A diversion from Renovations

FRANKENSTEIN

The monster of countless movies, stories and tales and yet nothing like the 'beautiful' novel by Mary Shelley.

Elizabeth has urged me to read this book for ages, but first university reading and many other chores have prevented me doing so.  However, I recently picked it up and today, just minutes ago finished it.

What an evocative, beautiful, stirring and thought provoking book.  Frankenstein is the monster, not the monster that he creates - who is nameless and horrific.  If you want to learn something about yourself, about human nature and about love - I highly recommend you read Frankenstein.

Now back to the renovations - building something from nothing, with no knowledge.

I am grateful!

I have always loved reading. For years I have devoured historical novels, romances, fantasty, science fiction and so many other genres. Returning to university to study I have been encouraged to read books that I otherwise would perhaps have ignored. Last year we started way back in early literature with 'Beowulf' and 'The Canterbury Tales' and this year I have been delving into Gothic literature.

As part of my degree, I am required to study Australian Literature and I must admit to having been a little reluctant. Yet, here I am having just finished my first Australian Lit. novel - Coonardoo by Katharine Susannah Prichard and I must admit to having been blown away. It is so rich in its descriptions of life in the outback of Western Australia and the relationships of whites and aboriginals. I was expecting something difficult to read, but I found myself drawn into this beautiful world.

So once more my uni is something I am grateful for.

Book review

I am reading a very interesting book by Malcolm Gladwell called 'Outliers - The Story of Success'. It is a fascinating book that looks at why some people succeed while others don't. The assumption is that it is usually intelligence and ambition, but this book looks at things like birth place, birth date, family circumstance, dedication (10 000 hour rule - I liked this one) and other things.

It is well written and easy to read and at page 128, I am finding that I keep picking it up to read just another little bit more.

I had never heard of this author before but apparently he has written two other books 'The Tipping Point' - about how we understand the world and 'Blink' about how we think about thinking. These sound really interesting, so I may be diving into his works a little futher.

If you are interested his website is www.gladwell.com

Book review - Stephanie Meyer

I have just completed Book Four of the new Stephanie Meyer Vampire series. The first book 'twilight' has been made into a motion picture and the power and beauty of the film is amazing. The aura, music and photography create a mystical, beautiful world where fear is not overwhelming, but rather envy for the life of the Vampire. I walked out of the film thinking:
"I wish that Edward (the main character) loved me like that!"

As Elizabeth had read the first book, Sarah and I devoured it in a matter of days for her and hours for me. We then went on the hunt for books 2, 3 & 4! Of course, they have been totally sold out, but on Tuesday we managed to find a copy of them and we all started reading.

It is a powerful, gripping story of the supernatural, a world of beauty and desire, difference and power, yet so human in its telling that I have not put it down for the past two days. In fact this morning, Elizabeth and I looked around the house and went - Oops! Better clean up and do the dishes! Sarah is totally absorbed, she has read book 1 in just over 2 days and book 2 in less! She is now reading book 3 and Elizabeth book 4.

This is a series that I will read over and over again, the characters are real and wonderful and the writing powerful and gripping.