to arrive for a visit any time now....

One of the many things I love about the Word Alive event is the book stall.... I did buy quite a few:
1) Unreached
2) Honest Evangelism
3) Money Counts
4) Spurgeon's Sorrows
5) A Heart Set Free
6) Deep Magic, Dragons, And Talking Mice
7) Table Talk 1
8) Table Talk 2
9) Esther: Silent But Sovereign
10) Ezekiel: For His Glory
11) Mark: The Suffering Servant
12) Making Church Accessible To All

And I was given some too:
13) Through Changing Scenes
14) The War On Terror: How Should Christians Respond
15) Tortured For Christ
16) Prosperity: Seeking The True Gospel

Eek, my parents are here. The house is still a mess, but they're being kind about it. They've come with the cooker from my Gran's house since it was going spare and ours is on it's last legs, so we're going to be fitting it tomorrow. We've prepared our son pretty well for the change and I think it will go ok, he certainly doesn't seem anxious about it now. I guess we'll see when he and I get back from our morning in the park.

Usual negative comments abound about Reuben ("he's seems to be behaving a bit less badly", "he doesn't have many friends, but then nobody wants a friend who's going to hit them just because he's tired", "you're going to have to be careful about...x, y, z"). I try to focus on the positives but they bring me right down. We've had a lovely week. Only a couple of meltdowns and they were fairly predictable, if unavoidable. I do have a bad bruise on my wrist where I got bitten but he was absolutely devastated to have caused it. He settled into the morning kids group really quickly and participated well. We helped look after various friends children at different points and he was delightful with them, particularly the babies.

One of Reuben's favourite things on holiday was the go-carts. Take a look at this picture. You can see the "chalets" and one of the marquees in the background:

Glad to hear that you had a wonderful holiday, Jo. Happy weekend.

Love your house plans! Are you expecting to build soon?

I'm glad to see Reuben in the go cart having such a good time. That must have warmed your heart.

I know you've done a lot of reading on autism and Reuben's situation. Could you get your Mom to read something that would give her a bit more insite into the situation?

I can't remember if I've shared this one with you before. I really loved it while dealing with all the chaos caused by my son's problems. http://www.our-kids.org/archives/Holland.html

Look for the tulips. And the Rembrandt's. (How cool that you have some in the post right above mine!)

>166 streamsong: Thank you. I like the Holland analogy. The thing is, my Mum has done a fair bit of reading, but she still sees things in terms of Reuben fitting into her way of life, not so much being flexible to his needs. His bad behaviour is an inconvenience and embarrassment, and he is being silly when he gets worked up over what she considers to be a minor issue. Case in point, the cooker today - we swapped them over and he was fine, but when we started loading the old cooker into the car he got sad, and mum just told him to stop being silly and stop the "crocodile tears", really unhelpfully denying his feelings, so of course he got angry. I spend too much time defending him and by extension defending our parenting. Oh, it's not all bad, it's just hard work.

The house plans are going to take a while yet. We still need building control to agree, then we sort the specification, then get a builder, and schedule the works.

So, we had another shooting last night at the pub 100m away. The last one (same place) was in May. It hasn't hit the news yet. I'm really not worried though. Am I too relaxed?

>162 eclecticdodo: That is an impressive book haul!

>163 eclecticdodo: & >167 eclecticdodo: Sorry your parents aren't really being supportive :-(

>168 eclecticdodo: Well, I can't see that worrying will help so if you're not worried then don't try to make yourself worried!

>169 souloftherose: So many good books, so little time.

Mum & Dad have gone now. I think I was finding it harder than normal due to being tired from the holiday. It does open my eyes though to some more aspects of my childhood.

Re not worrying about the shooting - I think there are two factors, 1 these things generally don't happen to innocent bystanders*, and 2 our God is a mighty sovereign, nothing will happen that is beyond his control. I love this area, warts and all, and I want to show God's love to our neighbours.

*not that I am in any way saying the person deserved to be shot, simply that these attacks invariably take place against someone within the "scene", and we just aren't in that world, despite being surrounded by it.

38 True Friendship by Vaughan Roberts

A short book on the hallmarks of friendship between Christians. Like all good evangelicals, Roberts uses alliteration: true friendship is crucial, close, constant, candid, careful, and Christ centred. This really is a challenge to the way we often do friendship, particularly the temptation towards shallow, safe, relationships.

Bizarrely the road closure very near us (on the road our dead-end comes off) has been extended from 9 weeks to 9 months! Network Rail are replacing the road bridge over the railway line but my dear Andy is very keen to point out it's nothing to do with his department. It's actually been quite good for us, a mild inconvenience travelling some places, but it's normally a rat run, especially in rush hour, so we've had much more pleasant walks to school.

I have a stinking cold. I was hoping to go to a Bible Study this morning but have decided to keep my germs to myself and try to rest and recover. Tonight we're supposed to be going to a Stuart Townend concert. He's a Christian singer songwriter, worship leader, and as my son calls him - the singing farmer:

Happy Sunday, Jo. Our street was now during 8 months under constructions and will be finished next week. And now on the way to school roads are closed and diverted. So I can stress-free travel by bicycle.

>173 Ameise1: It's lovely isn't it? Makes you wish we could redesign our cities to be car free. My husband grew up mostly in a new town (called Bracknell) which was designed for bikes and pedestrians, it didn't quite work as well as intended, but was pretty good.

Thanks once again for a lovely picture. What birds are they do you know?

Well I went out on Friday night despite my cold, and had a great time! It was part concert, part a chance for Stuart to share a little about his motivation and theology behind the music he writes, and wholly praise and worship of our wonderful God. Andy was a steward and fire warden but didn't have a specific role unless there was an emergency (there wasn't) so he got to be with me and his sister which was nice. Earlier in the evening I had dropped Reuben off with his cousins and my brother-in-law looked after the 3 of them solo for the evening. It went surprisingly well, and they were all asleep at about 10pm (not bad given the excitement levels). We all went back to theirs to sleep so we were there for Reuben when he woke in the morning. This Saturday night Andy is working again overnight, and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law are going out, so I'll be sleeping at their house looking after the three kids on my own. I'm hoping it goes ok.

I'm super excited today because one of my best friends is coming to Bristol tomorrow to visit me for a couple of days. I have some plans for our time but mostly we'll just be hanging out enjoying each other's company. It's so hard being so far away from close friends. I don't make new friends easily and it seems whenever I do get close they end up moving away too (my psychologist would no doubt have a lot to say about early childhood experiences and feelings of abandonment....).

I hope you are all having a fab weekend.

I've been having lots of early nights with this cold, hence the lack of completed books, but I have been reading some interesting ones - more to follow when I'm done.

What have you all been reading?

These are white storks, Jo. They are making their nests around here now.

I thought so, but didn't want to display my ignorance. I remember seeing them when I travelled through Germany to Eastern Europe. Am I right that it's considered good luck to have one on your chimney? I can't remember which country it was, but we were amazed by huge tractor tyres on roofs to encourage them to nest there.

Well, it's said that if you have one on your roof the woman of the house gets pregnant. I lived five years in a house with storks on the roof and didn't get pregnant even when I would like to have. So much on this fairy tale.

ah, I guess an extension of the myth that that's where babies come from. It does seem a little silly how people will take these things seriously. But then, childlessness is so hard you'll try anything. I'm surrounded by babies and pregnant mums at the moment, particularly at church. I am happy for them, but...

39) Unreached by Tim Chester

A book about the gospel in working class and deprived communities. I would say it is aimed primarily at those from middle class backgrounds since it starts with a description of the ways in which those communities differ. There is a call to culturally appropriate evangelism and discipleship within communities; what precisely does indigenous church look like in a council estate/deprived inner city/mining town/etc? The book highlights the bias towards middle class characteristics when selecting for leadership roles, but it is a little ironic that the book itself is aimed at encouraging just such leaders and pioneers to work in these areas rather than home-grown leadership. There is also a chapter at the end on non-bookish ways of learning, helpfully pointing out that the gospel should be Word centred, not necessarily book centred, and certainly not an English comprehension exercise. As a book person, from a basically middle class background, it's good to have some of these differences spelled out for me in a way that I can understand.

40) The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman

An okay book on stoicism and its various modern manifestations as an alternative to positive thinking. It's quite interesting in places, but not great by any means.

41) Tales Of Mystery And Magic by Hugh Lupton

A children's picture book offering English retellings of traditional stories from around the world. The version I borrowed from the library had an audio cd of the author reading them which was a nice touch. It is nice to have some new and different stories for a change, since most collections tend to be the same classics repeated. They are all good, some rather dark.

I bought two new books today: M Shed Bristol Museum and Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Highlights 2015. Both bargains from the M Shed museum shop. That means I've still got more new books than ones I've read this year, and some of those I've read have been borrowed too. This is not good. On the other hand - Yay, more books!

We're heading into a bank holiday weekend and I've got lots of plans.

Tomorrow as part of Bristol Food Connections festival there's a trail round 5 breweries within a mile of our house (2 at the bottom of the road) so we'll be doing that as a family - I'm hoping at least one will be serving cider....

Sunday between church services we're off to Berkeley Castle for a friend's daughter's birthday party.

And Monday I'm meeting up with the Mad Mums (a group of us who met in the mother & baby psychiatric unit after our kids were born), probably somewhere outdoorsy but not yet decided.

What are your plans?

>182 eclecticdodo: That does look like a pretty full weekend, Jo. A family brewery tour sounds great but I couldn't do it with a brother who is an alcoholic, a sister who is close to being one and my in-laws all very anti-drink on account of their perceptions of the teaching of islam. My own belief that drunkenness not drinking is what is frowned upon would have me itcing to join your family for the day!

Meetings, movies and Middlemarch are on my own agenda.

>183 PaulCranswick: yes, that's my thinking on alcohol too. I think it's a little easier for Christians to see it that way given Jesus' first recorded miracle (water into wine). Sadly the walk never happened - Husband took son to a model railway exhibition in the morning and they got so engrossed in their own models in the afternoon that we didn't go out. On the bright side, I have a bottle of cider here. Hope your meetings go well and that you are able to still have a relaxing time.

We watched Star Wars episode 7 last night. I think it stands up well to a second viewing, so long as you don't take it too seriously. We watched a hilarious youtube video of all the plot holes afterwards though.

42) Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Highlights 2015

As always an amazing selection of images. Most are beautiful though some show the more harrowing side of wildlife and particularly our interaction with it. I always go to the annual exhibition of the competition when it tours to Tring Natural History Museum but the hardback book produced each year is too expensive to justify collecting them. This paperback is a great alternative.

43) The Book Thief by Mark Zusak

What a wonderful book. Narrated by Death, we read the story of a young girl in wartime Germany. The setting really does make the story. There is rather a lot of death in it which could make uncomfortable reading for some but I found it enjoyable and really quite helpfully sombre. The audiobook version I listened to was excellently read by Allan Corduner.

44) M Shed Bristol Museum

We're at the museum almost every week but going round at 5 year old speed I rarely get the chance to read much of the information. The book was interesting, highlighting some of the main themes and notable exhibits. The museum focusses mainly on social history of the city, told through everyday objects and ordinary people. I really recommend it for a visit - there's free entry, and this guidebook is only £1 so it's a great budget friendly outing.

#186 The Book Thief has been sat on my TBR for a while must read it at some point.

>184 eclecticdodo: Ooh, YouTube link, please!!

>189 ronincats: it's this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6_zvQQ5P8w

45) Esther: Silent but sovereign

A book of undated devotions, part of a series which I am finding to be very reliable, this book goes through the book of Esther. I had the privilege of attending a women's retreat where the author did a series of talks on Esther, so I expected this book to be good, and it was. The book of Esther is unique in the Bible as being the only book not to talk about God, however the title is apt and God's sovereignty can clearly be seen throughout. Carolyn provides a good amount of background information to aid interpreting the text, as well as helpfully prompting the reader to speculate as to characters' thoughts and feelings.

I've been toying with adding a new category to my fiction challenge for the year - a graphic novel adaptation - and spotted the perfect book at the library on Monday

46) Sita's Ramayana by Samhita Arni and Moyna Chitrakar

An adaptation of the traditional Sanskrit tale, told uniquely in not just graphic novel format but also from the woman's perspective. The text is perfectly pitched, to explain what is going on but without overwhelming the stunning artwork. As one unfamiliar with the character names it could sometimes be a little confusing remembering who was who, so the authors helpfully included diagrams of how each of them is related. The story in this telling strongly promotes women's rights which was much more positive than the original. A beautiful and fascinating book.