bobblybear Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Welcome back, and glad you enjoyed your holiday! I loved The Sisters Brothers. I also have Ablutions by the same author, but haven't yet been in the mood to read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 I also have Ablutions by the same author, but haven't yet been in the mood to read it. Ditto this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 I finished putting up my Christmas tree today...the first time I've made one out of books. I had to keep undoing sections and redoing them after noticing that one side was leaning at a steeper angle than the other, or that the books were too thin. Using thick books certainly helps—you get the height but in fewer layers. I won't be turning the lights on for more than a few minutes at a time—don't want to risk hurting my books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Your tree is so pretty ! I am in awe . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 It looks absolutely gorgeous, and I know it must've taken you a lot of time and effort! You did well! I tried doing that a few years ago, but got nowhere... I guess it was mostly because I couldn't find enough books that were the same size to begin with. Or I got lazy about it. It would've taken me ages and it would not have looked good. How long did it take you, out of curiosity? It looks absolutely smashing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Thank you ladies. Yes, it took me ages! I worked on it on and off over several days. There was a lot of lugging books around and carefully examining my bookshelves for books that were just the right size, shape and thickness. A couple of times I had to remove several layers to fix something. Then when I finally thought it was done, I noticed that one side was leaning inwards more steeply than the other side (like a lopsided triangle), so I had to carefully wriggle some books around to fix it (like playing Jenga, but without pulling them all the way out!) I'm going to take lots of pics before I take it all down so I can recreate it exactly next year. It will be so much easier knowing exactly which books go where! My bookshelves are now a huge mess. I mostly used non-fiction books, so there are a lot of gaps in my shelves and books tilting over, not to mention piles of discarded books all over the floor! And like you, Sari, I tried to do a tree once before and didn't get anywhere. I think I was planning to use my old BSC books because I figured they were all the same size, but somehow it didn't work out. I kept referring to online photos of other trees this year to see how others did it. It's definitely better to use thick books, if you've got them, because you don't have to do as many layers to get the height you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Wow! A lot more thought goes into it than you'd think. It would take me ages to get it right I think. Your poor shelves . Are you going to leave the tree until after Christmas? It looks so pretty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Wow Kylie - that's incredible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 Wow! A lot more thought goes into it than you'd think. It would take me ages to get it right I think. Your poor shelves . Are you going to leave the tree until after Christmas? It looks so pretty! It's possible that I was overthinking it when putting the tree up. I probably made more work for myself than was necessary. I'm jealous of the book trees I've seen on the Internet that are made by libraries or bookshops. You can tell that they have heaps of copies of the same book, which must make it so much easier to make the tree! I'm definitely going to leave it up until after Christmas. I've put too much work into it to take it down too soon! I've been away all week so far and am going to see my Mum for a few days, then I'll be away over Christmas, so I won't actually be home much to enjoy it before Christmas! I might take it down early in the new year. I'd really like to get my bookshelves in order and take some new photos. It's been years since I've done it properly. Until I put the tree up, I had my non-fiction books neatly ordered, but my fiction bookshelves were a mess...and now everything's a mess! Wow Kylie - that's incredible! Aw, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 (edited) It was definitely worth the effort!! Edit: I now also want to make a Christmas tree but I have no idea what to do! I don't mean a book Christmas tree, because that would get big. I want a small one, for my window sill. Edited December 16, 2015 by frankie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 It's possible that I was overthinking it when putting the tree up. I probably made more work for myself than was necessary. I'm jealous of the book trees I've seen on the Internet that are made by libraries or bookshops. You can tell that they have heaps of copies of the same book, which must make it so much easier to make the tree! I'm definitely going to leave it up until after Christmas. I've put too much work into it to take it down too soon! I've been away all week so far and am going to see my Mum for a few days, then I'll be away over Christmas, so I won't actually be home much to enjoy it before Christmas! I might take it down early in the new year. I'd really like to get my bookshelves in order and take some new photos. It's been years since I've done it properly. Until I put the tree up, I had my non-fiction books neatly ordered, but my fiction bookshelves were a mess...and now everything's a mess! Haha, that could be. It does make it a lot easier if you have lots of copies of one book. But then all the more praise should go to you for making the tree with lots of different books . I look forward to see those photos in the new year once you have your shelves sorted out . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 It was definitely worth the effort!! Edit: I now also want to make a Christmas tree but I have no idea what to do! I don't mean a book Christmas tree, because that would get big. I want a small one, for my window sill. Thank you my love! I wish I could give you mine! I have one, or maybe two, around the place that I'm not using. They're little ones that are ideal for sitting on a table or window sill. Do you have shops where you can buy these types of things really cheaply? Like $2 stores (as we call them)? I think I bought one of mine from a craft-type store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I wish I could give you mine! I have one, or maybe two, around the place that I'm not using. They're little ones that are ideal for sitting on a table or window sill. Do you have shops where you can buy these types of things really cheaply? Like $2 stores (as we call them)? I think I bought one of mine from a craft-type store. I saw one yesterday when I was shopping for cleaning products, and I really wanted it but it was around 7€... Not too expensive, but I can't afford any extra stuff at the moment. I've been needing new jeans somewhat badly for some months now and I found a perfect pair yesterday and so I had to buy them, and that was an unexpected so and so many euros out of my pocket. Sigh I'm also planning for a Birthday party (for the first time in maybe 15 years I'm able to celebrate my Bday with almost all of my hometown friends and I'm SUPER excited!! My Bday also falls on a Friday this year so it's perfect!!) and so I need to buy a few things for that. I want to serve gingerbread cookies (and have told asked friends to bring cheese and jam to go with it. You know, instead of buying me any presents.) and I'm also going to bake brownies and this delicious seed(y) (hehe) bread. That will cost me some euros, so need to save on other things. Sorry, this turned into a Bday party excitement Anyhow, I also want to add that as I've been supervising those art clubs for kids, I'm really in the mood for some arts and crafts and I would like to make something myself. I actually googled a really easy recipe for a dough out of which you can make whatever you fancy, but I didn't have the needed 3 dl of salt. I could go to the shop and buy more, but the dough is beige colored and I haven't figured out how to color the tree green. Might make something out of paper instead... Anyhow, shouldn't get obsessed about the tree. I know it's my mind's way of procrastinating when I should be cleaning the apartment It's so dusty that it's not funny anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted December 28, 2015 Author Share Posted December 28, 2015 For those of you on Goodreads, you can check out 'My Year in Books'. It's pretty cool. Here's mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 I think it's a pretty cool feature . Yours is pretty nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 14, 2016 Author Share Posted January 14, 2016 Just a quick summary to wrap up 2015. My biggest achievement in 2015 was that, for once, I read more books than I bought. I bought 42 and read 43. Yes, I only just made it! And yes, I cheated by reading short books at the end of the year to ensure that I would make it. ) I've never come close to doing this before, so I'm quite pleased with myself. At Frankie's nagging request, I calculated that I read 7 books by debut authors. I have no idea how that compares to previous years though! I gave most of them a rating of 8/10, and two were given 9/10, so it seems to pay off to read debuts. I read quite a few books from series that I had started in previous years, so perhaps that may have affected the number of debuts. Ooh, that's another thing I'm quite proud of...I finished 6 series/trilogies that I had started before 2015. The best books I read were Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, closely followed by House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski, The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule and, well, loads of others (check my first page; I can't be bothered typing them all out). However, if I worked out my reading average for 2015 compared to previous years, I suspect it would be a lower average rating. I think I may be rating books just a little more harshly than I have in the past. I had a few disappointments, including Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy, Cornelia Funke's Inkheart trilogy and Haruki Murakami's Underground. I've decided I need to be much more wary of reading contemporary young adult literature (especially dystopians). I've had a few too many disappointments in recent years, so I think I'll stick with older classics when reading YA lit. Another thing I'm pleased with is that I read quite a few books from my priority reading list. I haven't been very successful with that in other years, but I did well this year, reading 20 of 81 books. OK, when I write it like that it doesn't look very impressive, but considering how few books I read every year, it was better than I had expected. And 17 of those books were fiction, which is what I wanted to focus on. Um, I think that's about it. I don't do statistics because I don't feel I read enough books to make it worthwhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 Congratulations on reading more books than you bought . I think 20 out of 81 books when you've read 43, is quite good ! I'm glad you had a nice reading year. Shame about the disappointments, but I'm glad you had some great enjoyable reads too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.