reading and.....loving it!

I have been reading some seriously entertaining YA stuff lately.
I would like to rave on about the wildly wacky and fabulous GOING BOVINE by Libba Bray.
I would also give a huge thumbs up to WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead.
Thrills and gore and heart-stopping excitement to GONE and HUNGER by Michael Grant. I don't want to send you to amazon for the cover images because the US jacket images are woeful. The Australian ones are MUCH MUCH better, but minimal.
I also read a grown-up book that I loved called THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE by Maggie O'Farrell.
In my life as a Childrens' bookseller I sometimes go months between adult book selections and I kind of like it. Often I am struck by the force of YA and younger literature. I seems so direct and powerful and I guess the authors are VERY aware of the importance of keeping their audience involved and interested in the story. Well, duh.
Sometimes I get the impression that writing for grown ups can become a little flabby and the discipline of keeping to the plot and on topic can get a little lost. I'm not a fan of unneccessary wordiness and smarty-pants-ness in writing.
So, these books above are my January hot tips. ENJOY!!!!
Here is a completely unrelated psychotic dog photo.

reading and crafting

I have just finished a fantastic kids book called Triskellion. If anyone watched the series a few years back called League Of Gentlemen you will remember the bizarre small English town of Royston Vasy. Well I think that's the setting for THIS book. It was so expertly written (compared to lots of other kids books) I was sad to finish it, but also delighted to know that it is the first in a trilogy. Something to look forward to! I would most certainly recommend it to youngsters of 10 or so. Kids who like a big engrossing read to snuggle up in front of the heater with. As long as they don't block the heat for us poor oldies with icicle extremities!!
In other news, I just bought a beautiful squishy soft piece of black wool cashmere to fashion into a scarf for my lovely girlfriend Rachel's 40th birthday pressie. Oh there will be red & black & stripes & velvet & applique & possibly even a toggle. Sounds quite foul with that description.
Have you ever known someone with so much personal style (for clothes, furniture & bloody everything) that it's just about impossible to buy something for them?
I am hoping I can pay fitting tribute to her at least with originality! The scarf I have included in this post is one I made a couple of years ago for my friend Andree. I was pretty pleased with it & felt inspired to model Rachel's on this idea. Hope it works.