Bells of Kells

February 2015 Reads

2015-03-10T14:51:17Z

( Books! )

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Friday Reads

2015-02-20T23:54:20Z

I am in a reading slump.

( Read more... )

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Smile and Wave

2015-02-20T18:26:25Z

Started watching this show on the CBC called X Company about spies / resistance fighters in WWII. Should be my thing, but eeehhhh, not quite working for me yet (possibly because I was watching it while trying to knit / not fall asleep / being generally cranky). But twas but the pilot and I shall hang on!

And I feel shamed that I didn't know of the real life Camp X which was totally a thing. This is where I'd be all what did I learn in school!?! but to be fair, I did learn a lot, my teachers were hyper focused in Junior High on Canadian history (we spent what felt like years learning about the building of the railroad and at the time I was all "can we please talk about anything else" but now I'm glad we spent that time there.) and when I got into high school I was personally hyper focused on European history, and the French Revolution.

Anyways - back to this. So I'm watching and going that dude, looks familiar. Who is that dude and then I went to IMDB and I was all, oh okay he was on Flashpoint and I use to see commercials for that show all the time. Cool.
And then my mind was blown.

As I discovered actor Hugh Dillion is also the lead singer for the Headstones. AKA - a dude who I had a pretty big crush on when I was in high school thanks to the videos Blonde and Blue and Cubically Contained and others. Yeah those videos are very 90's/early 2000's.

In Short: I am learning so much about Canadian history and Canadian rock stars turned actors this week.

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January Reads

2015-02-04T18:18:47Z

( The Books! )

Overall:
- I read more then I thought I would! Which is exiting, that's 16 read. Granted some had been started in December, so that gave me a bit of a push.

- I sort of felt at the start of the year like omg, this is so much non fiction, lets get the fiction rolling out, and hope to balance my love of both throughout the year.

- I own three of these books - Between a Heart and a Rock Place, The Troop and Mr. Kiss and Tell I need to really not buy anymore books ~~after I obtain the new Nick Honrby that is on sale and the new Gaiman~~ until I've tackled the pile (really, it's a pile) of books that I own that are sitting on my nightstand. That doesn't count the shelf of TO READ's I have in my spare room :/.

- I feel sort of reading slumpish right here and right now, but I'm hoping to drag myself out of it. February is a short month, and I have knitting I want to focus on but I also want to get some reading time in.

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I fought the wool and well -

2015-02-04T13:17:59Z

The wool has won. No fuzzy, yellow popcorn like baby blanket for this girl. Or rather none of that for my friend - I'm selling the wool to my mom who is making a baby blanket as well out of the devils yarn (hers is blue and white and looks amazing) and going to buy yarn I can work with. And make a less ambitious baby blanket. If I can that pattern I had was marked easy! Easy damnit!

(And the pattern called for that wool so - urgh.)

To Ravelry I go!

(My TARDIS scarf hit a brief road bump, but gramdma to the rescue! And then my knitting guru co-worker. And then my mom. This scarf is going to be a team effort :P. IDK I might stick to knitting cowls after this, my wham, bam, thank you lamb cowl turned out fine.

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That Thing That Is Driving Me Insane

2015-01-30T12:28:10Z

Lets be clear. This is not happy yarn. This is yarn from a fiery pit of hell. I have had to rip my baby blanket four times so far. I have placed three calls to my mother, saying “I hate this yarn” and twice I have cried during those phone calls (I cry when I get frustrated.) This blanket is not made with love, but with curses and tears. So I might keep it for me when I’m done (or give it to Ripley) and make my friend one that is made of sane wool, and not wool I have cried bitter, frustrated tears over.

I am not giving up however! Even if I drop stitches (again) or knot things and make my mother go; “All right hand over the scissors there is only one way to fix this.”

And today I am going to start an alternate project that is more straight kniting -I’m making a TARDIS scarf. And when that is done, I’m going to work on the blanket and also work on a fourth Doctor scarf for another pal. I have until June before the baby is born,and until June before it’s my pals birthday.

So.

I shall knit on.

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Reading Bingo is Back!

2015-01-13T19:21:56Z

And this time it's Can Lit focused.

( The Card! )

And I am EXCITED! I’m even more excited because it’s Canadian Lit themed, and I am ready. I wanted to read more Canadian lit this year and well - this is going to encourage me even more! (Granted my goal was to read more Margaret Atwood but that then spiraled into read more CanLit and now - this!)

Card from Random House. I failed at both versions of their Bingo last year (YA and non YA) but not this year.

I've got some Atwood checked out from the library, I want to delve more into Miriam Toews backlist, and after jumping around a bit I'm going back to the beginning of Emily St. John Mandel's work. And from there - who knooowwws.

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January Book Photo Challenge

2015-01-12T17:14:28Z

Day Twelve - Library

Halifax Central Library. So shinny.

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January Book Photo Challenge

2015-01-12T00:10:00Z

January Book Photo Challenge - Day Eleven - Bookshelf.

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January Book Photo Challenge

2015-01-11T23:58:48Z

Day Ten (still a day behind!) - Favorite Genre.

( Read more... )

Can Stephen King be a genre? Well. Lets go with horror then. Horror is my favorite genre.

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January Book Photo Challenge

2015-01-10T14:51:22Z

Day Nine - A Quote To Live By.

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January Book Photo Challenge

2015-01-09T01:46:37Z

Day Eight - Reading in bed.

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January Book Photo Challenge

2015-01-07T13:20:15Z

January Book Photo Challenge - Day Seven- This Book Inspired Me - Bossypants, Tina Fey. Because Tina Fey (and lets be real Amy Poehler) are goddamn inspirations.

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January Book Photo Challenge

2015-01-07T00:15:41Z

January Book Photo Challenge - Day Six - An Emotional Rollercoaster - The Stand.

All right - trying not to be spoilery here, but I picked this book because - well a lot of awful things happen. A lot. But there is one thing that I became convinced (and terribly distraught about) was going to happen. So I braced myself for it, and stayed up late reading so I could get to where it happened and get it over.

Then it didn’t happen. And I felt such relief. But something else happened. Something else that was awful but that I had not been mentally prepared for.

This book had my emotions going up and down like a yo-yo.

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Life-Ness

2015-01-06T16:18:32Z

Lets be very honest - was this real / should it become real - I would watch it over and over. Pretty much on an endless loop. I mean. Maybe. Possibly. It could have gone very very wrong. ~~LA LA LA NO MOVIES AFTER ALIENS. Can't heeaarrr you, nope, nope, nope.~~

In related Aliens news - bought a soap today called Facehugger. I haven't decided if I'll actually ya know - wash my face with it. Hands? Sure. Face .... seems like I might be tempting fate *.

And finally, I sit, and I sigh, and I pine for the release of The Deep by Nick Cutter. I was pretty much sold from the get go by the fact that:

a) It's billed as The Abyss meets The Shining (and there is a strange plague to boot! All my bells are being rung here people!).
b) It's written by the guy who wrote the story about the boyscouts vs zombies [cool enough as it is] and then set it off the coast of PEI. You know what's off the coast of PEI? NOVA SCOTIA, Sure, the story isn't set here, but close enough.

Full disclosure though: I have not read The Troop. Or rather. I didn't finish it. I got scared, and grossed out and had to return it to the library. I am however re-reading it now.

Also - HAPPY 2015 EVERYONE! I hope it is a good year. I know I'm late with the well wishes.

* I love horror stuff. I am also a huge wimp. I usually have to close my eyes during scenes with the facehuggers. I get all clammy and grossed out (I am right now!) thinking about them jumping on your face and just -- aarrrggghhhhhhhhh.

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January Book Photo Challenge

2015-01-06T03:01:25Z

January Book Photo Challenge - Day Four - First Book I Ever Loved.

How could I not love Red is Best? It has my name in it (Kelly) and it came out the year I was born.

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Read Harder - Book Bingo

2015-01-06T02:48:45Z

( B-I-N-G-O! )

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absentmindedkells @ 2015-01-05T15:48:00

2015-01-05T19:49:50Z

From I Must Say: My Life As a Humble Comedy Legend, by Martin Short.

The whole thing is incredibly quotable and funny * and just - gosh. Between reading this and listening to Bossypants * * on audio, I have been laughing a lot lately.

* But naturally me being me, I pull out a quote about Canadians being weird.

** I really liked Bossypants as a book, and thought it was amazing, but it’s actually become better on audio. I think the same thing would apply here, and am going to obtain an audio copy of this book.

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Victorian murder and mystery

2015-01-04T01:01:03Z

I always love reading the quotes at the beginning of books (well when the books have them). And I’m taking it as a really good sign that this book (The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale) opens with a quote from The Moonstone. Gosh I love that book.

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January Book Photo Challenge - Day Two

2015-01-02T15:44:22Z

Day Two Book Photo Challenge - New Year, Newest Book.

I don’t have this in my possession yet, but it’s shipped! It’s also the newest book I bought so - there you go. New year, and newest book I own :). Also - haven’t gotten any books out of the library since I bought this one, so it’s newest book all around.

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TV Binge Watching

2015-01-02T00:03:47Z

So Netflix rolled out Friends - all ten seasons. So. Guess what black hole my time is falling into? Started season one tonight, watching the pilot right now. Oh the hair. The clothes and omg Rachel's wedding dress, ahahaha.

And right from the word go, Chandler is my favorite. Yay Matthew Perry and his delivery of his lines. Joey is a close second but I'm finding the hair baffling right now.

It's funny, because some shows can take you right back. And this one does, although I wasn't allowed to watch it at first, mom thought that it was too mature for me (and my sister). So yeah I know I've seen the pilot before, and I knew the general outline out of it, but right now I'm like this is all semi-new-ish.

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January Book Photo Challenge

2015-01-01T14:12:44Z

From BooksCupcakes Tumblr

Day One Day Two Day Three - Skipped Day Four Day Five -- Skipped Day Six Day Seven	Day Eight Day Nine Day Ten Day Eleven Day Twelve

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2015 Goodreads Challenge

2015-01-01T14:05:09Z

And it starts again ...

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Reading Goals 2015

2015-01-01T00:17:02Z

So as always, the reading goals are more - things I want to work towards and if I don't achieve some of them? I don't.

As well for this year I'm not going to try to read one genre more then the other, I've made a point the last two years of trying to read more non-fiction and I feel I've really succeeded in that, so I'm pleased that I've managed to broaden my reading. Fantasy and horror will always be my favorite genres but I'm finding all kinds of good reads in all kinds of genres.

So all that aside, what are my goals for 2015?

Don't stress about my goals. I really want to embrace this one. I got stressed out a few times this year about falling behind in the goodreads challenge, and - I don't want that to happen this year. Reading is for fun, and not a chore.

Try and work on reading some of the books I own. Library books are checked out for a limited time, so I get needing to read those first but I have books languishing on my Kobo and on my bookshelf that I should check out before I buy anything new. -- I am expecting this to be a hard goal to stick to. as I have already picked out books to buy in January ...

Do the goodreads challenge again!

Blog more about books. Try and do Friday reads, and read other book blogs.

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End of Year Book Blahs + Cover Squee

2014-12-28T21:51:53Z

So I really get a lot of what the author is saying in this book riot post - Why I’m Not Participating in the Goodreads Reading Challenge in 2015. I get the anxiety feeling the - oh man I need to read more feeling, and the feeling of not completing something, and how that would feel.

But something I didn't consider until today was that - reaching my goal might make me go "wait I need to save all the books for next year!.

Now I might be just going through one of my reading slumps, and it might be because it was the holidays and I've been more focused on eating all the things and visiting with all the family and friends then reading. But I've been picking up book sand reading 30-40 pages and going "nope, not for me!"

And today I started to wonder - am I trying to horde the books for the new year?

Well today I started in on Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2) by Robin LaFevers and I think that the book might be breaking my slump. We will see. It could be the first book I read in 2015 at the reading pace I'm going at.

Related to Dark Triumph -- I read the first book in the series a while back, and I'm now realizing I'm a tad fuzzy on some of the details. But not fuzzy enough to go and re-read. However I just want to take a moment to say -

Oh man I loved the cover for Grave Mercy the first book in the trilogy. Loved it oh so much.

( The cover! )

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