2020

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

Hello!

Welcome to my first ever First Lines Friday! I have been following this weekly feature for a while now and have decided to give it a go because I have been enjoying reading people’s posts and trying to guess the book.

So here are the first lines…

(The answer is below the cats!)

Her skin was rather sallow, Anne thought as she studied herself in the silver mirror, and she had too many moles, but at least her face was a fashionable oval. At eleven she had no womanly figure to speak of, but that hopefully would change in the next year or so.

The answer is Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession by Alison Weir

Fresh from the palaces of Burgundy and France, Anne draws attention at the English court, embracing the play of courtly love.

But when the King commands, nothing is ever a game.

Anne has a spirit worthy of a crown – and the crown is what she seeks. At any price.

So that is my First Lines Friday! Please drop me a link with your First Lines Friday and I will head over for a visit.

This and That Thursday

Good morning everyone!

I hope this post finds you all well. I can’t believe it is Thursday already, the weeks are flying by. I am now doing more teaching online which is keeping me busy for some reason it does mean more prep work for each lesson because it is online. So here is what I have been up to during the rest of my time.

Exercise

I am still exercising regularly and have discovered the walking workouts by Leslie Sansone. I have been doing the ones I have found on YouTube and thoroughly enjoying them. I have treated myself to one of her DVDs as well which I am looking forward to having a go at soon. I am still doing my Davina workouts but it is nice to have a change and mix things up a bit.

Baking

I made a chocolate swirly cake this week, sadly it was a little drier than I would have liked but it was my own fault I left it in the AGA too long. Hopefully my next cake will be better.

Studying

The studying continues although I do need to get back into it more as I have fallen behind slightly.

TV and Movies

We have been watching quite a few movies in an evening and have just started watching all the Harry Potter films from the beginning. We have also started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the very beginning which is bringing back memories of watching it when I was a teenager, turns out I missed quite a few episodes.

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Cats

I seem to have spent a great deal of time this week brushing our cats because as soon as I vacuum there is cat fur everywhere straight after. Hopefully my efforts are helping!

That’s about it for now! I had a present off my friend arrive today which is an enormous Paint by Numbers so that will probably feature in next week’s post. Wish me luck I’ve never attempted one before.

This and That Thursday

Hello!

I hope this post finds everyone well and safe. So here is what I have got up to this week other than reading.

Jigsaw

I have started another Jigsaw and now just have the sky left, I always find the sky to be the worst part in a jigsaw.

Cooking and Baking

I have been trying to do a recipe each week that I have never made before and this week was spaghetti carbonara, it was very yummy. I also made one of my favourites, rhubarb crumble with soya custard.

Walking

We are still going on daily walks and regularly go and see these three sheep we have affectionately nicknamed the Three Amigos!

Flute

I have been really enjoying practising the flute everyday for at least an hour, it is so nice to enjoy playing again.

New Skill

I bought a Ukulele and so today I started learning how to play it. Thankfully, I used to play the guitar so it is all coming back. I’m really enjoying learning a new skill so will see how it goes.

So, that is what I have been up to this week. Please drop me a comment with what you have been up to as well.

This and That Thursday

Hello!

With everything going on I am doing lots of things as well as reading to fill my time, so I thought every Thursday I would do a post about my other hobbies other than reading. So here we go…

Jigsaws

I finally completed my Christmas jigsaw that I started in 2017 and started a second jigsaw which was of course cat related. I have at least another two jigsaws to keep me going. All my jigsaws are 1000 pieces so they should keep me busy.

Baking

I have also baked some little cakes with lemon butter icing. I was following a new recipe by Mary Berry and I must admit there seemed to be a lot of icing but they are very yummy. I’m planning Easter nests next as I gave up chocolate for lent so this will be a nice reward.

Exercise

I’ve been trying to keep my fitness up so have been walking everyday and also playing on my Ring Fit Nintendo switch game as well as doing online exercise.

Studying and Music

I have also been studying but it has been disappointing that my final assignment for this year has been cancelled. I have also been practising the organ everyday with the hope of taking another exam either in the summer or winter.

So, that is just a few of the things I have been up to as well as house chores and gardening. What has everybody else been up to over lockdown?

Stay safe.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Bought Because…

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For more info please check out Jana’s blog.

This is my first Top Ten Tuesday! I have followed these on people’s blogs for quite a while now and so I thought I would give it a go. This week’s theme is ‘Books I Bought/Borrowed Because…’ However, I haven’t borrowed any books recently so I’m just focusing on books that I have bought.

Books I have Bought because they are pretty.

I love pretty books hence why I have several copies of the same book!

As you can see some of these are sets. I will be honest I collect different editions of The Lord of the Rings and I can’t resist a pretty Christmas book.

Books I have Bought because of blogging

Since blogging and reading other people’s blogs I have bought quite a lot of books that I wouldn’t usually buy for myself. This has been great because I have discovered some fab new authors and genres.

Books I have Bought because they contain cats

I must admit I buy books that contain cats because of my husband because I am a dog person but I still read all the cat books and recently I seem to have bought a lot more cat books than dog books.

So there is my first Top Ten Tuesday. Please drop me a comment with the link to your TTT and will check it out. Also please drop me a comment if you have read any of these books.

Happy reading

Friday Poetry: Don Marquis

Happy Friday!

I chose this poem because we have a Tom Cat who terrorises our poor cats and does anything he possibly can to get into our house. Thankfully we have a very clever cat flap that will only let our cats in.

The Tom-Cat

At midnight in the alley

A tom-cat comes to wail,

And he chants the hate of a million years

As he swings his snaky tail.

Malevolent, bony, brindled,

Tiger and devil and bard,

His eyes are coals from the middle of Hell

And his heart is black and hard.

He twists and crouches and capers

And bares his curved sharp claws,

And he sings to the stars of the jungle nights

Ere cities were, or laws.

Beast from a world primeval,

He and his leaping clan,

When the blotched red moon leers over the roofs

Give voice to their scorn of man.

He will lie on a rug tomorrow

And lick his silky fur,

And veil the brute in his yellow eyes

And play he’s tame and purr.

But at midnight in the alley

He will crouch again and wail,

And beat the time for his demon’s song

With the swing of his demon’s tail.

Don Marquis

I couldn’t get a picture of the annoying Tom Cat so I took a picture of my cat Pan instead.

A P. G. Wodehouse Pick-Me-Up! by P. G. Wodehouse (Review)

A P. G. Wodehouse Pick-Me-Up! Goodbye to All Cats by P. G. Wodehouse

About the author

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse wrote more than ninety novels and some three hundred short stories over 73 years. He is widely recognised as the greatest 20th- century writer of humour in the English Language. In 1936 he awarded the Mark Twain Prize for ‘having made an outstanding and lasting contribution to the happiness of the world’. He was made a Doctor of Letters by Oxford University in 1939 and in 1975, aged 93, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He died shortly afterwards, on St Valentine’s Day.

Blurb

A Wodehouse pick-me-up that’ll lift your spirits, whatever your mood.

Review

I picked up this book when I was last in Bath. I picked it up at the counter. I must admit a lot of bookshops tend to sell me an extra book at the counter.

This is a very quick read but a very fun read that contains three short stories.

Goodbye to All Cats

This story is the first in the book and I must admit my favourite and made me laugh out loud a lot! This story is all about Freddie’s experience with cats that made him dislike all cats in general for the foreseeable future.

The story is hilarious but at the same time I did feel sorry for Freddie who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Ukridge’s Dog College

I was surprised by this story as I had just presumed all the stories would be cat related. I was so pleased to see this assumption was wrong because I love dog stories. This story focuses on the eccentric Ukridge, who will do anything to make a quick fortune that doesn’t involve hard work. A fantastic little read for dog lovers.

Ukridge’s Accident Syndicate

This is an interesting story but for me lacked the humour of the other two stories. I just found the story dragged a little. The basic concept is a group of friends who pool all their money to buy insurance for their friend and wait for the friend to have an accident. Oh and it does involve a dog, which is always good.

All in all I loved the book and think I will purchase the other three books in the series as they are quick fun reads that you can read in one sitting or one story a day. I highly recommend the book especially for animal lovers and anybody who just wants to read a light hearted fun book. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons! Pan loves the book as well.

Purchase Links

Book Depository

Waterstones

Star Trek The Next Generation Cats by Jenny Parks (Review)

Star Trek The Next Generation Cats by Jenny Parks

About the author

Jenny Parks is a scientific illustrator that also happens to be a shameless nerd, with a penchant for drawing animals, dinosaurs, imaginary creatures… and occasionally, people as cats. Somehow, she found herself with a bit of internet fame with the illustration ‘Doctor Mew’, and has been baffled ever since. With a BFA in illustration from the California College of the Arts, and a graduate degree in Science Illustration from UC Santa Cruz, she now resides in Denver, CO as a freelance illustrator, fulfilling her destiny to make a living drawing cute, fuzzy things.

Blurb

The cats are back in their continuing mission: to boldly go where no one has gone before. This companion to the bestselling Star Trek Cats brings the many adventures of Star Trek: The Next Generation to life in a faithfully feline homage to the hit series. From encounters with the Borg to adventures on the holodeck, Captain Picard and the rest of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D crew are reimagined as cats with lovingly detailed and eyebrow-raising scenes from throughout the award-winning series, perfect for Star Trek fans across the Galaxy.

Review

I was so excited to see there was a sequel to the Star Trek Cats and that this book was just as good as the previous one. The first thing I loved was the choice of cats for the characters especially the choice of cat for Captain Picard.

The book is like the previous book where it does not follow a story but instead has snapshots from different episodes. I have some favourite scenes which include Relics where the cats are kittens. My ultimate favourite is where the cats are playing poker and I must admit I would love to have it as a picture on my wall. However, I must admit the Borg cats are a little bit scary.

I love this book and I highly recommend it to other Star Trek and cat fans. I give this book a big 5 out of 5 Dragons and I thoroughly hope Jenny Parks does Star Trek Voyager soon!

Lyra loves the book as well!

Purchase Links

Waterstones

Book Depository

Star Trek Cats by Jenny Parks (Review)

Star Trek Cats by Jenny Parks

About the author

Blurb

Captain’s log: We have entered a galaxy where beloved illustrator Jenny Parks has conjured an astonishingly vivid homage to the original Star Trek series with an unexpected twist: a cast of cats. Featuring a hilarious new take on iconic characters and scenes—from Kirk in the Captain’s chair to Spock offering his Vulcan wisdom—this eye-opening adventure stays true to the tone of the classic TV show. Playful, loving, and from a strange new world, Star Trek Cats is the perfect gift for fans of, well, Star Trek and cats.

Review

I could not believe my eyes when I accidentally discovered this book and I immediately bought it for my husband for Valentine’s Day, obviously I had to read it myself. I love Star Trek and I have seen every episode of the original series and I am now working my way through the films so I was overjoyed to read this book.

The book doesn’t follow a story and is instead snapshots from different well known episodes of the series. The book doesn’t have a lot to read as it is mainly the amazing illustrations but that does not matter as the book is a joy to behold. Every scene is brilliantly done but a few are my favourites. One is Scotty holding his bottle of Scotch Milk and the other is a scene from the episode The Trouble with Tribbles.

This book is brilliant for Star Trek fans and cat fans alike. The illustrations are amazing and very cleverly done as the cats have been chosen to reflect the Star Trek characters perfectly. I will never see Scotty the same way again after seeing his cat version. I highly recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a giggle and a quick read to brighten up their day. I give this book a massive 5 out of 5 Dragons.

P.s. Lyra my cat likes the book as well.

Purchase Links

Waterstones

Book Depository

New Books 18/02/2020

I have bought my first fun books for 2020! I have bought a lot of books this year but they have all been for my Masters, but I have given in and treated myself a little.

Star Trek Picard: The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack

I am so excited about this book even if to be honest the TV series is painfully slow and in certain places annoying beyond belief. This book is written by Una McCormack and her previous Star Trek novels are just amazing so I am looking forward to her take on the new series.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Cats by Jenny Parks

This one I could not resist, I bought the first one in the series for my husband as he loves Star Trek and cats and after reading it I immediately bought the second one.

So only two books as I am trying to be well behaved this year as I have so many books to read already and I know I won’t get to read many non study related books.

Happy reading