Book 56 of 2012: Falling Into Green

Falling Into Green by Cher Fischer touts itself as 'an Eco-mystery' which I'll admit is part of what attracted me to it. It sounded like an interesting concept and I'm always keen to find out more about the environment so I happily requested a review copy and I was pretty pleased when I got it.

It follows Esmeralda, whose friend committed suicide at the age of sixteen, as she witnesses history repeating itself after her friend Charlie's niece is found dead at the foot of the same cliff. As the detective works to solve the crime (and possibly steal Esmeralda's boyfriend), Esmeralda becomes deeply involved in the mystery and as this happens, so she becomes more determined to find out the truth.

At the beginning of this book I was reminded of the Kathy Reichs books I have been reading recently. Both feature strong female characters acting as the narrator for the story, which is told from a first-person point of view. This meant that I was drawn into it straightaway, I guess it just matched my expectations of what a mystery/detective-type story should be.

I have to admit that I didn't really warm to Esmeralda much during the course of the book. She was an interesting character but I did struggle to find her likeable. Esmeralda has very strong beliefs about the environment and she doesn't hesitate to let the reader know about them, which made me feel like she was quite an obsessive sort of character. It's something that she was aware of herself, deliberately mentioning the fact that she was judging her boyfriend based on the car that he was driving, but she took it to such extremes that it kind of made her very irritating. If I knew her in real life I don't think I would be able to stand being around her for more than a few minutes at a time.

The big twist/reveal in the story was not only the solution to the murder of Charlie's niece, but also the reason for Charlie's suicide, something that Esmeralda had never understood. I did find that a little bit implausible. Without wanting to give too much away about the story; I would be surprised if the real reason had never come up in some sort of inquest and why the family would even want to cover something up like that.

There was a strong environmental message to the story. I quite liked reading about some of the alternatives to non-environmentally friendly products/approaches, but at times it did come across as a little bit preachy. I did find myself picking up and putting down the book, because there's only so much of that that I can take at a time. It was interesting to read about California and I liked the way that the landscape was as much a character in this story as the flesh and blood people.

One thing I did find a bit strange was the idea of 'ecopsychology' which is actually the author's profession. It's to do with how one's environment can influence one's psychology; which makes enough sense for me, I guess. A little bit out there, but understandable enough. Esmeralda also does this thing where she 'fuses' with her environment; the plants or animals around her. I found that a little bit strange, but I overlooked that because it was fiction after all.

On the whole it was a pretty good read. I'd probably be interested to read more by the same author.

"We want more food, and bigger chickens and cows to eat, so we pump them up with all sorts of chemicals and create antibiotic-resistant disease. We want to base the world's economy on oil, so we pump it into the air and get climate change."Location 3945

Book 54 of 2012: The Book of Fire

I've been meaning to write this review for almost a month now and I've just not seemed to be able to find the motivation for it, I'm not even sure why. I keep on telling myself to just go on to the next book review and come back to this one, but I can't seem to bring myself to do that either, so I'm going to finally get this written and hopefully get (re-)caught up with my reviews!

The Book of Fire is the first book in a series featuring Cressida Widdershins who is a young girl living on an alternative version of our Earth. In her world the continents never split and most of the population has magic powers. Cressida is one of the few who has no powers at all, and she just happens to acquire a magic book which an evil cult wants to use to begin an ice age which will wipe out most of the life on Earth. Together with her friends, she has to find a way to stop this from happening.

Now I did quite enjoy this story. It was a pretty good concept, the world was pretty original and I liked the fact that Cressida was one of a very tiny percentage of the population who didn't have magical powers. There was a good sense of humour in the story as well, at times it reminded me of Terry Pratchett, which is always a good thing.

I think that it would probably appeal to a younger audience, possibly those who aren't quite ready for Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket. At times I found myself drawing parallels between those stories as well. However, I did find myself wondering at times whether the author was truly aware of the audience he was writing for. Occasionally there were instances of terms or language being used which I think would either be unfamiliar to a younger reader, or perhaps inappropriate for them. There were also times when one of the eleven-year-old characters would say something that didn't sound like the sort of thing an eleven-year-old would say, though I was willing to overlook those considering it was taking place in a different world to our own.

There were also some instances of irritating formatting. It was mostly simple little things but which all combined together became a bit wearing and definitely pulled me out of the story; line breaks in the middle of characters' speech, no indents at the beginning of paragraphs (making it feel more like a web text rather than a book), etc. Two of the most annoying things was the character Miss Weber alternating between being named as Miss Webber and Miss Weber (sometimes several times on the one page) for most of the first 20% of the book. It's the sort of thing that could lead me to give up on a book, but luckily it stopped after a while.

The story could have benefitted from slightly better formatting. If it had been arranged on the page with indented paragraphs then the author could have used the double line spaces to indicate where the focus was shifting. Focus shifts happened often and without warning, which could be jarring because suddenly the 'she' you were reading about was not Cressida but Miss Weber/Webber or Cressida's mother.

It took me about four or five days to read, which is longer than I'd normally spend reading a book like this. It felt long; in a way it reminded me of some of the stories that I've produced during NaNoWriMo where plots have randomly changed midway through because you've realised that you've not got enough to carry you to the end of the 50,000 words. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it did mean that I found it tricky to keep track of who the good guys and bad guys were.

It's obviously the beginning of an interesting series, but it could do with a little bit of polishing to make it a really good read.

"So the humans developed much like they did on other alternative Earths. They built the pyramids, went through an industrial revolution and invented reality television."Location 16

Project 365+1: Days 183 - 189

Another batch of photos to show you what I've been up to this week. Thankfully, after all of the excitement of the last couple of weeks, this one has been a bit easier. I've been working the late shift so that's meant long lazy mornings and shorter evenings, though at least now the days are light for longer so it doesn't feel like you're really staying up too late; plenty of pretty sunsets too (though I didn't take any photos of those)!

Day 183: Fresh Bread

When we moved into our new house (I should really stop calling it our 'new house' considering the fact that we've been here for over a year now) my in-laws gave us their bread machine as they rarely used it. We go through phases of it, usually depending on whether or not I'm in the mood for sandwiches in my packing up for work. The recipe we use is one which has been modified from the recipe book that came with a previous machine and we both have it pretty much off by heart.

There's something very nice about setting the timer at night or first thing in the morning and waking up to the smell of a fresh baked loaf. This loaf was made by Mr Click and is a sort of half white/half granary loaf which makes great sandwiches and toast. There's not really any of it left now though.

Day 184: Scottish Summerwear

As it's now officially summer in Scotland, I've been dressing accordingly. That is in the big heavy overcoat you see above because it has been fricking freezing here! In between the torrential downpours and occasional gale force winds, there have been a few sun sightings, but despite the weather gradually improving towards the end of the week, it's not been a great week for the weather.

We'd considered a picnic yesterday but midway through the week decided against it and spent the day in watching DVDs instead which was just as well because it was pretty wet out. Most of the week I've been forced to alternate between my super stylish waterproof jacket (you know the kind, they come with a little bag that you're supposed to be able to stuff them into but which never seems to work) and this big warm coat.

Day 185: Well Wrapped

As I posted earlier in the week, this Tuesday was my Mum-in-Law's birthday. We got her a nice present and a lovely card. I took a photo partly because I wanted to post a birthday message for her on here, but also because I was pretty damn chuffed at how neatly I wrapped it up. My wrapping is normally quite neat, but I generally take the more-sellotape-the-better approach to wrapping. Any little gaps get sealled up, relatively neatly. This time I only used the bare minimum and I was quite pleased with how it looked. Also, Mr Click chose the best wrapping paper. ^_^

Day 186: More Reading Material

Having finished reading the Suzanne Collins books along with a couple of others which were taking up much needed space on my bookshelf, I decided to dig out some of the books waiting in the boxes in the spare bedroom. I've added Her Fearful Symmetry to my list of books to read, along with a few of the World Book Night books (I've been trying to read all of the books selected for World Book Night).

These books are going to have to wait a little while before I actually get to them, however. I've still got a handful of ebook review copies to read along with three shelves above these. Not only that, but when I get to my 'Tolkien shelf' I'm planning on finally reading the ebook version of The Lord of the Rings as well. Should get to them by the end of this year... if I'm lucky!

Day 187: Late Sun

As I said earlier, the sun has made a couple of appearances (though only brief ones and in otherwise very wet days). This combined with my shift pattern has meant that I've not seen much of it this week, but then you do get views like this occasionally.

I love walking Tara to the back gate. It's our usual weekday morning route, quite gentle (though the slope back up from the gate can be a bit of a killer at times) and past this lovely woodland for the first/last bit of it. This week, with the sun warming up the damp ground, it kind of reminded me of some sort of prehistoric forest, I wouldn't have been surprised to see a dinosaur or two ambling by in the distance. It was all quiet though, not even a deer in sight.

Day 188: Late Night Visitor

I'd already taken a photo for the day (showing the girls' tails all hanging down together as they made themselves comfy in the hammock after they'd been cleaned out) and wasn't planning on really looking too hard for another one, when I took Tara out in the garden for the last time and almost trod on this little guy. I saw a movement round the corner of the house and (despite it being pitch black outside and there not being a bird in sight) assumed that it was some sort of little bird.

Mr Click had told me that he thought there was a frog/toad in the garden by the drain the other night when he took Tara out and so I've been half expecting to see one since then, but this guy caught me by surprise. Once Tara had done her thing, I rushed back inside, grabbed my camera, snapped a couple of photos, rushed back inside to switch lenses and then got a couple of good close-ups. I was a little unsure of what the flash might do to his amphibious little eyes, so I didn't spend too long bugging him and there's been no sign of him since then, but I'm pleased with what I got.

Day 189: Registered

And as I posted yesterday, I got my confirmation that I'm registered for my next course. It starts on the 29th of September, so not really all that long. I'm quite looking forward to getting back into my studying, I'm missing it at the moment. Mainly because it means I only have things like housework to avoid doing now (once the course starts I will run out of laundry because that's my number one avoidance job).

I'm not entirely sure what I've got on this coming week. I'm just hoping that the weather improves a little bit so I can leave the rain mac at home while I'm walking Tara.

Time for some literature...

As I'd finished my final linguistics course towards my BA in English Language & Literature I figured that I might as well start getting registered for the Literature strand of the degree while I was waiting for my results.

After putting it off for a couple of weeks, I finally filled in the forms and sent off all the paperwork (thank you Scottish government for making it free for me to study). I got the confirmation of my registration much quicker than I expected.


So now I'm all registered for it. Woo hoo!

My last course was a Level 3 so this is back to second level now, hopefully it'll be a nice change after the pace of the third level course. I had originally planned to double up and do this one at the same time before I switched jobs; I'm glad I'm just concentrating on one at a time now.

There are ten set books to read for the course and I've been trying to read them all before the course starts, so when I'm studying them I'll already be familiar with the texts. So far I'm just starting the fourth of the ten and I've got until the 29th of September, plenty of time yet.

Quite looking forward to getting my course materials, it's so much fun looking at things you don't understand and knowing that (hopefully) within the year it will all become clear.

An 'Eventfull' Saturday

As I mentioned on Sunday, Saturday was a busy day in the Click household. After spending a busy week at work I normally like to reserve my weekends for relaxing, not leaving the house much and getting caught up on books. But I somehow found myself fully booked with the Red Cross tent for the Armed Forces Day in the morning and early afternoon, then a work party in the evening.

I've mentioned before that I'm not big on the whole socialising thing. Quiet evenings in with a good book or film are far higher on my list of things I enjoy than discos.

But I was involved in the organisation of this particular 'event' (I'm on a committee which is hoping to arrange a selection of out of work events) so I had to go along.

And I'm so glad I did. Having been out all day we weren't sure whether Mr Click's parents would mind watching Tara for the evening as well as earlier in the day, but in the end they agreed to watch her, so off we went.

Originally it had been planned as a beach party with sandcastle building competitions and a kareoke machine for entertainment, plus a barbecue. But living on Scotland, plans for a summer beach party were maybe just a wee bit optimistic. So it was relocated to a local hall.

Which worked beautifully. We still had the barbecue, plus a local guy who does family parties for the entertainment. It meant that as well as dancing we had party games (at one point I ended up sitting on Mr Click while we played 'Musical Men'!)

I don't think I've laughed so much in ages, my head actually hurt from it! Mr Click had to leave early to get back to relieve his parents of Tara so I stayed until ten for the raffle (and won my husband a bottle of wine, because I'm a nice wife, even though I could have chosen chocolates). When I left the party was still going strong.

It was definitely a great night and I can't wait until whatever we plan next. Hopefully whatever it is will be as successful as our indoor beach party.

Happy Birthday Mum!

It's my Mum-in-law's birthday today, so Happy Birthday Mum!




She's a pretty cool lady so hopefully she'll have a fantastic day.

Project 365+1: Days 176 - 182

I've just about gotten the hang of using the new app I downloaded for my phone to make blogging on the go (or without a phoneline at home) a little easier. Unfortunately my mastery of this new medium coincided with a fantastically busy week, so I eventually ran out of time for blogging. Now that I've gotten this weekend out the way, I'm hoping things will ease up a little and I'll be able to get back into a routine with it again.

This week I've been trying to go back to taking photos with my fancy camera (something which would be easier if I actually remembered to take it with me when I leave the house) but for the sake of blogging, I've been making a back-up photo on my phone, so I can stick it into a future post.

Day 176: Bilbo's Last Song

I took this one on my phone first with the anticipation of a blog post about my past obsessions/hobbies. It's actually a post version of Bilbo's Last Song by Tolkien and illustrated by one of his favourite illustrators (of his works), Pauline Baynes. I inherited this from my Grampy and it's been shut away safely in one cupboard or another for the last (almost) ten years. I've got plans to get it framed at some point, then it'll hang at the bottom of our staircase. In the meantime it'll stay safe and rolled up in the spare bedroom.

Day 177: Trouble

Tara looks guilty about something in this photo. I'm not sure what exactly, possibly the amount of fur she's managed to deposit on our creamy carpet (and my in-laws' lighter creamy carpet) in the last week. She's moved on up to full-scale summer fur shedding, to the point where you can vacuum and within five minutes there are little clumps of hair all over the place. If I thought it would help, I'd just save time and vacuum the dog instead.

Thankfully my in-laws have found a comb which seems to have helped slow her down a bit, and we live in Scotland, so summer doesn't exactly last long anyway. At least we can see where we've missed a bit vacuuming right now.

Day 178: Menu

We don't exactly plan out our meals a month in advance, but before we go shopping we plan what sorts of meals we'd like to have for the next few weeks. After insuring Tara through Tesco Pet Insurance they sent us £30 worth of gift vouchers (which have stocked her up on food well) and also meant we could pick up some new DVDs to add to our collection as well.

Unfortunately, one of the only things we forgot to include in our list of meals to have in the coming weeks is the steak and kidney pie which has been sitting in our cupboard for months. I'm not a fan of them, so somehow it's been conveniently missed off each time we've made our list.

Day 179: Dem Bones

This has been my main reason for not posting more this week. Yesterday was both the Armed Forces Day and my work's summer party; I was manning the Red Cross tent and so we needed to provide a few activities for the kids. My contribution to the fun was to spend the previous week cutting out felt organs for an old 'flannelgraph' which we found in the cupboard there. I then decided to use a skeleton diagram posted to make cardboard skeleton 'jigsaws'.

They turned out really well, though rib cages are very difficult to trace (do we really need so many ribs?) and they've been put into storage to save me a little time on them next year.

Day 180: A Little Bit Of Love

As I mentioned, we had to go shopping this week. So Mr. Click showed up at my work afterwards with flowers and chocolates. Thorntons chocolates. Always a nice surprise. I'm not very good with flowers and their names and things, but these ones smell gorgeous and are a lovely shade. We've got this brilliant vase my in-laws gave us when we moved in and every other month it sits on the windowsill just being pretty, then the other month, I get a pleasant surprise and it sits on the windowsill looking like this.

Also, the Thorntons chocolates are lovely!

Day 181: Skinny

And here is the end result of all my hard work; Skinny Skeleton. He's actually a good couple of feel long. I had to lay him out on the bed to get all of him in the picture. I made another one as well between Friday night and Saturday morning (cutting it a little bit fine, I know). It added a little bit of confusion on the day as people tried to work out which bones they needed to complete their skeleton as there were twice as many of everything.

I'm quite pleased with how well it turned out, but it'll be nice to have my evenings back, rather than spending them hunched over a little table, trying to trace the correct number of ribs onto a picture of a ribcage.

Day 182: Feeling Chilly?

Now that I've finished cutting out bones and body parts I've been able to move on to more reading material. Hopefully this also means that during this week I'll be able to get caught up with my book reviews (I did so well at getting caught up with them and now I've fallen behind again). I've only got a few more Review Copies of ebooks to read and then it's onto The Lord of the Rings. It seems to have taken ages to get around to reading the next Terry Pratchett book since Thud! so I'm really enjoying Wintersmith. I've missed the Disc.

I was very good yesterday; the stall opposite ours at the Armed Forces Day had a set of five of the Game of Thrones books. I was very tempted to buy them. But I controlled myself (even though at the end of the day when we were packing up, they were still there!) because those books are very thick and they will be far more practical in ebook format. Plus, I've got so much reading material, I really shouldn't buy myself any more right now!

Anyway, off to eat some yummy homemade chicken soup, hope everyone's having a good week.