I’m A Hopeless Case

Back in August 2007 I registered on Green Metropolis and in nine months I’ve not had one little itsy bitsy bite.

Yesterday, after thinking about it for a wee while, I registered on Read It Swap It* and in just two days I’ve already had three swap requests, all of which I’ve agreed to which means I now have three books winging their way to me. Yay!

And yes okay, I know I’m not supposed to be buying any more books but I’m not technically buying them. I’m swapping them. And all I have to pay is the postage to send my books to their new owners. Books that would otherwise be sitting in my cupboard gathering dust. I know that I’ll never read them again and at least this way I know that they will be going to a good home…or a dozen good homes because let’s face it the chances are once the new owner has read them they’ll be put back on RISI again. Plus I have to admit it’s kind of a nice feeling passing on books and it’s got me wondering just how many different places in the country** my books will end up visiting, if only for a short while…

I also just want to make it clear that I’m not actively looking for books myself - at least not for the time being - but if someone wants to swap with me and they have a book I’m interested in then I’m certainly not going to say no. So the downside is that my tbr pile is going to be growing rather than getting smaller but what I can say…I’m a hopeless case but at the end of the day they are only books. It doesn’t really matter if the pile in the corner of my bedroom gets bigger. I can always sleep out in the garage if push comes to shove! And I will get through them eventually and once I do a vast majority of them will be being listed on RISI and will hopefully be sent on to some other hopeless reader like me.

Oh and by the way does anyone else get really excited when they see they have an email from RISI saying that someone wants to swap or is that just me?!

* I have a feeling that this site may become a bit addictive!

** Please note that both Green Metropolis and Read It Swap It are only available for people in the UK. Sorry!

 

Review: It’s A Wrap

It’s A Wrap - Stella Chaplin

ISBN: 1898801487
Publisher: Orion
Published: May 2003
Pages: 389 (Paperback)

Ben Lincoln, a film director, desperately hoping his new movie, set in Brighton, will launch his career… Emma Buckley, a struggling young actress who’s had to stretch the truth just a little to snatch her first big break… Liz Thorne, costume designer, plotting revenge on the man who broke her heart six years ago and nothing will stand in her way. Not the cast, not the crew, and especially not the unwritten clause in every contract that states: sex on location doesn’t count.

I’d been keeping an eye open for It’s A Wrap for about the past year or so, ever since it had been recommended to me by one of my online friends, so when I saw it in my local charity shop a couple of weeks ago I snapped it up for a bargain price of just £2. Now after reading it I have to admit that I’m glad I didn’t pay full price for it. That’s not to say that I didn’t find it enjoyable because in some ways I did, but it was just okay for me - nothing special.

To begin with I found it a bit slow particularly to start with and it’s not really until all the main characters have been introduced and are on location and filming has begun that the storyline finally picks up a bit.

However a major drawback for me personally was the amount of actual characters involved. Understandably, seeing as it’s based around a film set there are a lot of minor characters, some of which seemed to be introduced in a roundabout kind of way while others were just dropped into the storyline without any kind of introduction at all and I found it hard to keep track of their individual roles and what part they played in not only keeping the storyline ticking along but as to what role or job they had on the actual making of the film. And even though in the grand scheme of things it didn’t really matter all that much, it didn’t exactly help things either and was just something that I found was niggling away in the back of my mind.

On the plus side, it was great to read a book that had real characters in it and by ‘real’ I mean, characters that weren’t perfect. They all had their own little flaws, insecurities and imperfections and even the two main characters of Ben and Emma weren’t entirely 100% likable although saying that I have to admit I did have a bit of a soft spot for both of them. Ben because even though he was a bit of a womaniser seemed to have something about him that just made you sit up and take notice and Emma because she was a bit naive and vulnerable and what with the evil and very bitchy Liz with such a grudge against the poor girl you just couldn’t help but root for her.

Overall a slightly disappointing read that didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

Rating:
Genre: Fiction / General

Reading Challenge: Spring Reading Thing 2008

 

What A Month!

I am so glad that it’s Friday evening, meaning that the weekend is finally here…although I can’t believe that it’s already gone 9pm. Where has this evening gone to? I hope the rest of the weekend doesn’t go by so fast.

I have to admit that I’ve been feeling a little down this week. Not seriously down, as in depressed, but just a little blah. I think the past few weeks have finally caught up with me and it’s left me feeling really lethargic and just not entirely with it.

I mean what a month it’s been…

To start with I was battling a chest infection for about a fortnight and then just as I was getting over that, I had a rather nasty blood blister on the roof of my mouth which worried me so much I went to see my GP (and I never go to the doctor). Then after getting my blood taken for some routine blood tests my arm became extremely swollen and painful and upon visiting my GP again it turned out I’d gotten an infection and was given a course of antibiotics and some stronger painkillers. Plus on top of that I’ve also been extremely tired recently (as in even more so than normal) which is probably a mixture of lack of sleep (caused by the pain in my arm) and the fact that my blood results showed that I’m suffering from anaemia and apparently that can make you tired so on the whole this past month hasn’t exactly been a barrel of laughs.

However something happened today that certainly put a smile on my face.

I got home from work to find a letter waiting for me from the magazine That’s Life. Now I initially thought it was just junk mail but upon opening it I discovered that I’d won £200 in a competition - a competition that I never entered!

Anyway it turns out that my Dad had come across one of their magazines at his work and had entered one of the competitions about four weeks ago and for some reason had put my name on the entry form meaning that when we won - and I use the term ‘we’ very loosely - the cheque came in my name…which means I get to keep the winnings! Woo Hoo!

Seriously, winning a competition that you didn’t know you’d entered is pretty darn cool you have to admit!

 

Booking Through Thursday #1

Originally posted at Booking Through Thursday on May 19, 2005.

An Introduction To Genres

I once knew a man who read about WWII. He read everything he could get his hands on on the subject. He had a whole wall of books that were all about WWII. It amazed me. How could he continue to find one subject that engrossing? My mother, on the other hand, loves to read best sellers. I’ve known other people who read science fiction to the exclusion of everything else; for others it was philosophy, self-help, or history.

So, to the questions…

1. What kind of books do you like to read?
2. Why? Provide examples.

Although I read most genres (other than sci-fi that is) the main one I tend to stick to or at least always go back to is chick lit. Now I know they’re not the most intellectual books on the market but that’s one of the reasons why I like them.

I like many others out there quite often have a very long, hard and stressful day at work and when I get home in the evening, all I want to do is chill out with a good book. I want to forget about my day at work and escape from the harsh reality of life and chick lit is an easy way to do this. They’re mostly light-hearted and easy to read and I don’t have to think too much about what I’m reading in order to take it in or understand it and more importantly they’re enjoyable too. They are without a doubt pure escapism.

For example one of the books that I’ve recently read and which falls into this category is Johnny Be Good by Paige Toon. Yes on the one hand it is a little over the top and in some ways completely unrealistic but that’s the whole point of these types of books - they’re supposed to take you away to another world where anything could happen and where the main character gets the much longed for happy ever after that we don’t very often get in real life.

 

A Trip To The Doctor

As the pain in my arm got considerably worse over the weekend, so much so I was finding it more and more difficult to use it, I decided that enough was enough and it was time for me to go back and see my GP.

So this morning on my way in to work I stopped off at my own practice and managed to get an appointment for 12.30pm this afternoon.

To cut a long story short, I have an infection in my arm which is causing the pain and swelling and as a result I’ve been given a course of antibiotics and more importantly some stronger painkillers. Yay!

I also got my blood results back from last week and the good news is that there is nothing seriously wrong with me but I am a little anaemic so I’ve also been given some iron tablets to take on top of the painkillers and antibiotics so I‘m going to be rattling for the next couple of weeks.

The bad news is that I have to have my bloods rechecked again in a couple of months time to make sure that my iron levels have evened out which I’m not exactly looking forward to but I‘m trying not to think about it for the time being and will deal with it when the time comes. I know that what’s happened to me is just a complete fluke and one off, but it’s kind of put me off having blood tests…luckily I don’t need to get them done very often so once my iron levels are back to normal hopefully I will be able to go for another few years without having to visit the doctor or get blood taken!

My biggest dilemma at the moment though is what to wear to work tomorrow. My arm is still really bruised and doesn’t look very pretty so short sleeves aren’t really an option, but then again I don’t really want to have to wear long sleeves either because otherwise I’ll just be too damn hot! I’ll need to raid my wardrobe later and try and find some tops that have three-quarter length sleeves or long-sleeved tops that are quite light and airy and that wont make me sweat like a pig!

Decisions, decisions…

 

Review: Johnny Be Good

Johnny Be Good - Paige Toon

ISBN: 9781847390448
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: April 2008
Pages: 417 (Paperback)

If your boss was the hottest rock star on the planet, would you mix business with pleasure?

I’m Meg Stiles. This is my leaving party. And that song we’re making a mockery of? That’s written by one of the biggest rock stars in the world. And I’m moving in with him tomorrow.

Seriously! I am not even joking. Well, maybe I’m misleading you a little bit. You see, I haven’t actually met him yet…

No, I’m not a stalker. I’m his new PA. His Personal Assistant. And I am off to La-La Land. Los Angeles. The City Of Angels - whatever you want to call it - and I can’t bloody believe it!

Celebrity PA to wild boy of rock Johnny Jefferson, Meg’s glam new life in sun-drenched LA is a whirlwind of showbiz parties and backstage passes. Cool, calm Christian, in town to write his famous friend’s biography, helps keep Meg’s feet firmly on the ground. But with Johnny’s piercing green eyes and a body Brad Pitt would kill for, how long will it be before she’s swept right off them again?

Having read and really enjoyed Toon’s debut novel Lucy In The Sky last year, it was inevitable that as soon as I saw Johnny Be Good sitting in my local book store, that I would need to buy it right then and there. And yes, I admit I did have some quite high expectations for it and yes I wasn’t disappointed as it did manage to live up to those expectations, although I personally don’t think it was quite as good as what her debut was.

For a start this book is not to be taken too seriously as the circumstances surrounding Meg’s move to Los Angeles is fairly unrealistic and unbelievable, however saying that we must also remember that this is a work of fiction and for that reason the over-the-top aspects of the storyline can be quite easily forgiven.

This is pure escapism at it’s very best.

Like in her debut novel, Toon’s descriptions of Hollywood make you feel as if you are right there in sunny LA and it’s obvious from the outset that this is not only a place where the author has visited, but it’s a place that she obviously very much loves.

I also really liked the fact that there is a connection between the characters in this book and those in her last one and the mention in passing of Lucy and Nathan made me squeal with delight.

My only little foible with Johnny Be Good is the ending. It’s very abrupt and leaves you on a bit of a cliff-hanger and my first thought was that there must be a sequel in the pipeline. However after thinking about it for a wee while, I’m beginning to think that there wont be a sequel and that the author has deliberately left you in this position so that you can make up your own mind as to how things work out for Meg, Johnny and Christian.

A really light-hearted and easy read, with a touch of harsh reality thrown in, that would make perfect reading for any chick lit fan.

For more information on Paige Toon visit her official website.

Rating:
Genre: Fiction / Chick Lit / Humour

Reading Challenge: Spring Reading Thing 2008

 

Lots Of Pain, Lots Of Sorrow

So it’s four days since I had my blood taken and my arm is still sore and to be honest with you it’s beginning to get me down a bit.

To be fair the bruise itself is beginning to heal and by that I mean that parts of it, particularly the bits around the edges (i.e. the less severe parts of it) are changing colour and have already turned yellow. But the rest of it - the more severe part - is still a sort of plum colour. At the end of the day though I can deal with the bruise, but it’s the pain that’s making my life a misery.

Sometimes it feels like it’s the muscle that hurts, while other times it feels like it’s the elbow joint itself and I’m completely flummoxed how a simple blood test can cause so much of a problem. The pain can be so bad that it brings tears to my eyes. I’m sure that it’s not supposed to hurt this much and if I didn’t know any better I would have said that I’d fallen and banged my arm or something. I can’t straighten my arm fully and even bending it too much causes shooting pains to radiate out from it. Even doing just simple every day tasks like making a cup of tea hurts and the heavier the object I lift, the more painful it is.

I’m off work on Monday due to the bank holiday, but if there is no significant improvement by Tuesday I think I might go and see if I can get an appointment with my GP. I have to either call up or go round and get my blood test results anyway - and that brings me on to the other scenario that’s running through my head: that something major will show up or that there will be a problem with them and I’ll have to have them rechecked which is so not going to happen - so if need be I’ll see if the girls can fit me in.

I just hope I don’t come across as a complete cry baby. I mean a couple of the GPs I work with have had a look and although they were a little shocked at the size and severity of the bruise, not to mention the initial swelling, they didn’t seem overly concerned about it…but I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t hurt this much. The only time it doesn’t hurt is if I don’t move my arm and leave it bent at the elbow which isn’t exactly very practical.

I’m trying to carry on as normal as possible but I am feeling a bit sorry for myself and as a result I can’t really be bothered doing anything other than taking myself off to bed and either reading or watching a DVD - which is what I’m planning to do this evening.

 

Review: Time After Time

Time After Time - Linda Kavanagh

ISBN: 9781842233092
Publisher: Poolbeg
Published: January 2008
Pages: 533 (Paperback)

As Caroline Leyden’s wedding to Ken Barnes approaches she wants everything to be perfect and all her family to be there. But a 20-year-old photograph album reveals Gina, an aunt she has never met and Caroline gets the feeling her mother Stella and aunt Dolly want their sister and a scandal to remain hidden in the past.

Aware she has touched a raw family nerve, Caroline is compelled to track down Gina. It’s a journey that will change the rest of her life.

Investigative reporter Alice Fitzsimons is in for a shock when her property developer husband Bill reveals the true state of their finances. Can their marriage survive? Alice is not sure - she needs time to think, so she goes backpacking alone around Argentina.

But who is the strange old woman who tells Alice she is in danger, and what is Alice going to do about Enrique the gorgeous widower policeman from Buenos Aires? While Alice is clearing her head and coming to a decision, strange things start to happen. Is someone trying to kill her?

Caroline and Alice have never met, but something connects them - it’s hiding in the murky depths of the past just waiting for someone to unearth the truth and set it free. Maybe it’s time to put an end to all the secrets and lies.

With a great storyline and some interesting characters Time After Time has the potential to be a real page-turner but unfortunately it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

Don’t get me wrong, overall I think it was a fairly decent read and as I read it in just two days I was obviously turning the pages at a fairly steady rate, so in some respects it was a page-turner but for me personally there were a few little things that I felt let the book down.

Mainly the characters.

Like I said there were some very interesting characters in the book, but there were a few little traits about some of them that I just didn’t ‘get’ and which in my opinion didn’t quite fit in with their overall persona.

For example, Caroline, one of the main characters initially comes across as someone who is excited about their forthcoming nuptials to the man she is deeply in love with but upon her arrival in London during her first visit there it’s like she turns into this whole other character and one that I didn’t particularly like all that much.

Also without giving anything away, I thought the actions of Dolly at the end of the book were really out of character and I found it hard to believe that a woman so ruthless and self-centred while also being quite old-fashioned and prim and proper would actually do what she did. It just didn’t quite fit and it felt like the author had brought about this turn of events in order to tie up a few loose ends in what to me was a very hasty manner.

On the other hand I did love the fact that the action took place in more that one location and the author’s descriptions of life in a small village in Argentina were fantastic, so much so that at times it felt like I was walking along those dusty roads with Alice.

I also loved how the book was split into four parts, with one section focusing on the past and which then went on to explain the events of 1978 in a way that didn’t make the story drag on for far longer than what was necessary which initially was what I thought might happen.

On the whole this was just an okay read for me and as I guessed a couple of the twists from fairly early on in the book I did find it slightly disappointing.

Rating:
Genre: Fiction / Women‘s Lit

Reading Challenge: Spring Reading Thing 2008

 

I Bruise Easily, So Be Gentle When You Handle Me

Sorry but I’m afraid I’m going to bore you all again with an update on my arm.

The swelling has come down a little since last night and it’s also not quite as sore. Well actually that’s a bit of a lie, it is still sore, bloody sore in fact, but the tightness has gone which is a definite improvement as it really was quite painful last night.

But now I have a bruise. A big one.

When I woke up this morning, there was a more noticeable bruise than what there was last night, but it was fairly small and was a sort of pale brown colour but by mid-morning it had gotten worse and it was freaking a couple of my work colleagues out so I got our practice nurse to have a look at it. She was actually a little alarmed too not so much at the bruise itself but at the swelling and she apologised for calling me a wimp yesterday! I think she thought I was exaggerating when I told her yesterday how much it hurt, but anyway she spoke to one of the GPs I work with who also had a look at it and she doesn’t think it’s anything to worry about.

Sister M (our practice nurse) explained what she thought had happened and even drew a little diagram of the vein and everything so hopefully it will start to clear up soon. She thinks that when the treatment room nurse put the needle in it went into the vein but went too far and came out the other side and after drawing the needle back out one hole sealed up while the other bled out. Now I’m not a medical person but that does kind of make sense to me although it does seem strange that the bruise took so long to come through and then when it did, got progressively worse over the course of just a couple of hours. Oh yeah and it does seem to be spreading below my elbow now too so god knows what it’s going to look like by this time tomorrow.

But anyway here is a picture that was taken at just after 6pm this evening of my bruise.

A couple of little points that I’d like to make though.

1. My arm is still fairly swollen so it isn’t usually that fat.

2. The photo doesn’t really do the bruise justice. It actually looks much worse in real life in all it’s colourful glory! Oh and yes my arms really are that pale!

And if you think I sound quite proud of my bruise, I think I probably am a little, even though it does hurt like hell.

I’m hoping that it wont get any worse, but if it does then I’ll try and take another photo tomorrow in order to compare it to what it’s like tonight. 

 

Some Good News And Some Bad News

Well the good news is that blood blisters forming on the insides and on the roof of your mouth are actually more common that what I originally thought and even better, they’re not usually anything to worry about. Yay!

Apparently they are caused by ‘trauma’ so for example it may be that I’m inadvertently biting the inside of my cheeks while I’m eating or that I’m ultra sensitive to some sort of food ingredient or some other simple explanation. Either way my GP wasn’t too concerned which was obviously very reassuring especially as over the weekend I was a little panicky…sorry about that!

Just to be on the safe side she did send me upstairs to the treatment room to get my bloods checked (FBC, B12, coagulation and another one that I can’t actually remember) and even though they are really busy at the moment and are booking two weeks ahead, they squeezed me in and did it right then and there. (It’s about the only perk of the job working where I do - appointments when and as you need them!) So now all I have to do is wait for the results and then fingers crossed I’ll be given a clean bill of health.

There is one little problem though…

I got my blood taken on my way out to lunch (about 12.30ish) and ever since them my arm has hurt like hell. It is so painful, I can barely put my arm above my head and bending it or even straightening it fully is pretty much impossible without a great deal of pain.

Immediately afterwards it felt like it had swollen up to twice its normal size and the muscle just above the fold of my arm (above where they take the blood) felt really tense and now nearly 7 hours later it’s still the same…maybe slightly better, but not by much. You know when you have your blood pressure taken and they put that cuff thing around your arm and pump it up so it tightens so much that it feels like your arm is going to fall off? Well that’s what it feels like. The tightness has eased off a little now but it’s still sore to move and to touch.

After coming home from work and checking properly, the inside of my arm above the elbow is actually quite swollen, particularly when you compare it to my other arm and although it’s not that noticeable to me according to my mum there is a bit of bruise…although it’s a pretty faint one and is barely visible.

Now admittedly I haven’t had my blood taken for a wee while, but I’m pretty sure it never hurt this much before. It really, really aches. And the thing is, the site where the needle went in is completely fine and so is my lower arm, but the top bit is absolute agony.

Is that normal?

I know, I know. I am such a cry baby!