Tag Archives: Books

I'm just going to put it out there…

1416909532.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SS500_Guys, I don’t know how you do it! I don’t think I could ever be gay, I have enough issues with my own complications and emotions let alone throwing a significant other with the same problems into the mix. So for men, who usually have no idea what is going on and I’m guessing generally just try to hide when the tricky conversation topics and questions arrive, you really are amazing for coping through it all – well, I say this only to the sweet ones who do!

Today I managed to get hands on a copy of He’s Just Not That Into You, the book. I have seen the movie and loved it. To be honest I didn’t know the movie idea had originated from a book, I should have known really, what movie isn’t?

So I’m hoping much is to be learned from this! I’m already excited by the blurb on the back;

…this book educates smart women on how to tell when a guy just doesn’t like them enough, so they can stop wasting time making excuses for a dead-end relationship. With Greg and Liz’s words of advice, you can set yourself free to find the guy who really is into you and would love to show you how much.

I hope I learn something… haha!

Ruined

Not long ago I finished reading The Bronze Horseman and The Bridge to Holy Cross by Paullina Simons. I absolutely love those books. I seriously fell in love with the characters. I can easily say that The Bronze Horseman is my favourite book in the world. I don’t think I’ll ever find a book to top it. Which is now my dilemma. I’ve started reading three different books, all of which seem crap compared. I can’t find a book to enjoy now because they don’t seem to ever match up to the quality of those books. 

This seems to be the recipe to life and love… we’re always matching and comparing one to the other. 

Can anyone please recommend me a good book? I love WW2 stories, with a romance story intertwined. I love true life stories (but not biographies). I love books about European countries. I love stories with romance.

Anyone?

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

The Bronze Horseman My latest book; ready for me to start. Many people have read this book and have said it’s amazing. I hope it lives up to my expectations now.

Leningrad 1941: the white nights of summer when the sun hardly sets on the beautiful palaces and stately avenues that still speak of a different age, when the city was known as St Petersburg. The Metanov family live in a crowded apartment, the two sisters Daria and Tatiana sharing a bed, their parents and brother crowded in another room, their grandparents nearby. It’s a hard life, but one with room enough for love and romance.

However, when Tatiana first sets eyes on Daria’s boyfriend, Alexander, she knows immediately that for her, the path of love will never be easy, but rather, one of sacrifice and denial. Hitler’s invasion of Russia spells war and, for Leningrad, siege, and their earlier existence seems luxurious in comparison with the terrible deprivations that the family suffers. As the grip of winter closes as relentlessly as the advancing German army, so Tatiana is forced into ever more desperate measures in order to survive – both physically and emotionally.

It’s a trilogy, which is even better. I always get really into a book and then get annoyed when I finish it. But this story will keep going for a bit longer.

Fancy dinners & novels

Last night Rob and I were invited to go to the Auckland Cricket Association (ACA) Awards Dinner at Eden Park, in the function rooms. Not out in the rain on the pitch. It was awesome! I love free food and wine. We turned up at 6.45pm and were offered glasses of wine and beer as we entered the main doors. Spotted a few celeb players; Andre Adams being the one I recognised most. Then for an entree we had salmon, was delish! A few speeches and a couple more glasses of wine got us through to the main meal; chicken or lamb. I had chicken, it was so yum! I want the recipe for the mushroom risotto they served with it!
The guest speaker was an Australian, Kerry O’Keeffe. God, was he funny! A very entertaining speaker.
After more wine I was ready for a coffee and thankfully they must’ve heard my call and announced it as dessert and coffee time. Dessert was chocolate profiteroles, not good for the hips, but tasted delicious on the lips. I was good, I only had one and thoroughly enjoyed my coffee. Rob was bad, he had three and washed them down with a few more glasses of beer. It was a lovely night. It was quite formal, so we felt every bit the special invitees, out and about on a would-be normal Tuesday night rubbing elbows with the top cricket players in Auckland, with some even playing for the Black Caps.

In other news, I went to Albany mall today and happened to walk into Borders; because it’s my favourite shop in the world (so far). And what was staring straight at me? It made my heart stop – I couldn’t believe it! Marian Keyes’s latest novel!!

This Charming Man. I can’t wait! If you know me, you will know I absolutely love Marian Keyes’s books. I have read them all and have been checking her blog (- obsession?) for the newest one to come out. I love how her characters are very every day, they make stupid mistakes like all of us. I remember going away with a group of girlfriends on a road trip, we were 17, I was reading my first Marian Keyes book, Watermelon, while at the beach. I remember giggling to myself for ages about a certain part of the book. My friends all looked at me wondering what the hell was going on. But of course trying to explain it is never has funny. But once I have the giggles I never seem to be able to get rid of them fast. Even four or five chapters later, I’d remember the one line Marian had written that triggered me and off I’d go laughing again. She’s amazing.
I bought the latest book of course, it was $24.00, normally $38! Bargain! I had goosebumps from the excitement taking the book to the register. I just want to go home now and curl up with a coffee and dive right in.

But no, sadly I have three more hours of lectures to attend this afternoon and they’re hard classes, so I have to go.