Cloud Atlas

Still on the theme of clouds!

How appropriate that Jennifer Byrne's classic pick tonight on The 1st Tuesday Book Club on TV was Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
Have you read it?

I found it thoroughly engrossing!
The book consists of six nested stories  they are folded inside each other) telling stories from the past to the deep future and they are all connected very cleverly.

Sorry - you can't really click to look inside here - but this edition has such a pretty cover!

If you've read it - tell me what you thought of it.

On my bookshelf

These are some books I have recently finished reading and they are on their way from my bedroom (my reading room) to the downstairs bookshelves (the library)

It seems I am a bit of a non-fiction reader!

5 of the 6 books are non-fiction and only 1 novel.

The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow by AJ Mackinnon one of the funniest books I have read, is the story of the author's journey in a small sailing boat form the heart of England to the Black Sea.
And his other book The Well at the World's End is another rip-roaring trans-global adventure.

I guess I'm a bit of an armchair traveller and have shared many of Dervla Murphy's adventures. The Island That Dared is her account of Cuba which is fascinating, if a little history-dense!

Three Cups of Tea I bought at one of the two excellent bookshops in Darjeeling! (where else?). It had been recommended by one of our fellow travellers and is the story of mountaineer Greg Mortenson's
journey to built schools in Pakistan. As an affirmation of what can be done when you set your mind to it - it's awesome!

A friend with Tasmanian connections lent me Carnivorous Nights - on the trail of the Tasmanian Tiger. Having just returned from Tassie I could relate to a lot of the places and this book is so well written, I highly recommend it!

And lastly my fiction pick! I heard Roberta Lowing talk at the Sydney Writer's Festival and was quite smittne with the idea behind her book and the passage that she read. However it didnt really hold my attention - I did finish it - but didnt feel very satisfied. Oh well, thems the breaks!

What are you reading?
Are you a fact or fiction reader?

7 things sunday - 7 birthday things

"Happy Birthday to me..."

Yes, another one! they do seem to come round all too quickly these days, but it is so worthwhile to have had such a fun time.

Starting with a birthday eve of dinner, cocktails, The Jersy Boys, and a night in town.
Nowhere very flash, but very convenient.

Followed by delectable chocolates from Zokoko,

My hub also bought me this book that was featured on the First Tuesday Book club on ABC TV

 

Cant wait to get stuck into it.

The darling man also added to my chicken collection -

This one is rather huge and may need to an outdoors chook!

 My sweet daughter has bought us tickets to Cirque du Soleil's show Saltimbanco which is on this month.

They are always such fabulous shows.

My wonderful son got me the DVD set of Downton Abbey *surprise* which I missed a couple of episodes of -

And then of course there was birthday cake

 Amazing stawberry mousse cake!

And that's it for another year!

Book giveaway

I'm giving away this book!
All you have to do is leave a comment with a book recommendation for me.

I have pretty wide tastes in reading, as you can see by this previous post -

http://planettreasures.blogspot.com/2010/04/seven-things-sunday.html

I'll pick the winner at random on Thursday 29th April.

p.s you get an additional entry if you follow this blog - tell me in a seperate comment please.

Seven things Sunday - books

I've been getting a lot of reading done since I've been out of action with a fractured ankle.
Making my way through the pile of books next to my bed, then I can start on some of the kids books.

So this week I thought I would bring you the last 7 books I have read -

1. The Laguna by Barbara Kingsolver
I loved the structure and concept of this story and it's view of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's lives, and the broader sweep of history.

2. Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich
Knocked this one off pretty quickly. Bit of a marshmallow book, fun at the time but you wouldnt want to have it everyy day.

3. Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey
Not exactly an easy read, being written in the two voices of Parrot and Olivier during thr French Revolution. But I do like Peter Carey. I think he is very clever.

4. The Waddi Tree by Kerry McGinnis
An Australian outback family saga. Very evocative of time and place.

5. The Good Mayor by Andrew Nicoll
I didn't enjoy this one as much as I wanted to. It's hard to say why. Maybe the style. Or the story.

6. Oyster by Janet Turner Hospital
An early Janet Turner Hospital. I do enjoy reading her.

7. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Laugh out loud! What more can I say?

What have you read lately that you can recommend to me?

Book Giveaway!

Who would like to win a book?

This book -



Eating the Cheshire Cat by Helen Ellis.

You would?

Then here's what you must do -


1. Leave a comment below to enter
2. Should you be successful, THERE'S A CATCH... you must promise to give the book away on YOUR blog when you finish reading it. It's all about sharing the love


This book giveaway was instigated by Angela of Pickles on Pizza, in February 2009.

So far, this book has journeyed from Greenville (MS, USA) to Montreal (QC, Canada) to Brisbane (QLD, Australia) to Sunbury (VIC, Australia) to Sydney ( NSW, Australia) and to me in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia.

Where will it go next?

Entries close on 6th August.

The winner will be randomly drawn using random.org , and announced on this blog.

Thanks for participating and I hope you win!