Wednesday, January 30, 2013

My year of Books: Of Mice and Men

Right, so mid last week, I finished Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, if only someone had told me how sad it was going to get.

Firstly, you can instantly tell why it's a modern classic, it's so well written and hits home emotionally instantly, as soon as I started reading it, I cared for Lenny and George, I wanted George to do all he could for Lenny; and to me, he did.

After meeting Candy, I could feel that he and George would have an affiliation; and after meeting Curley's Wife, I knew she was up to no good. I've met so many females like her, they can't see the harm they do due to their boredom. Oh, how mad I got reading about Curley's Wife, she isn't a girl's girl, that's for sure...

Ensuring I give nothing away, if someone had told me that I would end the book sobbing into the pages, my heart emptying with every tear that hit the page, I don't know if I would have read it. It was heartbreakingly beautiful. So incredibly beautiful, that I've recommended it to my mother, who has read  everything twice...just to ensure that she has definitely read it.

This is the kind of book that leave an impression, the kind of amazing book that takes hardly any words to describe, it's all about the passion within 5 words: You have to read this book.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Quilt No.2

I've finally sewn all of the squares for 'quilt two' together but I've now lost my quilting wind and therefore have frozen, I'm sure it'll come back, it always does. Probably during the height of summer, as there really is nothing worse then sewing a quilt top to the wadding and backing during hot days, but when the wind strikes, you just got to sew.




If the recipients of this blanket are lucky, they may get it before their first wedding anniversary, unlike the recipients of the First Quilt. It's not about the delivery date, it's about the love which is given while making it, hence the lack of energy and ability and the duration for making one, honest, honest it is. 

OK, maybe I'm just impatient and like to change my projects often and due to that, I apologise to the lucky recipients, when it is finished. Along with the other three which haven't even been thought about yet...I'm going to stop giving them as presents, as I'm crap at quilting.

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

My Year of Books: Animal Farm

Since dating Tom, it has appeared that I am extremely unread. I knew that I hadn't read most of the classic works but I didn't realise how truly hopeless I had been.

In the last three years, I've read most of Jane Austen's books, 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte and 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte, but that is about it; and most of those were read over the last year and a half, since moving to London; it's amazing what dead time spent on the underground can cause.

I decided that 2013 is the year of books, I'm going to read the classics, or at least start reading the classics. In the last week, I've read 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell and have started to read 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck.

Animal Farm was brilliant, I know I'm teaching old people to suck eggs, I know that everyone who has read it knows all about it but still. I really enjoyed it. I knew the premise of the storyline and obviously saw the cartoon version when I was a child but I couldn't remember a thing about it. For a book of 110 pages it's concise and entertaining. I really felt for Boxer, who so wanted to trust in the "greater good".

Tom has informed me it is about Stalin and Lenin, so my next stop shall be a quick scan of the wikipedia page and probably miss the point entirely. I mentioned to Tom that the way that Napolean raised a mass fear by blaming Snowball for everything was very similar to how Hitler raised the general public to dislike the Jewish Community, etc., I guess it's the same in most Communist parties, the mutual enemy, and you've no choice but to carry on hoping and believing in the future, and your leader.

I recommend this book wholeheartedly for all ages, it's only 110 pages or so, where is the harm?!