This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books and blogs they have written.
I’m on the last lap of writing the notes for next term’s Creative Writing course and should be finished in time to take them into Northbrook and get them all photocopied on Tuesday, which is the day we break up for Christmas – if I can squeeze in the chore in amongst the Christmas cheer at the end of another successful term.
Last Sunday evening Frances and I attended the Wrap Party to celebrate making Tim’s film. It was boisterous and noisy, which was you’d expect with 20+ teenagers and it was lovely to see her joining in, being right in the thick of it. My amazing mother turned 82 on Tuesday, so my sister and I went down on Wednesday and took her out for lunch, stayed overnight and then had coffee with her before driving back on Thursday morning. On Wednesday evening, we popped round to see the new house my nephew and his girlfriend have recently bought and are doing up.
On Friday, Tim passed his Speaking and Listening exam with flying colours and Himself also got through a major milestone so will shortly be resuming his train driving duties – a huge relief. We celebrated by going out to lunch to The Arun View, which is right on the river and had a delicious meal as they had plenty of vegetarian options. Yesterday I worked most of the day and today will doing be the same, though we are popping out to do some shopping. I am horribly unprepared for Christmas, but to be honest until Friday was out of the way, Himself and I weren’t feeling very festive.
This week I have read:
Split Feather – Book 1 of the Daughter of the Midnight Sun by Deborah A. Wolf
Siggy Aleksov sees demons and talks with creatures she knows aren’t really there. Taken from her family as a child, she is dogged by memories of abandonment, abuse, and mental health issues. Siggy suffers from a hot temper, cluster headaches, caffeine addiction, and terminal foul language.
I really enjoyed this gritty, unusual urban fantasy that spends much of its time in one of my favourite settings – Alaska. Despite Siggy’s significant problems, she is portrayed without any self pity, yet also without dismissing the enormity of her issues, which is a difficult path to tread. A memorable, gutsy protagonist. I shall be reviewing this one in due course.
Fade Out by Patrick Tilley
Patrick Tilley’s brilliant bestselling thriller of humanity’s first contact with advanced alien intelligence is a high-tension tour-de-force that will leave you thinking long after you have turned the last page.
Hm. I enjoyed a lot of the story and the slow burn anticipation to discovering what the aliens are all about and what will happen next… Not sure about the ending. Review to follow.
My posts last week:
Sunday Post – 3rd December, 2017
Teaser Tuesday featuring Fade Out by Patrick Tilley
Review of Language of Power – Book 4 of The Steerswoman series by Rosemary Kirstein
Review of A Local Habitation – Book 2 of the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire
Review of Falling Apart – Book 2 of the Otherworlders series by Jane Lovering
Interesting/outstanding blogs and articles that have caught my attention during the last week, in no particular order:
Christmas Alphabet: R for Roy Orbison (Pretty Paper) https://theimmortaljukebox.com/2017/12/09/christmas-alphabet-r-for-roy-orbison-pretty-paper/ Thom delivers another classy article full of knowledge and passion about a wonderful track – this site is a gem…
The Best Villanelles in English Poetry https://interestingliterature.com/2017/12/06/the-best-villanelles-in-english-poetry/ By coincidence, we’ve been looking at villanelles in this term’s poetry workshop during my Creative Writing course, so I was delighted to see this excellent article – I think there is another one to add to this marvellous list, ‘Villanelle’ by Weldon Kees.
Hope https://inesemjphotography.com/2017/12/09/hope/ Inessa always takes amazing photos – but these are extraordinary. They brought tears to my eyes…
Gift Ideas for the Book Lover on your Holiday Shopping List https://thebookishlibra.com/2017/12/08/gift-ideas-for-the-book-lover-on-your-holiday-shopping-list/ Some fabulous ideas here for that special person in your life who also loves books.
Discussion: Fear of Reading Up All the Good Books http://avalinahsbooks.space/discussion-fear-good-books/ I think it’s one lots of passionate readers have after they have finished a wonderful book with a sigh of pleasure – and Evelina tackles it head-on😊
Thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to visit, like and comment on my site and may you have a great week.
Brainfluff 
Your celebration on the river sounds awesome! A restaurant with a view is my favorite thing. We don’t have great views here, but the mountains and lakes are nearby…and I try to escape to the coast now and then.
Enjoy your week! Thanks for sharing, and for visiting my blog.
You’re welcome, Laurel and thank you – yes, it was a lovely meal:) It’s not the prettiest river, but there is a lovely view out to the sea…
It has been a good week 🙂 It is so wonderful that you still have your mom. Such a blessing.
Will look up Fade Out. Sounds interesting.
Thank you so much for the mention and for your kind words! xx
You’re very welcome, Inessa – the pics are wonderful. Thank you for your kind good wishes and I’m very conscious I’m blessed to still have my lovely mother…
Sure sounds like you all had a productive and fun week, Sarah. Bet you’re ready for the holiday break:)
Oh, I’m not going to lie, Laura – I’m very ready to put my feet up and do nothing in particular… Sadly, I’ve still got to organise Christmas…
That’s so cool about Tim and about the train driving 🙂 congrats!
Thank you so much for sharing my link 🙂
You’re welcome – I thought it funny and smart and worth sharing:). Yes – a HUGE relief – Tim’s result was the icing on the cake, but Himself’s review could have really messed us up if it had gone the other way…
Sounds like you had a great time with your Mom and sister. Hope you have a wonderful week ahead.
My Sunday Post
Thank you, Jenea – yes, we had a wonderful time:). I hope this coming week is a bit freer of snow for you!
Glad it was good news for yours. The celebration on the River sounds wonderful. I hope the week ahead is both relaxing and productive.
Thank you, Kimberly – I could do with relaxing right now!
Happy birthday to your mom, and congrats on the various family milestones this week. That’s awesome.
Fade Out looks interesting to me, looks like one I might want to read. An iffy ending? Hmm. 🙂
Maybe it was me – but I do think this one would be up your alley – it was a fascinating read, anyway.
It sounds like you had a good week. Happy birthday to your mother. Have a great week!
Thank you, AJ for your kind good wishes and I hope that you, too, have a wonderful week:)
Sounds like you had a great week full of celebrations! Congrats to everyone for the exams and the milestones and the new house and the film and everything lol. HAve a great week!
Thank you Kristen – to be honest, I’m just sooo relieved that last week worked out okay – it could have been a disaster – that I’m slightly in a heap, right now:)
Glad to hear you had a great week with your family. I wish I could spend the holiday with my family but it seems to be impossible now with how things going on in my life. Hopefully we can do it in January. Anyway, I hope you have another wonderful week and enjoy your books. ❤️😁
Sorry to hear you aren’t going to get to see your family during the holiday period – though January is often a better time. Travelling around Christmas is always a nightmare – so busy. And seeing folks during that ‘quiet’ time often makes it more special. Thank you for your kind good wishes and I hope you, too, have a great week.
That’s really good news about Himself. I hope it eases away any remaining stress the both of you have been feeling in recent months. And what a nice birthday celebration you had with your mom. 🙂 My own mother’s birthday was this past Friday, so I’ll celebrate it with her when I’m on Cape Cod next weekend.
Last week was kind of a strange week. Not a bad one, by any means. But December always seems to be a month where my good habits fly out the window. So I’m trying to be more conscious of how much sugar I consume outside of holiday events, and this week I need to start going back to bed at my usual time. I was up until 1 am on the first Saturday of the month because of a holiday get-together I hosted, and since then I haven’t made it to bed until 10:30 or 11 at night. I don’t want to run myself down before Christmas!
Thank you for your good wishes – yes, we’re so very relieved – it’s been a hard year, frankly. I hope your mother had a lovely birthday and you have a great time celebrating with her. I know what you mean about sugar consumption – it’s hard, isn’t it? I hope you manage to conserve your energy, Sarah:)
What a nice birthday celebration you had with your mom! Sounds like things have been very busy but in a fun way. That’s wonderful about Himself! Have a great week!
Thank you, Katherine – it’s a HUGE relief:)
It sounds like a positive week- and I’m glad for you that some of the ‘stressers’ have been resolved. Here’s hoping you have a chance to take a deep breath before the plunge into Christmas busy-ness 🙂
Thank you, Anne – yes, it would be great to have a bit of a breather!
Sounds like you’ve had a very productive week. Happy Birthday to your mom!
Thank you! It’s been a great week and hopefully we can now look forward and really enjoy Christmas:)))
Sounds like you had fun week! a great time with your mom and sis, and WTG Tim! 🙂 and… you are wrapping up your next Creative Writing course right on time for the holidays! Ahhhhh the feeling of accomplishment! nothing better than that to help you feel more prepared and get you even more in the Christmas mood 🙂
Yes:). There is still a bit more paperwork involved, but I’ve done the heavy lifting:)).
You always seem to have such a lot going on and it all sounds wonderful. Loving birthday with your mum too – it was my birthday last week and I seem to have let everything slide since then.
Lynn 😀
I’m still panicking because I’ve just realised how close Christmas is! NOTE TO SELF – do not publish a book in December, again… I always think it’s a nice time of the year to have Christmas when everyone is getting excited and there are lights and decorations everywhere:)) Glad you had a lovely time, Lynn!
Looks like the ending of your year was very positive and full of exciting things. I hope that it was the indicator of more joyful news and events to come! 🙂
Yes, it was such a difficult year – and finally, it started to come right that particular week! Hopefully this will be a MUCH better one:).
Fingers crossed!