vanillamagick | Entries tagged with books

As I was putting away the Easter decorations, I realized I forgot to take a picture of this little cutie

The pattern is Dwarf Bunny by PlanetJune, and the yarn is Bernat Satin in Antique Rose. I’m not sure I like the colour choice, but I still think he is kinda cute. 😉

I also wanted to share one more thing with you. I've just finished reading a book called Passionate Mom, and I have to tell you that I really, really enjoyed it. It talks about how to be a good mum using ten points that are taken from the biblical store of Nehemiah.

Now, I’m sure a lot of you know that I’m not exactly Christian (I was brought up Christian but am definitely firmly living in the Pagan camp and have done so for many many years. My wife, however, is a Christian) but I still found that this book really spoke to me. The framework might be a biblical story, but the advice is firmly based in the real world. The ten points (Perception, Pondering, Passion, Prayer, Patience, Preparation, Purpose, Planning, Problem Solving, and Perseverance) speak to any mom, regardless of her religious beliefs (or lack there of, really).

Current Mood: okay

I looked at the topic for today and thought 'oh, that should be quite easy' but then... well how do I narrow down my likes to 10? And I don't like thinking of things I don't like so boo!

Likes
Green Day - they've been my favourite band since I was a teenager. I feel in love with Basket Case the first time I ever heard it and... just love!
Enya - My parents used to foster children and they had a girl who was mad about Enya. I heard her music when I was young and love the places it took me. Still do. Even if Regan calls it 'plinky plonky crap' LOL
Sex - oh, don't look at me like that. Sex is great!
Cross-stitch - The ability to take a blank canvas and some thread and make a picture never fails to make me feel amazing. I'm literally making something out of nothing!
Reading - I am a voracious reader and if I'm not cross-stitching, chances are I've got my nose in a book. My favourite genres are fantasy, horror and sci-fi but I'll read pretty much anything.
Tarot - I've been reading tarot since my late teens - 20 or so years now - and I love it's ability to help me focus and use my subconscious to solve problems that I don't know I'm working through.
Ancient Egypt - I have no idea what it is about Ancient Egypt and the mythology but it absolutely fascinates me.
Starbucks - I'm a coffee fiend and Starbucks is my supplier of my addiction.
Dolphins - Beautiful, intelligent, amazing animals. Basically.
Corsets - I love how they look, both on me and on other women, very sexy. And I love how powerful and sexy they make me feel when wearing them. It's a very shallow enjoyment and I'm perfectly happy to admit it.

Dislikes
Inequality - At the most base level, all people are people and should have the same rights. Simple as.
Hypersexualisation of pop music - yes, I know that 'sex sells', and yes music has ALWAYS been sex & drugs & rock 'n roll and yes, it was like it when I was younger. But it was more... it was nowhere near as in your face
Photoshopping of models - When she was 9, Regan asked to go on a diet because she didn't look like the pictures in magazines. She was NINE. It angers me that media has this insistence that women look a certain way when in reality... we don't!
Misunderstanding of BDSM - It's nothing like certain books/films would have you believe and its not abuse! It's control and trust and pleasure and pain and consensual and fun
The smell of cabbage cooking *wrinkles nose* blech
Mushrooms They're just gross, sorry. Horrible texture, nasty taste and they look weird!
Grey pubes TMI maybe, and I know it's my age - I'm getting a few grey hairs which in general don't both me but my pubic hair going grey is just horrible!
Chelsea FC losing a match I support Chelsea, it makes me sad
The tory government. Don't get me started!
Having to rip out stitches You've been knitting/stitching along merrily only to realise you've screwed up somewhere along the way and have to undo hours of work :(

Exploding spaceships, a mad escape from thinking robots, boiling mud? Wow, that sounds like some great material for a short story. They are the basic elements of Hunting Harkonnens, the very first story in the entire Dune chronicle. And while the end result might not be the most exciting story, it is a great introduction to the basic ideas of this early Dune universe.

Every series has to start somewhere. And, of course, the Dune purist will say that Dune starts with Dune–the original series as written by the venerable master Frank Herbert is all there is. Full stop. Well, I don’t belong to that camp. I want to embrace the whole Dune universe, even if some of it doesn’t really fit nicely with the original novels. Remember, the events of Dune take place a very, very long time after the events of Hunting Harkonnens and the books of the Butlerian Jihad series. So, things that don’t agree with the original series can be dismissed as details lost in the mists of history rather than mistakes by the authors.

Hunting Harkonnens begins with the elder heir of the Harkonnen family, Piers, and his parents returning to Selusa Secundus after visiting some of their holdings on the planet of Hagal. (All familiar names to Dune fans.) Somewhere above the sparsely populated planet of Caladan, the Harkonnens are intercepted by a small fleet of thinking machines, neo-cymeks and the great Titan Agamemnon. Piers escapes to the planet’s surface where he eventually finds shelter with a small tribe of natives. The climax is quite exciting, but ultimately changes little in the Dune universe. Nonetheless, we now know a Harkonnen was stranded on Caladan long before the Atreides family arrived.

The most common criticism levelled at the Dune books and stories written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson is that they aren’t well written. I have said so myself on several occasions. However, after rereading Hunting HarkonnensHuntingHunting Harkonnens Harkonnens with fresh eyes (and having, unfortunately, read some truly terrible books last year), I can honestly say I think Herbert and Anderson make a pretty good team. Sure, they aren’t at the level of the elder Herbert, or Issac Asimov or even Dan Simmons, but they are good writers. They have laid a good foundation for the first book (so far!) in the series The Butlerian Jihad.

Back about 20 years ago I fell in love with Dune. I don’t remember who introduced me to it, or why. It could have been one of my foster brothers, who got me reading great fantasy and sci-fi novels, or it could have been a chance purchase at the book store. Either way, the 25th anniversary edition of Dune found its way into my hands sometime around 1993. I was a young teen, and I think the book was a bit over my head at the time. But it still influenced me a great deal.

Over the years I’ve read Dune around 15 times. That is no exaggeration. My copy is well loved but still in good shape (I am very, very careful with my books). I’ve also read all of the sequels and prequels, with the exception of the last three books to be released (Road to Dune, Winds of Dune, and Sisterhood of Dune).

I was also lucky enough to find a copy of The Dune Encyclopedia (which gets less cannon with every new book released), Dreamer of Dune (the biography of Frank Herbert, Dune Pop-Up Panorama Book (without the free standing pieces) and The Notebooks of Frank Herbert’s Dune. I think I might have a comic book and a colouring book somewhere too.

So, one of my 2016 goals is to (re)read the entire Dune chronology. Right from Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s Hunting Harkonnens all the way to Hunters of Dune. I know that the newer books don’t compare to the genius of the original, but I love the universe so much. I can’t wait to immerse myself in it again.

Oh, and for the record, my favourite novel is Dune followed by God Emperor of Dune.

You know those books that it seems like everyone else is reading, that every one else is telling you that you should be reading? The ones you buy a copy of, and put on the coffee table and fully intend to read but never actually get around to it? Those books... It seems like 2012 has been a year full of those books, at least for me.

Everyone's been reading the Fifty Shades trilogy. I'll at least admit that I picked up the first one - I think we all know I'm kinky and enjoy porn but... no, 50 Shades didn't work for me. Sure, some of it was hot but the portrayal of BDSM lifestyles was painful, the romance was paint-by-numbers and the characters bland and cliche. Anything that gets erotica and kink into mainstream is good by me, though!

Other books that are sitting staring at me, books that everyone's shouting at me to read include JK Rowling's Casual Vacancy, A Streetcat Named Bob and The Fault In Our Stars.
I do WANT to read them - I bought the for that reason after all - I just keep coming across other new things to read.

Part of that is thanks to my shiny new toy goodreads - I love the personalised recommendations, it's addictive. I'm going to need a bigger house for all the books I keep buying though LOL

I'm currently reading The White Luck Warrior by R. Scott Bakker
Praised by readers and critics around the world, R. Scott Bakker has become one of the most celebrated voices in fantasy fiction. The Aspect-Emperor trilogy follows on from the acclaimed Prince of Nothing saga, and "The White-Luck Warrior "is the chilling second book in the new series. Ruler Anasurimbor Kellhus and his Great Ordeal march ever farther into the Ancient North, as his consort Esmenet finds herself at war. Exiled wizard Achamian, meanwhile, leads his own ragtag mission to the legendary ruins of Sauglish. Into this tumult walks the White-Luck Warrior, assassin and messiah both . . . . . . In this ambitious volume, Bakker delves even further into his richly imagined universe of myth, violence, and sorcery.
I do love my epic fantasy!

Current Mood: accomplished

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Tattoos of memories

Entries tagged with books

Bunny and Being a Passionate Mum

10 Likes & Dislikes

Hunting Harkonnens – Starting it All

That's a lot of sand

But everyone else is reading them

Miss Jade

May 2016

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