dawnbirduk
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Posts posted by dawnbirduk
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1. Which story was your favourite, and why?
I think my favourite was The Bloody Chamber, I don't really know why.
2. Who was your favourite character (from one story or from each story), and why?
None of the characters really sprang out to me.
3. Was there a particular part that you enjoyed or disliked more than the rest?
I found the storylines very long winded.
4. Was this the first book you've read in this genre, or by this author? Has it encouraged you to read more?
Yes it is I would,'t read anything else
5. Were there any parts or ideas you struggled with?
I am definitely not a prude but some to the sexual connotations made me feel uncomfortable.
6. How did you find the experience of reading a collection of short stories? Were you able to engage with the characters in the same way?
I am in the minority I really didn't enjoy this book, I don't get on terribly well with short stories, I didn't relate to the characters
7. Overall, did you find it an enjoyable experience?
To be brutally honest, I was glad when I finished it.
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Hi VF, I am doing great with my kindle I love it, I have an external hard disk which I back up laptops on and put all my ebooks on their, it took me ages to sort them, I put them in categories and alphabetical order, got rid of duplicates so I have a pretty good ebook library now.
I always said I would never have a kindle because I like the texture and feel of books, but I must say I might eat my words
, it could well take over my reading life. -
I have not heard of hardly any of them either Janet, maybe it is because after the show they become celebrities
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I can't help it, I have to chime in here .
I'm not sure what the Mills & Boon books are but I know what Harlequins are . (YEK)
The Harlequins over here are about 120 pages of hogwash .
They have a cover with a half nekkid man and lady on it.
The man's shirt is always off,and he looks like a french fry that has been dunked in the grease and overcooked and not dried off ( including his hair ...gross)
The lady HAS a shirt but it is ripped .
They all start with man meets lady, lady hates man, end of book ? They live happily ever after .
The main reading audience over here for Harlequins look like this :
Grey permed hair with sometimes a tint of purple or pink .
Lipstick smeared over top lip and under bottom lip. (Cheaper than BOTOX)
Rouge in 2 bright red circles on cheeks .
A sweater with a BROACH .
Clip on earrings from the 60's .
Pearls (fake).
A sweater to match all the other items .
Carrying : A notebook listing all 8,290 OTHER Harlequins she has read,so she can leaf through it to see if the store has a NEW one that will tell her the same story with the same cover ,for another $4.95 (Which is $5.00 too much )
Sorry to hijack thread, but I love your description, you describe Mills and Boon to a T, my son says they are written by bored housewives for bored housewives lol and yuk is a very apt review lol. Sorry no desrepect intended if you are into Mills and Boon
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My case arrived yesterday, it is hard backed for protection and Red and it has got a cool light attached, very pleased with it, I got mine for ebay for only £19.95, which I thought was good, some of them on amazon were about £50, and had no light.
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Dawn, did the diet do anything for you other than offend your nose?
I did lose weight yes, but problem is you can't shouldn't stick to it because long term it is unhealthy as it isn't balanced, and then same old same old, you come off it, revert back to normal eating habits and pounds go back on, or it did for me, but it is a good way of detoxing and kick starting a diet routine for 3-4 days ( a week at the most I would say), if you are strict with yourself and have a regime in place for when you come off.
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I too have a passionate dislike of reality TV and it is not something I would ever wish to go on, but with a diary, well in a way my blog is my diary, so it is already out there - I really then don't see a difference between reading it out loud in a reading group or strangers reading it on online. In fact when I used to run my own writing group, one of the exercises I got them to go was write their autobiography - on one page, and that had to be read to the rest of us. It was quite a powerful thing for most of us and very cathartic.
On my blog I don't of course write about the really personal stuff though, at least not in any great detail.
I think the biggest difference it is anonymous online, you don't know who is reading your blog
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I agree Kell I have a passionate dislike of reality TV, I feel they must be rehearsed because you wouldn't want all that pain and anquish on show for public view (well I wouldn't).
For the same reason I couldn't imagine reading my diary to any group, no way, although my diaries are blogs and I am usually selective although I have a private one
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Well, I have had a birthday, christmas and new year has been and gone, time to get back on track, so weighed myself on the Wii this morning, yikes I gained 9lb, time to really get working on it now.......
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I just found an amazing website: http://myfitnesspal.com
It creates a diet depending on how much you want to gain/maintain/lose, and allows you to track your calories. It lets you plot in your exercise, and subtracts it. It gives you long-term goals etc, AND it has an ipod/ipad app! Brilliant! Someone join so we can be MFP-friends!
I use MFP it is very good, well worth a shot
I'm going attempting this again, ugh. I CANNOT do it healthily. I just can't. I need to see instant results. So what I'm going to try doing this time is crash-dieting for 7 days with the 'cabbage-soup diet' and then transfer to healthy eating. Apparently that diet yields visible results for a lot of people, and once you do maintain healthy eating and exercise after the seven days (as well as stuffing yourself with the allowed foods each day) it can actually work as an okay kickstart to a more healthy, rounded diet. Fingers crossed, because I'm at my wits end! I know myself if I SEE a result, I'll be so terrified of gaining the weight back that it'll shock me into eating healthily. And I just bought a blender for making healthy soups and shakes, as I'm a terror for grabbing something quick instead of preparing proper meals, so hopefully that will help too.
Good luck to everyone following different weight loss and fitness plans at the moment
Oh dear, cabbage soup diet, been there got the t shirt, the thing I remember most is the smell in my kitchen ugh
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Vengeance Lies in Wait by Janice B Scott
I got this book as a Birthday Present, it is set in Norfolk and the story centres around a woman rector. It was a very good story set round human intrigues passions and jealousies. The characters were very well presented and I got very involved in them.
When Rev. Polly Hewitt arrives as rector in a new parish, disturbing things happen to her. It seems that someone is out to get her, but who is targeting her and why?The culmination is when Polly is taking a funeral, but discovers there is already a body in the grave. Who is the murder victim and who is the murderer?When Polly tries to find out for herself, events escalate and she is soon in danger.Set in the Norfolk countryside, this tale of intrigue in small villages with the unlikely backdrop of the Church of England, will grip you from the beginning. -
I do not get on with biographies and autobiographies, because I prefer to read books in the right timeline and they invariably jump around a bit, I also have difficulty with classics because of the writing style, although hopefully I will find one I get on with someday
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I also enjoy books set in bookshops and libraries
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Reading is the best thing in the world .. next to men Sorry this is brilliant, I may have to pinch it lol
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My first read is/will be Vengeance Lies in Wait by Janice B Scott, got great potential so far
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I have pondered this for several days now, of what book to start with for the first time I have ever done a challenge, kept a running list of completed books ,or done reviews or ratings.
Before, I would just READ .
So , I have come up with a newfangled challenge for myself,since I don't fare well having a lot of structure when it comes to a hobby . To me, reading is fun,so I want to make the coming year as FUN as possible, rather than a chore .
Therefore, I am making my challenge a Scavenger Hunt for myself. Each month, I will pick a THEME for the month . Then I will be able to choose a wide variety of books that could fit into that theme .
My Theme for January will be :The Five Senses .
Therefore, I need book titles that would fit sight ,sound, smell, taste and touch .
Book one --
Sound ------ PLAINSONG by Kent Haruf .
I like the sound of this, I too have never done a challenge but keep thinking I would like to, maybe I will join you if you don't mind
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Sorry to hijack your thread, but I know you live near Hunstanton, which is just up the road from me, I'm just the other side of King's Lynn. Just wondering if you had seen that poor whale that has been washed up? I keep seeing pictures of it everywhere!
Hijack as much as you like, no I haven't see it, I think I am about the only person who hasn't seen it, people are flocking to see it, I feel it is a bit gruesome
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P = Paperback K = Kindle H = Hardback
January
Vengeace Lies in Wait by Janice B Scott - P - Brilliant
The Blood Chamber and other Stories by Angela Carter - P
And Then There were none by Agatha Christie - K
The Girl who played with Fire by Stieg Larsson - K
February
The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson - K
The One you Love by Paul Pilkington - K
On The Fifth Day by A J Hartley - K
March
The Mask of Atreus by A J Hartley - K
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - P
Pied Piper by Nevil Shute - P
The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing - H
An Axe to Grind by A A Fair - K
The Tenth Chamber - Glenn Cooper - P
Twisted by Andrea Kane - K
April
Drawn in Blood by Andrea Kane -K
Thr Dark Tide by Andrew Gross - K
Don't Look Twice by Andrew Gross - K
Level 26 by Anthony E Zuiker - K
Speak no evil by Allison Brennan - K
Fear no evil by Allison Brennan - K
May
See no Evil by Allison Brennan - K
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Wishlist
Down to Earth by Melanie Rose
Over Sea, Under Stone (The Dark is Rising 1) by Susan Cooper
The Shack by William P Young
Murder at the Alter (Ellie Quickie 1) by Veronica Heley
Murder in Steeple Martin (Libby Sargeant Mysteries 1) by Lesley Cookman
Through a glass darkly by Bill Hussey
London: The Novel by Edward Rutherford
Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception (Book of Faeries 1) by Maggie Stiefvater
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard
Howards End is on the Landing: A year of reading from Home by Susan Hill
In the Bleak Midwinter (Rev Clare Fergusson 1) by Julia Spencer-Fleming
A Christmas Guest - A Novel by Anne Perry
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Dawn
Yours is also pretty . Do you guys have lots of these kits available over there ? They used to be very popular here, but not as many people that I know of still do the counted cross stitch . Probably the most popular craft here is crochet and knitting, I'd guess . That's what seems to be a large part of the huge craft stores here. I used to love to crochet and knit ,but can't use any of the yarn any longer due to my breathing problems. I have had to give it up ,but sure miss having a craft to work on .
Hi Julie
Thanks for your comments, I have just finished one to give our Minister who is retiring in January
However, I have to say I find getting kits quite difficult, they are either large and very complicated, or got Teddy's on, so I am experimenting using a cross stitch designer on the computer, taking photos and converting them into cross stitch, I have done my first one of the Lighthouse a short distance from me, just waiting for the thread to arrive to start stitching so watch this space
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The Black Shuck - The Devils Dog by Piers Warren
This is set up the coast from me in Blakeney, Norfolk, based on the Myth of the Black Hound, a good stimulating reed, characters were very good and likeable, I enjoyed it, living in Norfolk, it was so descriptive, I know the Watch House, Cley and Blakeney. I could imagine I could smell the salt in the salt marshes, fantastic book.
From Amazon - Black Shuck - The Devil's Dog - a terrifying new supernatural thriller by Piers Warren set in the village of Blakeney on the North Norfolk coast. For centuries Black Shuck has patrolled the coastal paths of Norfolk - a spectral portent of death. But recent events have allowed the massive phantom dog to evolve, to metamorphose, into something altogether more horrifying. Gaining strength and powers by the day, Shuck has developed a gruesome appetite - a hunger the hell hound sets out to satiate ... Wildlife film-maker Harry Lambert needs a serious rest. His colleague and best friend is dead, his wife has left him and his career has derailed. A spot of bird-watching on the Norfolk coast should help... but when Harry stumbles into Black Shuck's territory, the fearsome beast finds what it was looking for ...
Black Shuck: The Devil's Dog - a terrifying new supernatural thriller
by Piers Warren set in the village of Blakeney on the North Norfolk coast.
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After all this talk I decided to take up the gauntlet, I found a half done cross stitch in my craft box and finished it tonight, not done cross stitch for years so pretty pleased with the effort
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Just spent the last four hours or so making a to-be-read list. I started from scratch so as to make sure I got them all, and I've ended with a total of 215 (I'll have to check that I included all the books in Leeds but I think I did). This is more than I expected it to be, and damn it'll take some serious reading to claw my way back to a decent total that's for sure. In any case, I've been planning my 2012 book log with my new, snazzy TBR list, challenges, wishlist, and I'm now quite excited for what next year will bring.
Ha ha I was was doing my TBR list last night, but I got rid of a lot, and starting again, cos I couldn't remember why I put them there in the first place, so having a clean slate for 2012
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Last night I started Black Shuck The Devil Dog by Piers Warren it is a while since I have had the wow factor soon as I opened a book, but it is beautifully well written and descriptive without being boring.
I live in Hunstanton which is a short way down the North Norfolk coast where it is set, I adore North Norfolk, and it got the description so so right, I felt it and smelt it, fantastic, the big skies, the salt marshes, the changes in weather was right to a T.
And as for the story, the characters are right and interesting, I just want to know what happens next
I need to get ready for work but all I want to do now is read read and read 
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Children's Stories From The Village Shepherd, Vol 1 by Janice B. Scott
I run Junior Church and had this book bought for my Birthday by my Mum, it is a series of short stories with a christian Moral, very interesting and informative.
Because I believe that God is in every part of life but does not intrude unless invited, these stories follow a similar pattern. That is, they are about God and Christianity, but they do not intrude unless invited. Above all, they are for enjoyment, because that too is what I believe about God -- that God should be enjoyed. -- From the Foreword This collection of heartwarming stories from the Village Shepherd is an ideal means for revealing deep truths of the Christian faith while at the same time entertaining and captivating readers. It is a journey through worlds of talking animals, imaginative characters, pixies and goblins, and regular, everyday life, learning important lessons on faith, love, family, and God. Some stories evoke laughter while others bring tears, but each will leave the reader better for the experience. Every tale is linked to a passage from the Bible, aiding readers in searching beneath the surface of the story and applying its wisdom to their daily lives. This collection is sure to be a treasured part of any library, appealing to the child in all of us
Dawn's Reading Log 2012
in Past Book Logs
Posted
The Bloody Chamber and other Stories by Angela Carter
This is Book Club Forum book of the month for January, I really wasn't keen on it, I am not keen on short stories as I like a book I can get my teeth into, but I didn't enjoy the writing style, I found it most longwinded.