Ridiculous Amount of Unfinished Books!

Unfinished Book List

Restaurant at the End of the Universe – Doug Adams

True Blue – David Baldacci

Nerd Do Well – Simon Pegg

The Passage – Justin Cronin

Patternmaster – Octavia Butler

Gulp – Mary Roach

Yes, Chef – Marcus Samuelsson

Technology has caused an entire generation to develop some for reals ADHD. Everything consists of quick cuts, bits of information, faster, quicker, shorter, Facebook blurbs, Twitter tweets, instant information with just a picture and a sentence via Instagram. So as proved by the above list of unfinished books, I realize I’ve fallen victim to the condition myself. Seven unfinished books, for shame! None of these were deserted because “life is too short to read a bad book”; these are all good stories, fiction, non-fiction, autobiographies where my attention just went…elsewhere. When I was younger I spent entire summers with my nose in a book, rarely leaving the house because outside could not compete with living in a Little House on the Prairie, thank you very much. Even as an avid television watcher, that didn’t stop me because I would use the boob tube as mere background noise. So to have this number of books that I've picked up and put down for no real reason other than I can't sit for an hour and delight in reading is outside my norm.

Now I sit with a stack, well not a literal stack because some of these books are on audio format, which is even worse that these aren’t finished as I can very well plug in my headphones and knit, killing two hobbies with one stone and since I have quite a few unfinished knitting projects it would be awesome if I like, did that. Oh by the way, multiple knitting projects, i.e. ADHD because I can’t keep my attention on finishing even a preemie hat which takes only about two hours to complete…lame. Ok, so my audiobooks, the books on my Kindle/iPad mini (yes, both). Oh and I have actual physical books too for that old school feel.

And it’s not about not having enough time because I spend enough of it in the aforementioned activities. I’ve just gotten to the point when I see something over a paragraph or two I’m impatient, “When will all of these words end already?” or “Why does this person have to be so long winded with their half page of thoughts?!” or “Can’t they self-edit this down to the standard 140 Twitter characters?!” Then I proceed to spend hours on forums or looking at posts about what people ate for lunch, instagram shots of new shoes, hoarding knitting patterns, reading about knitting, but not knitting, or scouring forums about nail polish, the new ones, the ones are impossible to find and once I find them I'll share in my victory and store said polish amongst the 300+ untried polishes because I'm a horde..no a collector of things, when I should be immersing myself in a good story and finish…these…books. I have the time!

I’ll be focusing on completing these seven books by the end of the year. It’s a doable goal and then I can start fresh for 2014. Not that I’ll be trying to really increase the number of books I finish in the coming year, but I must train myself to keep my focus and finish what I start!



I need to do this....



Not this...(I promise I probably won't care about such a picture .02 seconds after I take it and neither will the rest of the world.  I know you guys "like" some of my stuff just to be polite, LOL!)

Or this..(Douglas Adams is awesome!)



While doing this...because the fifteen unfinished projects I've accumulated are sad and yearning for attention. (Hmmm, I'm quite sure these needles are being held very, very incorrectly, btw.



 

Book Review - Knit One, Kill Two

Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton (unabridged audiobook)

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

"Kelly Flynn never picked up a pair of knitting needles she liked—until she strolled into House of Lambspun. Now, in the first in a brand-new series, she learns how to knit one, purl two, and untangle the mystery behind her aunt's murder."

Review:

This book falls under the category of  cozy mystery, little violence, no graphic material, the writing equivalent of  a "Matlock" episode.  This subgenre of crime fiction has a huge following and you can often find books with themes such as knitting, sewing, baking, you name it.  Sometimes one might want to do some light reading, perhaps featuring a particular hobby.  Being an avid knitter is obviously what drew me to this title.

That being said, I wanted to like this book more than I did.  This is my first foray into cozy mysteries and even knowing a bit about the genre it still felt really, really thin on everything, story, character development, etc.  I certainly enjoyed the knitting portions of the book, the description of the yarns, the yarn store, Kelly's first tries with knitting made me nostalgically think of my own.  All in all, it was a sufficient story, but not challenging enough for me to thoroughly enjoy it.

I'll probably give another cozy a try, if I feel the same way then I'll conclude this genre isn't for me.

2 out of 5 Iggystars

Book Review - Wool Omnibus

Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey

Synopsis:

Wool is the story of a post-apocalyptic society struggling for survival.  What's left of Earth's population lives underground in Silos, hundreds of stories deep, which offers protection from the inhabitable surface.  Order is kept in this society by a few, as the severest punishment to be had is sentenced for the mere expression of wanting to bet let out into the world above.  Those who want out get exactly what they ask for.


Review:

This book was suggested to me by a fellow knitter and certainly knowing Wool had a bit of knitting in it, was a draw.  But it was the thrilling Part One that captured my attention and whet my appetite for for the excellent story that lay ahead.  I found the setting to be quite interesting, civilization burrowing underground instead of the sci-fi trope of trying to look to the stars.  The plot is a main focus, while the details of everyday living, the societal structure and background serve to move the story, with its many mysteries, forward.  I immediately cared about the characters as well, they were very believable and I loved that motives and actions had a kind of moral ambiguity.  Sometimes  cutthroat decisions were made that a decent person would never agree with, but were in a sense, kind of logical.

This was a "page" turner (I actually read and listened to some of Wool) that I really found hard to put down.

This book started out as a short story, it's subsequent parts being released over a six-month span.  Right now it's only available in digital format on Amazon for the ridiculously low price of $6, but Howey recently got a publishing deal and it should be available in print early 2013.


4.5/5 Iggystars

New Manicure Pics & Stuff

My Nails

I'm still keeping up with my nails and with all of the polish I've accumulated I'd better be doing two manicures a week for the next year.



This one was from late last week/early this week. Wet 'n Wild - Disturbia. Meh. It's a blackened plum color that I thought had some shimmer. Well, there's shimmer, but it's not discernable unless I have my nails all up close to my eyeballs. It's a perfectly nice color that suffered from not meeting my high expectations. (Am I excited about The Amazing Spiderman? Why do you ask?)

I must say though, WnW's Megalast line lives up to its name. I did all kind of work, cleaned the fish tank, you name it without nary a chip.



I like this one much better. Wet 'n Wild - Ebony Hates Chris, a shiny black creme, with two coats of Revlon - Scandalous, on top. I'm in love with Scandalous! A black jelly base with fuschia hex and round glitter. The glitter give it a pop without it being over the top. (Yes, my photo skills suck.)

Audio Books



I finished listening to Rob Lowes Biography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends. It was a great read! I didn't know much about Rob Lowe except from the impression he made with his Brat Pack fame, but I learned that he's more than just a pretty face. He's insightful and very grounded about his looks and stardom. He goes as far as to say that some of his interactions with fans, such as being mobbed by a group of girls, made him feel crappy instead of elated as he'd imagined it would. It's not that he doesn't love his fans or appreicate the adoration, he does, but he attributes some of these encounters to media hype, being the "it" actor and in his earlier brushes with fangirls, "group think and hormones being whipped up by Tiger Beat". He prefers real interactions with his fans and if I ever got a chance to meet up with him, I'd feel perfectly comfortable doing so as I wouldn't be trying to rip off a piece of his clothing or ask for an autograph while one of his loved one lays sick in a hospital bed (which happened...ugh).

The book glosses over a few of the more scandalous parts of his life, the sex tape scandal, his infidelities and his stint in rehab, but that was OK with me. I don't need sordid blow-by-blow details in order to get the full flavor of a person's life story.

Equally enjoyable is his recounting of how he got his break into acting, especially the audition process and shooting of The Outsiders which was one of my favorite movies in the 80's. So many crushable actors in that movie based on an amazing book (I read just about all of S.E. Hinton's books in my teens). Anyway, I enjoyed hearing his experiences on set, as well as general information about the audition process, how child actors are handled, how negotiations work, etc. I also though the story of how him and his wife, of now 20-years of marriage, started their journey together.

I seem to really enjoy biographies on audiobook, there's something about this format that works for me with this genre. Rob did the narration himself and has a uncanny ability for doing voices that made me laugh.

Let's see now I'm listening to Stephen King's time-travel thriller, 11/22/63. I loves me some time-traveling books and I love Stephen King's non-scary-giving-Iggy-nightmares books (I'm am NOT a horror fan), so I have high hopes this will be a good one.

Crafts

It's time for the new rounds of knitting games. Somehow I got mixed up with the Nerd Wars sign ups, so I'm not participating this tournament and am a little salty about that. But it's all a go for the Starfleet FAC and I'm working on chemo caps in colors for men. Actually I'm currently looking for the one I started as I've misplaced it somehow.

That is all for now...until next week!

Manicure of the Week & Stuff

Nails

So far I'm keeping up with my reinvigorated love of keeping my nails cute. Here's this week's manicure:



(I know this pic it crazy small. I did something funky with the editing and will fix it later.)

There, that's better.



I love this look! It's two coats of China Glaze Icicle topped off with the excellent China Glaze Crackle color Black Mesh. I remember first seeing crackle polish over a decade ago and I guess it didn't quite catch on then. It's in full swing now, or it might be getting played out. I'm old enough to only care if I like something, not if the masses think that something is still cool.

Being busy and all (have to still do housework even with pretty nails), in order to maintain my manicure I put a clear coat every other night and touch up the color as needed. I do a cuticle oil massage every day and the entire process only takes minutes.

Books
On the reading front, I'm currently listening to Rob Lowe's autobiography.



I only selected this book because of the great reviews and several recommendations. Rob does the reading and so far it's a very cool "read". Rob has never really been a blip on my radar because he's impossibly handsome and I like my guys to be less traditionally gorgeous (y'all know how I feel about a slight overbite, or long nose). In fact, I think I preferred his brother, Chad because he had a little goofiness mixed into his looks. So other than starring in some great "Brat Pack" fare, I wouldn't have gravitated to his biography.

But again, I'm finding it interesting to learn how he got into the business. I'll post a proper review later.

Crafting

My mojo is a bit off right now but the wax and wane of feeling like crafting is normal. I'm still trying to finish the gift for my latest yarn swap which was supposed to be mailed by Saturday. I'll throw in some extra goodies to make up for my tardiness. I also committed myself to knitting some chemo caps in colors for men, because they often get forgotten about when the call for caps is made. Men undergoing chemo lose their hair too, so a nice, soft cap should be a nice charity knit.

That's all for now!