Shin's Reading Blog 2024

[France]

On 8/5/2024 at 9:38 PM, Madeleine said:

I've been trying to get into crochet too, a bit stop start at the moment, well more stop than start!  I also got a kit for my birthday, of a sunflower in a pot, a bit complicated for a beginner who's still trying to master double crochet! Harry Potter sounds fun but as you say you need to master the basics first, good luck.

I knit but can't get my head around crochet at all.

[Madeleine]

used to knit but haven't done any for years, I did make a jumper once.

[lunababymoonchild]

I was taught to crochet and knit when I was four, my mother decided that they were skills I needed. I knitted a few baby clothes as a young adult and a soft toy as a child - as part of a crafting guide badge - and only took up crochet, amigurumi at first, in the last 5 or 6 years. I started to knit again when I saw a shawl design I liked around 18 months ago.

 

I am knitting a small shawlette just now. None of that means I am any good at it but I enjoy it and that’s why I do it. 

 

I also enjoy paper crafts, some of my paper crafts and knitting are posted on the hobbies thread.

[poppy]

This is the thread on hobbies ...

 

[Shin]

On 8/7/2024 at 6:41 PM, France said:

Apart from the sex scenes - too many, far too,detailed! Everyone I know who has read the book agrees even though they loved everything else about it.

 

Ah no way France, they tend to ruin a book for me. 😔  Hopefully I can get passed it when I get a chance to read it. 

[Shin]

On 8/7/2024 at 11:33 PM, muggle not said:

It got that I started skipping thru the sex scenes to get back to the real story which was fantastic.

 

I think I will be doing this too. 

 

On 8/8/2024 at 6:33 PM, PYX said:

I usually skip over those kinds of scenes in books. I think they're unnecessary fluff.

 

They definitely are unnecessary. 

 

On 8/9/2024 at 10:48 AM, poppy said:

 

I find them too fiddly and my hands get sore too. Really admire people who have the patience for making them 😁

 

UK/US crochet terms are confusing to start with. I read that one way of telling which was which is that if there is single crochet (sc) in the pattern it's a US one.

 

Yes, that's true, if a pattern has single crochet in it then it's definitely US. But the designer should really state what terminology they used in the pattern because if it doesn't have any single crochets then it gets confusing as the double crochet is used in both but in the UK, DC is SC. 🤣

[Shin]

On 8/9/2024 at 3:52 PM, lunababymoonchild said:

I was taught to crochet and knit when I was four, my mother decided that they were skills I needed. I knitted a few baby clothes as a young adult and a soft toy as a child - as part of a crafting guide badge - and only took up crochet, amigurumi at first, in the last 5 or 6 years. I started to knit again when I saw a shawl design I liked around 18 months ago.

 

I am knitting a small shawlette just now. None of that means I am any good at it but I enjoy it and that’s why I do it. 

 

I also enjoy paper crafts, some of my paper crafts and knitting are posted on the hobbies thread.

 

My mum taught me how to knit but it was the basics and didn't really use it until I decide to knit my wee dog some jumpers. Then I taught myself crochet and I do find it easier now but maybe that's because I have now been doing it years.  

 

I have done a number of crafts over the years, cross stitch, wedding stationery, knitting & crochet, jewllery making and even made some wax melts.  I have stuck with crochet the longes though. 😊

 

On 8/10/2024 at 4:20 AM, poppy said:

This is the thread on hobbies ...

Thank you, I will take a look at this thread. 

 

[Hayley]

7 hours ago, Shin said:

My mum taught me how to knit but it was the basics and didn't really use it until I decide to knit my wee dog some jumpers.

I would really love to see the dog jumpers if you have a picture of that 😄 (it also sounds like it would be really quite difficult to do!?) 

[Madeleine]

Would love to see them the dog jumpers as well!  I'd like to try jewellery making too, there are classes locally but they're a bit pricey at the moment.

[Shin]

They were for my wee dog that passed about 6 years ago. 

He was smaller than the four I have now but I will see if I can dig out some pics of Alfie with him wearing the jumpers. 😊

[Shin]

So, after starting this blog at the beginning of August, it has taken me only to now to update my TBR list. 

Again, it's not as large as it used to be but now I don't like to hold onto books as much as I used to.  I am hoping to use my library lots and I do love passing on a book if I have bought it.  Plus, I need space for my balls of yarn which are on a bookshelf. 😁

 

I also did a lot of downloading to my Kindle app with the Stuff my Kindle days.  I am hoping I can do a list of those too.  However, I am not a big fan of the Kindle as I do love holding a physical book.  Maybe it's because I don't have an actual Kindle but use a Samsung tablet.  If any of you can convince me that's worth investing in an actual Kindle then let me know. 😊

 

I have read a good few books since August too (well alot for me who has not read in a while) and I have updated my reading list.  They are mostly Colleen Hoover books who is an author that I have only heard of since I wanted to get back into reading.  I am not so sure she is my cup of tea though.  

Edited October 25, 2024 by Shin

[Shin]

So here is my attempt to review the books I have read so far.  Please bare with me as I don't think I am very good at reviewing. 🤣

 

Friend, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing ~ Matthew Perry

I listened to this on Audible and I really enjoyed it.  I am not sure if I would have enjoyed it has much if I read the actual book as listening to Matthew narrating it.  It was sad to know that although rich and famous, he really struggled with life. 

 

False Witness by Karin Slaughter

I always loved Karin Slaughter books back when I was really into reading.  They always had me gripped but I am referring to the Grant County series and Will Trent series. False Witness is one of her stand-alone novels and to be fair, this was the first physical book I had read in years.  I must admit I had read the first chapter a few times and put the book aside and I don’t think this was anything to do with the story but more me trying to find my mojo.  I finally got into the book and I did really enjoy it.  It includes Covid-19 references which I don’t think really needed to be there but gave some sort of reality to the story which was sad in the end.  I am not so sure it has had me gripped like her other books have then I don’t think anything could beat her Grant County series. 

 

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

I must admit, I had never heard of Colleen Hoover until I got on Book Tok.  I didn’t even make connections with the Blake Lively movie.  But I thought I would give one of her books a go and got this one from the library.  I really did want to slap Tate across the head for letting Miles treat her the way he did and punch Miles in the face for that treatment.  What kept me going with the book was Miles’s story.  I really wanted to know what his problem was so that’s what had me hooked. I know I might sound a bit prudish when I say this but I do think there is no need for the smut.  I think sometimes leaving it to the imagination is enough.  But, by the end of the book I did enjoy it. 

 

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

After chatting to one of my friends about reading Ugly Love she leant me this book. I am glad I didn’t have to buy it. I know the main topic of this book is domestic violence but one of the things that really annoyed me was how quick everything happens.  It sort of reminds of Fifty Shades.  I simply don’t like Ryle even from the start of the book before he even has a relationship with Lily. There is no excuse for his behaviour and find it sad that Lily fell for it all. However, I did love reading about Atlas.  I’m not so sure I would be in a hurry to watch the film.

 

It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

I think this book was needed after It Ends with Us otherwise, I would have found the diary entries pointless and we needed closure.  This story happens about a year after she first meets Ryle so not that long. But this is more of a story of Lily and Atlas and I did enjoy it. But I am not so sure about reading more of Colleen Hoover books.  I do have some on order from the library so we will see.

 

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

I seen this book recommended by one of my friends on Goodreads. I managed to order it from the library and it was available very quickly. I really enjoyed this book. There are a lot of twisted and turns that keep me turning pages and a little of a shocker at the end which I was not expecting. The only thing that I didn’t like was it was a hardback book.  I do prefer paperback. But it was a very good story.

[Hayley]

14 hours ago, Shin said:

So here is my attempt to review the books I have read so far.  Please bare with me as I don't think I am very good at reviewing. 🤣

They look like good reviews to me 😄. I’ve never read anything by Colleen Hoover but I’ve heard that some people don’t like the way she deals with darker subjects in her books, like abuse. 
Maybe thrillers are actually the way to go to really get your reading motivation back - The House Across the Lake sounds good!  

[Brian.]

On 10/25/2024 at 6:12 PM, Shin said:

So here is my attempt to review the books I have read so far.  Please bare with me as I don't think I am very good at reviewing. 🤣

 

 

Your reviews are fine so don't worry. We like any book discussion so any reviews, mini-reviews, a few sentences on what you have read are more than welcome.

[Shin]

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 

I found it hard to get into this book but I think for me that's just the way with all books.  I find it takes about 100 pages in before you get into it.  Well, I have to say I don't think it will be the case when I read the second book in the series as I absolutely loved this book. 😄  There were a lot of twists and turns that I have to admit I found hard to keep up with but it kept me turning the pages.  I think I really have fallen in love with the characters though and maybe that's something to do with them all being the same age as my mum. 😆 So I am putting this series into the list of series that I want to continue reading and the upside is that since I had bought this book and can now pass it onto my mum to read.  😊

 

Currently Reading: A Court of Thorns & Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Ok, I am not giving a review of this just yet but I decided this was my next read after doom scrolling on TikTok. So far I am very surprised as my theory above about the first 100 pages doesn't apply to this book as I am a quarter way in and I think I have been hooked from the first page. 😲 So I am enjoying it so far. 

Edited October 31, 2024 by Shin

[Shin]

I also have splashed out on my very first Kindle. 🤭

 

I do prefer a book though.

 

I have only ever tried the Kindle app on my phone which is tiny or the app on an old Samsung tablet that is big, heavy and also slow.  But my birthday is coming up so told my hubby he can purchase one as my gift. 🤣  

[lunababymoonchild]

21 hours ago, Shin said:

I also have splashed out on my very first Kindle. 🤭

 

I do prefer a book though.

 

I have only ever tried the Kindle app on my phone which is tiny or the app on an old Samsung tablet that is big, heavy and also slow.  But my birthday is coming up so told my hubby he can purchase one as my gift. 🤣  

Good for you. It’s a big improvement on the apps - apart from the size consideration,  I can destroy my battery (phone or tablet) using it - I read for hours a day and the Kindle reader is the only thing that can handle that (I have far too many e-books, 354 and counting).

 

I also prefer paper but have run out of space to store them!

 

I hope that you enjoy it.  Are you going for the new colour one?

[Shin]

On 11/1/2024 at 8:21 AM, lunababymoonchild said:

Good for you. It’s a big improvement on the apps - apart from the size consideration,  I can destroy my battery (phone or tablet) using it - I read for hours a day and the Kindle reader is the only thing that can handle that (I have far too many e-books, 354 and counting).

 

I also prefer paper but have run out of space to store them!

 

I hope that you enjoy it.  Are you going for the new colour one?

 

That's what I'm hoping that there is so much advantages to the Kindle over using the app that will make me happy I got it. 

 

I did purchased the colour one. 😬 I know it was expensive especially not knowing I'd like a Kindle and also because I don't need it to be coloured to read, but that's one of the things I like with the app. I will be getting it Monday now.  

 

I did the Stuff your Kindle days so I have hundreds of ebooks now and I can also listen to my Audible books on this new Kindle too. 

 

I believe you can't read the ebooks from the Library on a Kindle which is a shame. 

 

I'm the same with paper books.  It's just the space and I'm more than likely never read a book twice so no point in keeping books after I read them. 

[lunababymoonchild]

Ooooh! I hope you’ll tell us what the colour one is like - that’s the one I would have chosen if it had been available at the time. 
 

I don’t keep paper books that I’m sure I won’t read again either, I still ran out of physical space because I can’t read them as fast as I buy them, lol

[lunababymoonchild]

I thought that you might be interested in this article : New Kindle Colorsoft users reporting 'distracting' yellow strip on screen

[Shin]

On 11/4/2024 at 8:24 AM, lunababymoonchild said:

I thought that you might be interested in this article : New Kindle Colorsoft users reporting 'distracting' yellow strip on screen

 

Yes, I have been reading lots about this. Unfortunately mine also has the yellow strip but I think I probably wouldn't have noticed much if I had not seen all the complaints about it.  Other than that. I love it but I also haven't anything to compare it to except for the app on my phone. 

 

I do hope an update does fix it as I am also reading lots saying that it's more of a hardware issues rather than a software issue.  So I'm not sure whether to return it or wait. 

Edited November 5, 2024 by Shin

[lunababymoonchild]

Only you can decide whether to return or not. You could wait until near the end of the return period and then return if a fix isn’t forthcoming.

[Hayley]

On 10/31/2024 at 10:47 AM, Shin said:

I think I really have fallen in love with the characters though

I really like The Thursday Murder Club for the same reason - I loved the cast of characters .

 

It's a shame about the odd stripe on the kindle, but perhaps if it's not really noticeable it won't affect your reading? I hope you can still enjoy it!

[Shin]

On 11/6/2024 at 7:24 AM, lunababymoonchild said:

Only you can decide whether to return or not. You could wait until near the end of the return period and then return if a fix isn’t forthcoming.

 

Considering the cost of the Colorsoft I thought I would see if I could get a replacement. Although I didn't purchase it directly from Amazon, I contacted their customer services just to see what they would say. The Colorsoft is out of stock so they gave me two options, either to hold onto the one I have and keep using it until a replacement is sent out or they could replace it with one of their new Paperwhite ones. I told them I will hold off until a replacement was sent out however they could not indicate how long that would be. They just said as soon as they are back in stock, I will receive an email to say it is dispatched. So I am happy enough as I do love it. 

[Shin]

On 11/6/2024 at 9:56 AM, Hayley said:

I really like The Thursday Murder Club for the same reason - I loved the cast of characters .

 

It's a shame about the odd stripe on the kindle, but perhaps if it's not really noticeable it won't affect your reading? I hope you can still enjoy it!

 

I am looking forward to continuing the series. 😊

 

Oh it doesn't affect my reading at all. I only contacted them because of the price and to see what can be done. If they had of said return it for a refund I probably would have said I'll not bother. 🤣