2011 Combo Challenge

[Krakovianka]

I'm listening to The Hunger Games series, and wow! I really thought I wouldn't be interested in it, but it's a real page turner/can't push the stop button read. I'm about half way through the second volume, Catching Fire. I'm that far because because I kept saying "I've got to stop...I've got to stop..." until the CD in the player ended - in the very wee hours out the morning. I am so glad I started this. The plot sounded very unappealing, but it actuallyl turns out to be far, far better than I expected.

 

I'm taking tomorrow off to finish putting my apartment back together, but there are certain to be some pretty long breaks while I keep listening to this. It's on CDs instead of my MP3, so I can't listen to it while I work. Bummer.

 

I knew you'd like it!

[ddc]

I finished the second Hunger Games volume, Catching Fire, last night. I enjoyed it, but by the end, I was getting very tired of Katniss. At this point, I'm debating whether I want another volume of her. Right now, probably not. On the positive side, the arena in Catching Fire was pretty amazing.

 

I was looking over May choices last night. Maybe I'll start one of those. I'm thinking of Solzhenitzen's Cancer Ward, that I spotted on a banned book list (Soviet Union). I read it a hundred years ago in college and I've been thinking I would like to revisit it.

 

I also have Hawaii, that I had picked up used to read for the original Michener category. I may do that for the author's name starting with M category. Or Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey. I've never read any of the Rumpole books.

[ImmaFreek]

Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well. s to you if you need them. Ive been reading a little here and there, but they are all quick reads. I borrowed a few books from the library, but just couldnt get into them. One was about the real exorcism ( here in st louis) and the other was about famous haunted places in missouri ( but 99% were not even in missouri).

 

I got my book shelf straightened up, again. Im sure it wont last 10 minutes after the kids get home. I bought a kinect for the xbox for the kids, and I bought the Dance Central game for the kids to play with the kinect, they love it. I like it too, its so much fun. It even has a calorie counter inthe workout mode so you know how many calories you are burning. ( keeping my fingers crossed that it will help me loose a few pounds)

 

Ill update my book list and sig counter later tonight.

[Gardener]

I started a book by Carter Dickson, called The Judas Window. It is a locked room murder mystery. Apparently Carter Dickson, (AKA John Dickenson Carr) was famous for them. I'm not sure what I think of it yet.

 

I still haven't finished Aprils beach bag either.

[judianne]

Sorry - been a bit preoccupied....will be posting an easy pattern right now for May for those addicted to making bags.

[imanurse55]

Sorry - been a bit preoccupied....will be posting an easy pattern right now for May for those addicted to making bags.

I would be one of those addicted to making bags!! But I still haven't finished the Beach tote- been too pre-occupied making Stash Buster totes!

 

ETA: Printed out the pattern since I have skeins of Cotton-Ease and this pattern calls for that yarn!!!!

[busy-bee-lmt]

Hi everyone, I hope you are all doing good. I am officially a divorced woman now, yay !!!!!

:yay Hooray! I'm glad that long process is now behind you.

 

Hello, everyone. Sorry to be MIA for so long. We will be moving next year from Georgia to Texas and I have started going through all the boxes of stuff that I stored under the house when I moved here almost 7 years ago. I've made a small dent in the mound, but have many more to go, so my reading and crafting have really gotten shorted on time. I finished Texas! Sage by Sandra Brown for my book with flowers on the cover. It's a romance novel and I pretty much predicted most of the plot, although there were a number of twists that were unexpected along the way. I'd give it 3.5 stars because so much of it was predictable, although it was well written.

 

I have three books that are all about half-way done. Night Thunder by Ruby Jean Jensen is a horror story that I thought sounded interesting for some reason. I may or may not end up finishing it. Death of the Fifth Sun by Robert Somerlott is a historical novel detailing the tale of Cortes' conquering of Mexico. It's well written but a little heavy. I found it in one of the boxes of books that I was sorting out. Triplets by Mollie Gregory is a novel that I started when I needed a break from the Cortes book.

 

As far as audio books go, if you like mysteries, James Patterson has a lot of his books out as audio books and all the ones I've listened to were good. Orson Scott Card has several series of books on audio that are also very good. Card writes in several different categories and his books are always well crafted.

[busy-bee-lmt]

I forgot to post pictures of the two most recent items I've finished on the crochet front. The RR is in black, heather gray, soft gray, and soft white done with two strands and a size P hook. The prayer shawl is in real teal and the Celtic knot pattern symbolizes friendship and the interconnectedness of people.

[busy-bee-lmt]

I finished Triplets by Mollie Gregory this morning. It's a novel that revolves around a talented trio and their struggles growing up and becoming individuals as adults. It has more twists and turns and plot switches than any book I've read in quite a while. In many ways it's a very sad story. Parts of, lots of, it hit way too close to home for me, which made it hard to read at times and makes it difficult for me to rate objectively.

[ddc]

Linda, Triplets sounds interesting. I just looked and out library system has four copies of it scattered around in branches. I'll have to put it on my "someday" list.

[busy-bee-lmt]

I finished Night Thunder by Ruby Jean Jensen last night. Another book that I find hard to rate. It's probably classified as horror, but I don't know that it fits that category all that well. It's very well written and the farther I went in it the harder it was to put down. At the end I stayed up an hour longer than intended, because I just had to see how it ended which should make it 5 stars. But the story is just really, really weird and rather creapy which I would normally give a 2 or 3. A group of wandering revivalists are killed during the Civil War and return from the dead in modern times after the tree that was planted over them is bulldozed in preparation for a new shopping center. That's on the back, so doesn't give anything away. It sounded kind of hokey, but maybe interesting, which is why I bought it. As I said, it's weird, but really hard to put down the farther you get into it. I'd be interested in knowing what someone else thinks of it.

[crochet321]

Good Morning,

 

Linda the RR looks beautiful was it hardd to make. I've never tried to make an afghan in the round. I really liked the colors. Can you share the pattern?

 

I've been teaching myself to knit. So far I can knit and purl.:cheerThis seems so much harder than crocheting. Holding the yarn seems very akward to me. I tried to learn once before and I kept telling myself it was too hard. So me being me this sounded like a challenge . So far I've got about 2 in. of a very simple scarf 2k, 2p all the way across 2p, 2k all the way back. If nothing else at least after I finish the scarf I should be able to hold my yarn a little more comfortably.

 

I'm reading Lunatic Cafe by Laurell Hamilton. I like this series it's a little predictable at times but, I hadn't read a good vampire series in a long while. With warmer weaather here (although this morning it's 42 degrees) I've been working in the yard some. I decided to get my mom some flowers for Mothers Day. So I repotted 5 baskets of flowers to go along her deck.

[busy-bee-lmt]

Good Morning,

 

Linda the RR looks beautiful was it hardd to make. I've never tried to make an afghan in the round. I really liked the colors. Can you share the pattern?

 

I've been teaching myself to knit. So far I can knit and purl.:cheerThis seems so much harder than crocheting. Holding the yarn seems very akward to me. I tried to learn once before and I kept telling myself it was too hard. So me being me this sounded like a challenge . So far I've got about 2 in. of a very simple scarf 2k, 2p all the way across 2p, 2k all the way back. If nothing else at least after I finish the scarf I should be able to hold my yarn a little more comfortably.

 

I'm reading Lunatic Cafe by Laurell Hamilton. I like this series it's a little predictable at times but, I hadn't read a good vampire series in a long while. With warmer weaather here (although this morning it's 42 degrees) I've been working in the yard some. I decided to get my mom some flowers for Mothers Day. So I repotted 5 baskets of flowers to go along her deck.

 

No, the round ripple isn't hard to make. This is the pattern that I use. I just do it with 2 strands and a size P hook. I do 2 rows of the first color, then one strand of the first color and one strand of the second color for two rows, then 2 rows of two strands of the second color, etc. for each of the 4 colors. In the middle are 3 rows of the fourth color, then reverse the color scheme going on until you end with two rows of the first color again. 2 skeins of each of the four colors in Read Heart Super Saver will give you an afghan that covers the top of a queen sized bed.

 

Round ripple

http://project-angel-kisses.150m.com/roundripple.html

 

Knitting does take a lot longer than crocheting for the most part, although it is pretty similar to doing something all in single crochet.

[ddc]

Kindlers -- you should check out dailycheapreads.com over the today and tomorrow. Tons of super cheap books are being posted to jump start the lists of all the mothers getting new Kindles today. They will continue to posted throughout the day and tomorrow, maybe further. The site owner said that the authors had agreed to keep them at these prices for a few days, but do it as soon as you can, or they will go up. So far, I've picked up:

 

The prize - The Perfect Storm for .13. I read this some years ago and it was really good.

We Bought a Zoo - .48

The Quotable Mark Twain - .99

Fixing Freddie (about a beagle) - free

and a couple more if-fy ones for a penny each.

 

I don't know if they will be the same for the Nook, but it would be worth checking out.

[ImmaFreek]

Good morning everyone, hope you are all doing well

 

 

[busy-bee-lmt]

Good morning. I finished another book: The Farseer:Assasin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. It's an excellent book all about kingdoms and courts and all the intrigues that go with them. 4.5 stars.

[ImmaFreek]

Good morning everyone. Hope you are all doing well. I just finished reading a really good book ( extreme end of the horror section) very detailed and gory ( my favorite kind). It's called Shut the "F" up and D!e by William Todd Rose. I give it a 5 out of 5 just for the awesome detail in the book.

[judianne]

Good morning everyone. Hope you are all doing well. I just finished reading a really good book ( extreme end of the horror section) very detailed and gory ( my favorite kind). It's called Shut the "F" up and D!e by William Todd Rose. I give it a 5 out of 5 just for the awesome detail in the book.

good for you! Not for everyone, but that's why there are so many genres out ther!

[ddc]

I've been reading, but not posting -- I've just been really busy, as it looks like everyone else has. I don't have my list here. Someday I'll get around to it sticking in my list. The ones that come to mind are

 

Rebecca East. AD 62: Pompeii, a Novel. Very enjoyable, a 4. I don't know if it's in print, or just an ebook.

 

E.E. Knight - Dragon Champion. From the dragon's point of view. Interesting, but I doubt I'll carry on with the series. I am getting very tired of everything being in series nowadays.

 

Sarah Jewett. The Country of the Pointed Firs. I enjoyed this, listened to it on audio. It's quiet gentle fiction. If you want action, this is not the book for you. It's one of those books, like Cranford, where nothing much happens, but the characters just living their ordinary day to day lives are beautifully drawn.

[busy-bee-lmt]

I've finished two more book since I last checked in.

 

Death of the Fifth Sun by Robert Somerlott is the story of Cortes' conquering of the Aztecs in Mexico. It's a very good historical novel. 4.5 stars. The characters are vividly real. All the political intriques on both sides are fascinating.

 

Captured by the Highlander by Julianne MacLean is a historical novel and a romance. Based on real characters and times it brings the period to life and paints a very good tale at the same time. 5 stars.

[Gardener]

I've been reading, but not posting -- I've just been really busy, as it looks like everyone else has. I don't have my list here. Someday I'll get around to it sticking in my list. The ones that come to mind are

 

Rebecca East. AD 62: Pompeii, a Novel. Very enjoyable, a 4. I don't know if it's in print, or just an ebook.

 

E.E. Knight - Dragon Champion. From the dragon's point of view. Interesting, but I doubt I'll carry on with the series. I am getting very tired of everything being in series nowadays.

 

Sarah Jewett. The Country of the Pointed Firs. I enjoyed this, listened to it on audio. It's quiet gentle fiction. If you want action, this is not the book for you. It's one of those books, like Cranford, where nothing much happens, but the characters just living their ordinary day to day lives are beautifully drawn.

 

Thanks for the recommendation of the Sarah Jewett book. I just downloaded it from Project Gutenburg and will put it on my Nook later today, and give it a try.

[Gardener]

I am currently reading a book by Josephine Tey, "The Man in the Queue". I had a little trouble getting into it at first, but it is finally holding my attention.

[Krakovianka]

Oooh...Josephine Tey. I've only read a couple of her books, but she is good. My kids read her "Daughter of Time" in 7th grade, when they are studying the Richard III era of history.

 

Is this one a mystery? I'm not familiar with it.

[crochet321]

Good Afternoon,

I hope everyone is doing well. I haven't checked in for a few days. I've been busy. I'm teaching myself to knit:whewI think I finally get the idea of it. When you are used to 1 stick with a hook and you switch to 2 sticks and no hooks it kind of throws you off for a little bit. I did figure it out enough to make a baby hat for my nieces baby shower. Then I found a cute pattern for a cupcake hat that fits toddlers. It was so cute I couldn't resist trying even if I couldn't finish it. But I got done with it last night all I like is putting the red pompom on the top. If I knew how to post pics I would show it to you guys. I'll figure that out to one of these days:D

 

We have had so much rainy and cold weather here the past week or so its depressing. But the sun is out and its 70 today I can go outside without a jacket. On the book front I've read several in the last few weeks. I started the Debbie Macomber Blossom Street series for my May selection (author with an M). I chose these books because they Knitting themed. Which I thought went perfectly with me learning to knit myself. She puts patterns in the front of each book. I decided to try the baby blanket again for my niece. This was a beginning knitting class project that she wrote about in The Shop on Blossom Street. She taught the class too and became friends with 3 unlikely women. The second book A Good Yarn which is the name of the shop on blossom street. She meets three more women in this book but also takes you back to the 1st book a little also. The 3rd book Back on Blossom Street has the same theme as the first two. But she brings back Alix from the first book as a main charaacter in this one. All three books were very good I give them 5 stars.

 

I also read The Lunatic Cafe by Laurrell K Hamilton. It was mostly about werewolves. All of her books seem to be themed the same. Something is killing people and she is kicking everyones butt until she finds out whats doing the killing. I do like her books they are fast paced and have enough comedy to keep it from being to harsh.

 

Well I'm off to search the internet for an easy knit baby jacket pattern, wish me luck.

[judianne]

Tina, congrats on learning to knit!

I'm a newbie at it - learned from YouTube within this past year. Since I'm so slow at it I still mostly crochet.