Woolly Mutts

A new year, a new toy. My Kindle review

Hello again!  Welcome to a new year, a new decade, a new face on Woolly Mutts.  It was way overdue and is a bit of a work in progress, but a good place to start, none the less.  I avoid resolutions in general.  I can find other ways to disappoint myself, but I do intend to become more faithful to this blog.  Wenders, a long time friend and blog reader (as well as writer) asked me for a review of my new Kindle and now is as good a time as any.  You might want to get comfy and grab a beverage, cause there is much to say about Kindle, both positive and negative.

Before I get into specifics, let me remind that I am, at heart, a book girl.  There is nothing I don't love about a book.  The smell, the weight of it in my hands, the adventure that book and I take together.  I worked in a library for nearly 10 years and never, ever met a book I didn't like.  Love, even.  However, I am also a lover of the gadget.  It it has a power source and buttons I am probably interested.  Kindle is the meeting of both worlds.

And there he/she is.  Apparently, many Kindle owners choose to give it a name.  Not sure about that, yet.  You can see it has the screen, a full keyboard, page turn buttons, menu, home, and a teeny, tiny joy stick thingy.  (I am so technical.) 

 

To give you some idea of the size, here it is a top of an average sized hard cover book.  It is small and very light.

 

I was lucky enough to get a case for mine (thanks Sonya!), so here it is, in the case, same book.

A quick overview; Kindle holds up to 1500 books, uploads them in less than a minute (my experience has been more like 20 seconds) from the Amazon store, either from your computer or straight from the Kindle itself.  It also will display newspapers, magazines, text files, and blogs for your reading pleasure.

The good:

*Small and light with a non glare screen.  The display looks almost exactly like a page in a book.

*It keeps your place without even asking it to, and does so for every document that you are reading. If, like me, you read while having a meal, there is no struggling to keep it open or need to prop up to get the right view.

*You can highlight, annotate, clip sections for later use.  The little controller moves a cursor any where on the page.  Place it in front of any word and the definition of that word appears (like magic) at the bottom of the page.  Fabulous!

*When it goes to sleep a new picture appears on the screen.  Some times it's the picture of an author, or a field of butterflies, or a tree of birds.  I get a kick out of seeing what picture will appear next. 

*As earlier reported, books appear in the Kindle less than a minute after you request them.  Amazon also offers LOTS of free books in lots of genres AND (this is so cool) you can order the first chapter of any book for free so you can sample the book before you buy. There a number of places that offer free books for the Kindle and I have heard, though not experienced yet, that some libraries have a Kindle download program.  (LOVE libraries!)

*Newspapers from 15 countries can be delivered daily to your Kindle.  You also get a free 14 day trial of each newspaper before you commit.  I am currently enjoying a trial of The Independent, a UK newspaper.  There are also magazines and blogs.  There is a cost for all, including blogs.  I haven't experimented too much with the built in browser, but have read that it supports Google Reader, so you could read your blogs using the Kindle.

*Lovely long battery life.  I just plugged it in today and I've been reading it, on and off, since the 27th.  I've read one complete book and almost half of another along with daily newspaper reading.

*PDF files.  Oh knitters, this one is tres cool.  When you register your Kindle you get an exclusive email address where you are able to email documents and images.  A large number of my knitting patterns are in PDF form so I can email them to the Kindle to have available instead of the paper copy.  I adore this feature.  Same is true for Word docs. 

*You can search any publication using word or phrase. Great tool if you're studying a particular subject.

*Text size is customizable and it has the ability to size up to extremely large print.  You can also change how many words appear on a line and the screen rotation.

*It will read to you and it's a pretty good voice.  I was expecting the sort of computer voice that isn't appealing to listen to, but you can choose a male or female voice and the rate that it speaks.  If you're engrossed in a story and have to leave for work, you can just have it read as you drive and then pick up reading again where the voice leaves off.  Fantastic feature!

The not so good:

*No color.  I understand the necessity of black and white, but I am hoping that someday they will be able to over come this hurdle and offer a color version. 

*The screen can not be brightened.  The screen is calibrated to be seen at any angle and in most lights with no glare, but it still feels a bit dim to me.  Having said that, after I begin reading I hardly notice it and I can and have read in sunlight or with a lamp and had no trouble.

*You can't format a pdf file.  Having the knitting patterns in the Kindle is fantastic, but it would be even more so if I could make the text larger.  Again, color would be better in this instance as well.

*You are only viewing one page at a time so you must hit the "turn page" button more often than you would turn a page.  This sort of annoyed me at first, but after using it for awhile I don't notice it as much.

*It's not a book.  Some times it just has to be a book.

Overall, taking the good and the not so much into consideration, I adore my Kindle.  LOVE it.  5 stars, two thumbs up, standing ovation. This dedicated book lover is just crazy about her Kindle!

If you are a Kindle owner and have tips or comments to share, please do so!!!

BBC love.

Here in Muttville we love our sci-fi.  Amazing Husband and I are both appropriately grateful that we share the sci-fi love.  It's much more fun viewed with company and it makes the discussions of viewed sci-fi much less one sided.  Our latest sci-fi obsession has come to us via the wonder that is BBC America.  It appears that the Brits also enjoy a bit of the pushing-the-boundaries viewing. 

A week or so ago we finished the final episode of Primeval which was canceled rather unceremoniously with main characters stranded in random pockets of time.  Quite annoying.  If the rumor mill has any accuracy, the film rights have been purchased and the big dogs, who I image discovered a little too late that the fan base for this tv show is large and not quiet about their discontent over the terrible ending, are planning to resurrect it similar to Firefly. (Shiny!) Filmed mostly in London, I think I was almost as much in love with the location as I was the actual show.

So, left with no British sci-fi to keep us from evening boredom we have now turned to Torchwood, which I believe is currently in its third season and has not, thank you very much, yet been canceled. Yet. Torchwood is filmed in Wales, Cardiff to be specific, and again, the location is a big draw for me.  Also new is an American member of the cast.  Or maybe he's just playing an American....not sure.  We are on the 5th episode of the first season and already fully under the spell.  Love this show.  It's edgy and weird, exactly how good sci-fi should be.  Thank you the wonderful itunes for allowing us to feed out little addiction.

In keeping with the whole British theme, after finishing my re-read of The Time Traveler's Wife (the movie is going to be SO sad) I dug through my stash of must reads and pulled out "The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club" by Gil McNeil. I purchased this book on a whim, and well, let's just face facts, because it had knitting in the title.  Like the above tele programs, it takes place in the UK and is written using some extremely entertaining British vernacular.  I have to say I am enjoying this book very much and actually find myself laughing out loud now and then.  There is knitting involved, but it's really just a sweet story of starting over.  While reading I have compiled a list of a few of my favorite words:

ballocks: who does not love ballocks?  If you have to use a bad word I think ballocks might be THE perfect one.  "Oh, ballocks!"  Divine.

brilliant: brilliant idea - things are going brilliantly - bloody brilliant (see next word)

bloody: yet another fabulous was to emphasize frustration or exclamation: bloody h*ll, bloody amazing, bloody old, hot, early, late...bloody fantastic.

require - will you be requiring anything else? room of requirement (ok,I took that one from Harry Potter)

bits: bits and bobs, best bits, jigggly bits

bugger: the Brits really know how to swear, don't they?  love it.

jumper: sweater.  I haven't figured this one out at all, but then, I guess jumper isn't really any more odd than sweater.  Who really wants to sweat?

dodgy: difficult or tricky

biscuit: cookie

I have yet to discover exactly what "digestives" and "conkers" are.  I love a good puzzle. :)

Go forth and have a bloody fantastic day! Brilliant!

What then, if not to read?

As you can tell from the photo above, I am a very undiscriminating reader.  I will read just about anything and I get a little twitchy when I don't have anything new to read.  I do have a few rules; if it doesn't grab me in the first 100 pages it's outta here AND there can be no animal cruelty or sadness or death. No animal bad stuff of any kind.  No exceptions.  I have some authors that I'll read whenever they publish a new one (Nora Roberts, Diana Gabaldon, Janet Evanovich), but I generally choose what I'm reading by what topics I'm interested in at the moment.  This doesn't make me a very good candidate for a book discussion group, because I generally have to be in the "mood" to read a book, and well, let's just be honest here, I'm not much of a joiner and groups of any sort scare me a little.  Here are a few of my most recent reads:

The Widow of the South  by Robert Hicks.  I read this right after we returned from Nashville.  It takes place at Carnton Plantation (oh how I wish I had toured it while we were there!) and is a superbly written tale of Carrie McGavock (you see the name McGavock a lot around the Nashville area) and her experiences when her home was commissioned as an army hospital during the Civil War. Based on a true story.  I think we need to be reminded about what war is before we can fully understand the necessity of peace.

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris  Have you fallen under the spell of the Sookie Stackhouse books yet?  Great books, each and every one of them.  I do love me a vampire.  This is the 9th book in the series which was the inspiration for the True Blood HBO series.  Fantasy meets the deep South.  Good stuff!  In this book Sookie finds out more about her parents death and her somewhat fantastical ancestry.

Finger Lickin Fifteen by Janet Evanovich.  I actually listened to the audio book version of this book, which I usually do with Evanovich because they do such a fabulous job with them.  Only read (or listen to) Evanovich when it's ok to laugh out loud, because you will.  This was maybe not my favorite of all her books, but it was worth the read to spend some time in the world of Bob, Grandma Masur, Ranger, Joe, Lula, Rex, and Stephanie.  If you haven't read any of her books begin with One for the Money and prepare to become hooked.

Black Hills by Nora Roberts.  As previously mentioned, I read a lot of books by a lot of authors, but if I want a book that will consistently hold my attention I turn to Nora Roberts.  Her books are not always deep, mysterious, or even very funny, but once I open one I can hardly put it down until I finish.  She has a gift for drawing you right in and keeping you there.  Black Hills is her most recent hardcover and a good, solid read.  She never, ever disappoints. 

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  This is probably one of my top 20 favorite books of all time.  I read it first years ago and with the film coming out soon I decided to read it again. It is such a lovely, lovely, mind stretching read about Henry who travels through time arriving naked, nauseated and with no idea where or when he is.  His wife, Clare, becomes his northern star, though their life together is complicated and so beautiful.  In general, I am pleased to see a book made into a film.  Ok, The Davinci Code was a real heartbreaker, but if you go into the film knowing that it will not be exactly the same as the book, and perhaps some of your favorites parts may be missing, it is still a positive experience.  Harry Potter, for example managed to make all of their films well worth watching.  I hope that The Time Traveler's Wife will be the same.

I have a stack of about 5 other waiting and a growing list of someday-reads on my blackberry.  Last night my inlaws recommended "The Art of Racing in the Rain" which is a story told by a dog, and that scares me a little cause I generally don't do dog books of any kind, but maybe this one will be the exception.  Anyone else have a suggestions for a "can't be missed" book?

Neil Gaiman is a cool dude.

I read.  In fact, I cannot imagine a world where there was nothing to read.  Perhaps that's my own personal afterlife bad place.  I will read almost anything and think that almost any book has some redeeming value, for some reader, somewhere.  My last two reads were both by Neil Gaiman and were my first adventures into his strange and wonderful mind.

Ok, I'll admit it.  I read Coraline because I heard the movie (3D must see!) had teensy knitted  sweaters.  My mind follows trails like that.  A little piece of random information can lead to great things.  Coraline, the book, was, as I understand it, written for Mr. Gaiman's daughters and is a twisted little tale of discontent and creepiness.  Coraline is frustrated with her parents and in search of something to occupy her time discovers another world with another mother and the true meaning of "there is no place like home".  It's a little book, a fast read, and an engaging story.  I confess that I'm not sure what age group the book was written for, but I can tell you that it is not for young children.  It's a scary tale with odd and wonderful characters that would have given me nightmares as a child.  As an adult, I now look at buttons, beetles, black cats, and shiny things in general with much more curiosity.

After I put down Coraline I picked up The Graveyard Book, also by Neil Gaiman. Nobody Owens is the sole survivor of the brutal murder of his entire family and is saved, raised, and protected by a fabulous cast of dead characters in a graveyard.  Again, not sure what age group the book was intended for, and again, not for the young.  The book begins with the murder and moves through Bod's life with sometimes scary circumstances and creatures.  I loved this book. I loved all Bod's departed friends, like Miss Euphemia Horsfall (1861-1883, She Sleeps, Aye, Yet She Sleeps with Angels) and her beau Tom Sands who passed from this life in completely different time periods, but seem able to ignore their differences, Silas, the mysterious guardian, and the loving Mr. and Mrs. Owens, who become Bod's new parents.  This book is so creatively written that when I closed the cover I was sad to say goodbye.  I hope a film is in the making, or better yet, a sequel because I know Bod's story is far from over.  Graveyards now have a new and interesting appeal. Not always being the brightest bulb on the tree, I didn't see the ties to Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book until I read the acknowledgment at the end of the book. 

Judging from these two books, I think I must check out a couple of Mr. Gaimans other books and see if his gift for character and circumstance translate to the adult genre.  One thing I know for sure is that Neil Gaiman has got to be an incredibly cool guy.

A request for assistance.

Welcome to 2009. Today is the first day that we are officially back to the usual schedule since AH was off work all last week.  I've been thinking a lot about things that I might want to make priorities in this new year and one of them is more time with my nose in a book. Not sure what happened last year, but I didn't read anywhere near as much as I usually do.  So, I've begun a list of books that I want to read in 2009 and here is where you come in....I need some input.  If you have a book or books that you have read (doesn't matter when) that really meant something to you, would you share them with me?  I love to hear what books you'v read and why they moved you.  I'm really looking for depth here, not just "it was good".  I want books that made you open your mind or heart...you know what I mean.  Here is my list so far,in no particular order:

The Essential Ghandi - Louis Fischer
Peace is in Every Step - Thich Nhat Hanh
A Mercy - Toni Morrison
The Graveyard Book - Nail Gaiman
Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson
Grace Notes - Bernard MacLaverty
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver (LOVE her)
Alice's Tulips - Sandra Dallas
The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barberry
The Hour I First Believed - Wally Lamb

Any comments, reviews, opinions on any of the list? Which one should I read first?  I've included the Amazon links for your reference, but part of this resolution, if I want to call it that, is making better use of my library.  While I have nothing whatsoever against supporting authors with my dollars, I do it WAY too much and really, why not use the library? 

So, to recap, any comments about the books on my list and other suggestions for books to add.  Please? 

Thank you!

A study in the diversity of bedtime reading material.

Is it possible to get an accurate reading of a person by what can be found on his/her bedside table?  Let's have a look.
Behold Amazing Husband's bedside table.  Sorry for the poor picture quality.  Flash glared off the books obscuring titles, no flash is dark.  I could have moved them to better light but I think that is corrupting the study.   Anyway,  top book, Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris, first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series.  Book two, Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett.  I have read both of these books and can recommend them highly, especially Dead Until Dark and even more so if you're currently enjoying True Blood on HBO.  Bottom of the pile is An Introduction to the Standard Model of Particle Physics, by Cottingham and Greenwood. I think that the last book might possibly be the only one that he has actually opened to read.  No, I have seen him reading Dead Until Dark....maybe the first two pages.  This little mixture of books tells me that he is diverse in his interests, gives some credit to his wife when she tells him a book is good, and he is ridicuously intelligent (and not just for listening to his wife, although he gets points for that.). Also that he falls asleep when he reads in bed.

On to my bedside table's collection of miscellany.  Top book, Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning. While I am not generally into botice rippers this series of books supposedly has the background material for the Fever books that I have already read and enjoyed very much.  Even with the botice ripping, she is a skilled writer and I am a skilled skimmer of sections I don't want to read.  It works.  Next up, From dead to Worse, by Charlaine Harris, last book in the Sookie Stackhouse series.  LOVED these books and yes, I do often read more than one book at a time.  Short attention span.  Next in the pile is Figure Magazine.  I usually have more magazines than this as I am a self proclaimed magazine addict.  Under Figure are two cookbooks, Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer and Fix, Freeze, Feast since I am currently intriqued with the idea of spending a weekend cooking and then having meals for weeks in the freezer.  I DETEST meal planning. At the bottom is the all important legal pad (Second Nature, 100% recyled paper from Office Depot.) and pen for jotting down ideas and my ever present post it note highlighter pen.  What does this mixture say about me?  Probably that I have ADD.  Certainly that my brain bounces around a lot.  Noticably missing is a knitting book.  Those are all over the house. :-) 

So, upon looking at the information I'd have to say that my bedside table does say quite a lot about me, but Amazing Husbands only just scratches the surface.  Any thoughts?

A must read.

I have just finished reading the loveliest book.  It is one of those rare books that touched me so that I wish I could press one into the hands of everyone I know and urge them to read.  I picked up the book because of the whimsy, I thought, of the title and after reading the flap I almost put it back.  The 1940's are not my favorite time period....I'm much more a distant past-unforeseeable future sort of reader, but I followed my instincts and purchased it anyway.  I read many, many books but there have been few that have captured me so completely, both emotionally and intellectually.

I have been thinking lately about the level of fear that has been perpetuated in this country.  The number of times I've heard smart, thoughtful people discount Barack Obama because he is Muslim (which, of course, he is not though should it really matter?) has me researching the Nation of Islam and the history of hate and fear in the world.  Reading Guernsey was timely for me as it reminded me that it was not that long ago that the Germans were the deliverers of some of the most heinous crimes against humanity that the modern world has seen, AND it is unwise and unfair to judge an entire population for the radical insanity of a fringe group, or its government.  I sincerely hope the entire world does not judge me for the current administration of my country.

Politcal leanings aside, run to your nearest bookseller or library and pick up The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and settle yourself in for many hours of exceptional reading.  Then, when finished, share it with your friends.  I think we can only be made wiser, and perhaps kinder for the reading.

They just sucked me in. Mwah ha ha ha ha

A little over a week ago AH and I stopped in to our favorite Borders and I picked up a book to read; Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.  It was sitting on a small table along with the other books from the series and I had to ask the sales person which book was the first in the series.  He looked at me like I had two heads, but quickly gave me all the scoop on the available books, and the fourth book being released early August.  The salesperson, one of his associates, AH and I joked about the popularity of the series and how out of the loop I was by just now beginning the first book. 

I began Twilight on Wednesday and by Thursday evening we were back in the same store, same table looking for the other two in the series.  Yesterday I finished the second, New Moon, and will begin the third, Eclipse, today.  If I continue in this trend I will have finished Eclipse, also read her latest book, The Host (not a part of the twilight series) and be ready to grab a copy of Breaking Dawn when it hits the shelves 4 days, 15 hours, 36 minutes from now.  (The site has a time counter so you can watch the milliseconds tick away.)  Yes, I admit it, I'm hooked.

Aimed at the young adult reading audience, these books feature a 17 year old girl living in coastal Washington state and her vampire boyfriend who will be 17 forever, which if you're a vampire, can be a pretty darn long time.  To say that the relationship between the two is intense and complicated is a gross simplification, but it's a rocket fast read that, once I get started, I can't put down. Sure the books have a few problems.   As I said, they were written for the young adult crowd so the stories revolve around high school issues though not exclusively.  They are also vampire, werewolf, who knows what's coming next stories, so if you aren't into that realm of possibility forget it.  I, however, love me a vampire and also LOVE these books.  I'm really looking forward to reading The Host, her first book aimed at an adult audience.

When I realized that I HAD to read them all and RIGHT NOW I checked every area library and discovered that the following for these books is every bit as huge as the book seller explained.  Every single copy of every single book in the series had at least 10 holds on it. Obviously I've been living in some sort of literary cave to have missed this sort of phenomenon.  Better late than never.

Once I've finished them all I'll be glad to share so if you're in the area and want a bloody good read (tee hee) let me know. :-)      

Book Review

Happy Monday one and all.  Hope you had a lovely weekend.  Weather here was not conducive to yard work, so we kept it sort of low key.  Ran a few errands, saw a couple of so-so movies (Street Kings and Run, Fatboy, Run), nothing post worthy.

Got a couple of new knitting books last week that I thought I'd give a quick review of.  If you've ever been to my Ravelry library you know that I have a serious book weakness.  Serious.  There can never be enough books.  There may not be quite enough shelf space, but that is just a minor hindrance.  I love, love the books.

Book 1, More Big Girl Knits by Amy Singer and Jillian Moreno.  Knitting for curvy girls is not an easy prospect.  We have issues and many of them begin with our mental picture of ourselves, which is almost never accurate. As with the first book, Big Girl Knits, the authors take a great of deal of time helping us identify our glorious shapes and offer knitting techniques to make the most of them.  I have loaned out my copy so I don't have it in front of me, but the patterns in this sequel book are focused more on texture and are much more varied than the first. There is an absolutely incredible hooded jacket with Celtic cables all along the front edge, a stunning, beaded Sivia Harding shawl that is to DIE for, and much more.  Even socks for curvy feet.

I am definitely a curvy girl.  Mr. Diet Coke and Mr. Treadmill are both helping me slim the curve a bit, but I have no intentions of every being thin again. Books like this that help chicks like me work with what we've got and do it in a fun, stylish way are few and far between.  Knitting a tent is time consuming, not much fun, and the end result is generally less than satisfying.  My humble thanks to Amy and Jillian for identifying a problem and providing such a stunning solution.  I'm not worthy. (*visualize  hand movements here*)

Book 2, feltFORWARD by Maggie Pace.  I have to admit that when this book came into the shop I was sort of *meh* about it.  There were a couple of cute things, but nothing that really grabbed my attention.  Then I got to page 73 and saw the frida LIGHTS.  Little felted covers for white holiday lights.  How cute is that?  We have a tree in the front window of the shop that we decorate with seasonal knitted things. (hearts, eggs, birds, rain....etc)  These would be so cute on that tree.  So I snatched up the book, bought three skeins on Lamb's Pride and today I plan to knit me some flowers.  I chose more Springy colors, but I love the red/orange/yellow for fall.  Sort of looks like bittersweet. 

Aside from the frida LIGHTS, I have to admit that on closer inspection, this book does have quite a few interesting felted projects.   There is an unusual round bag done over brass macrame rings, a cute felted bracelet that I think I may also try, and a pair of pretty outrageous felted boots that lace up the front.  Very clever.  That will teach me to judge a book by it's cover.

Muggles, and giants, and house elves, oh my!

I've been a little under the weather the past few days and have had plenty of reading time.  So, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is now completed and sitting on my book shelf.  Sigh.  I really hated for it to be over, but once I made it to the middle I just could not put it down.  Ms. Rowling has a unique and extraordinary gift.  Seven books and not a bad one in the bunch.  I understand that there is going to be another book coming, but this one in the form of an encyclopedia of Potter.  That could answer a lot of questions.

If you have read the book, and I cannot stress that part strongly enough,READ THE BOOK FIRST, there is a fun podcast that you might want to listen to: Mugglecast.  They are on a road trip now talking to other muggles and it's fun to hear how other people feel about the book and it's MANY plot twists and turns.  Again, only if you have read the book cause they don't hold anything back and I don't want to be the catalyst that spoiled someones fun.

P.s.  If anyone local wants to borrow my copy of the book, you are more than welcome.  I think it's safe to say that Ms. Rowling will not have trouble making ends meet by the loss of one sale.