TGIF: Comfort Reads

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Comfort Reads: Which books do you go to for comfort & familiarity?   Is there a type of book you seek out when you're needing that extra bit of comfort in your life?

My favourite books that I can read and re-read time and time again without getting bored, even though I already know the story, are:





All books that I love. Mostly books I read pre-twenties. Mostly character driven, introspective and/or fantasy. I would say that the books are all written with quite 'lyrical prose'? Four books are set in Japan, one is set in America and two are set in a fantasy world.

From The Review Pile: After The Snow

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After The Snow by S. D. Crockett

I've had After The Snow on my review pile for a while now and I still haven't got around to it because, well, I've heard some negative views that make me wonder if I'm going to enjoy it. The concept is great but there's quite a few others things that concern me, such as the voice, how it's told in dialect (but apparently not as well as The Knife of Never Letting Go) and the dog skull that the boy talks to a lot. Overall it seems to get 2 or 3 stars which isn't awful but also isn't great.

From Goodreads:

Fifteen-year-old Willo was out hunting when the trucks came and took his family away. Left alone in the snow, Willo becomes determined to find and rescue his family, and he knows just who to talk with to learn where they are. He plans to head across the mountains and make Farmer Geraint tell him where his family has gone. 

But on the way across the mountain, he finds Mary, a refugee from the city, whose father is lost and who is starving to death. The smart thing to do would be to leave her alone -- he doesn't have enough supplies for two or the time to take care of a girl -- but Willo just can't do it. However, with the world trapped in an ice age, the odds of them surviving on their own are not good. And even if he does manage to keep Mary safe, what about finding his family?

Page Turners: A Storm of Swords Part One

I am currently reading:

A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Marting

With the Game of Thrones TV series over for another year I'm reading ahead because I need my fix!

From Goodreads:

The Seven Kingdoms are divided by revolt and blood feud, and winter approaches like an angry beast. Beyond the Northern borders, wildlings leave their villages to gather in the ice and stone wasteland of the Frostfangs. From there, the renegade Brother Mance Rayder will lead them South towards the Wall.
Robb Stark wears his new-forged crown in the Kingdom of the North, but his defences are ranged against attack from the South, the land of House Stark’s enemies the Lannisters. His sisters are trapped there, dead or likely yet to die, at the whim of the Lannister boy-king Joffrey or his depraved mother Cersei, regent of the Iron Throne.
And Daenerys Stormborn will return to the land of her birth to avenge the murder of her father, the last Dragon King on the Iron Throne.

Sunday Catch Up

Well, this week I've mostly been working on my project and doing my work, as usual. Other than that it's not been terribly exciting. It's been really hot the last few days so I've eaten lots of ice lollies and we finally broke out the fan. The it rain on and off all day today, of course. But at least it waters my flowers for me, most of which the snails seem to have been snacking on.

My fiancé's grandmother has been very difficult today and yesterday. She's always fine with me, most likely because she doesn't really know me, but she'll be very short with her son and grandson which makes things a bit awkward, especially when all everyone is trying to do is help her and keep her safe. This is all part of the fun of taking care of an old lady with Alzheimer's. It's never anything personal, but that doesn't make it any easier either.

When my parents visited last week my mum gave us lots of different packets of instant, microwaveable Indian food that is free from additive, artificial colours, MSG etc. They're so yummy! Seriously, way better than we expected them to be. The company, Kohinoor, prides itself on being healthy and authentic, so if you see them around I urge you to give them a try.

These are the kind we've been trying:

The dahl is particularly good. My fiancé's only complaint is that "it's all a bit brown" but I suppose that's what happens when you don't add colour to things, plus it might just be the ones we've been trying. We haven't tried them all but I will buy them again if I see them. Also, yes I am the kind of person who contacts companies to tell them how yummy their food is. Last time it got me some free Quorn vouchers!

So that's about it really this week.

Something For The Weekend

Something To Read

If you're starting you own business and hoping to sell your own art, crafts or anything else then it's super important to know how to price your product in a way that means that you get a decent profit while still ensuring that your customers don't feel ripped off.

Sadly we aren't all creatively minded and not everyone feels like they have skills to sell, so how can you find work that doesn't feel like work?

With summer on the way many of you will be thinking about where to travel to, so why not check out a Mini Guide to Iceland?

Something To Do

All you need is Photoshop and a graphics tablet, then you can add your handwriting to photos.

I do love iced coffee and I know I've posted a recipe before, but here's another one. This time it's a yummy mocha frappe!

TGIF: Best I've Read So Far

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Best I've Read So Far: We're half way through the year (crazy how time flies!), which top 3 books are the best you've read so far this year?

I've read 40 books so far this year so narrowing it down to my three favourites was very difficult, mostly because I couldn't remember which ones I'd read so had to check my Goodreads reading challenge widget.

I decided to cheat a little bit and I've done my top three books that I picked and my top three books that I've had to review.

Top Three Books I've Reviewed So Far This Year:

The Emerald Atlas: Review

Ranger's Apprentice The Ruins of Gorlan: Review

The Demon's Watch: Review

Top Three Books I've Chosen To Read This Year So Far:

Habibi

A Game of Thrones

Friends With Boys

From The Review Pile: Starcrossed

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From the Review Pile is a meme hosted by Stepping Out of the Page every Thursday.The aim of this meme is to showcase books that you've received for review (or any book that you own and really want to read/review) but haven't yet got around to reading, in order to give the book some extra publicity.

This arrived yesterday. I haven't looked into it much but it sounds a little...run of the mill? Gods seem to be the new big thing in YA. We've had vampires, we've had werewolves, we've had angels, now it's time for gods and goddesses. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm cool with trends and if it's what people want then it's what they want. It only irks me a little because whenever there's a trend there are some books that are right on the money and some that are way off base. I hope that Starcrossed is right on the money. I've seen a lot of really positive reviews for it but I've also seen some that completely run it into the ground until it's nothing but dust.

So, it should be interesting.

From Goodreads:

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is--now it's getting harder. She's having nightmares of a desperate desert journey, visions of three women weeping tears of blood. And why is she possessed by the sudden, unstoppable urge to kill the handsome new boy in school, Lucas Delos?
A love written in the stars . . .
A feud started in ancient Greece . . .
A curse not even the gods can break.