BOOK: Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

My Review: A great explanation on grief and how you don't ever get over it, it's like a slow burn. A bit of over kill with descriptive explanations sometimes but over all a good book. Short audio book.

 'Grief is a cruel kind of education. You learn how ungentle mourning can be, how full of anger. You learn how glib condolences can feel. You learn how much grief is about language, the failure of language and the grasping for language'

On 10 June 2020, the scholar James Nwoye Adichie died suddenly in Nigeria.

In this tender and powerful essay, expanded from the original New Yorker text, his daughter, a self-confessed daddy's girl, remembers her beloved father. Notes on Grief is at once a tribute to a long life of grace and wisdom, the story of a daughter'

BOOKS: Smokejumper by Jason Ramos

Smoke jumper by Jason Ramos

Enter a world of breathtakingly danger and beauty: In this remarkable memoir, veteran smokejumper Jason Ramos offers a rare inside look at the lives of airborne firefighters, the select few who parachute into the most rugged and remote wild areas to battle nature's blazes.

My Review: This is the best book I have read this year. 

Straight talking and to the point but what a brilliant story and he reads it with a soothing voice.

LGBTQ Book's and Films

LGBTQ Book's:

1: Call my by your name by Andrea Aciman

2: Gay Britania

3: Red, White and Blue by Casey Mcquiston 

4: We were always here by Ryan Vance

5: Maurice by E. M Forster

6: Fanny and Steller by Neil Mckenna

7: The joy of sex by Charles Silver stein

8: They both die in the end by Adam Silvera

9: The son of Achilles by Madeline Miller

10: Queer City by Peter Ackford 

LGBTQ Film's: 

1: My own private Idaho 

2: Call me by your name

3: Boys don't cry

4: Dallas buyers club

5: Queer As Folk - Series

6: Happy together

7: Method

8: Long time no see

9: Boys Love

10: Dark blue kiss

BOOK: Red Azelea by Anchee Min

Red Azalea is a memoir of Chinese American writer Anchee Min.
It was written during the first eight years she spent in the United States, from 1984 to 1992, and tells the story of her personal experience during the Cultural Revolution.

The memoir was written in English.
The names of the characters were translated into English instead of being spelled phonetically. For example, Min's first name, Anchee, means Jade of Peace, and her siblings' names are Blooming, Coral, and Space Conqueror.
The autobiography deals with themes of ideology and gender and sexual psychology.

Part one
In part one, Min tells the story of her childhood in Shanghai under the rule of Mao Zedong during the 1960s. She believes wholeheartedly in Mao's Communism, and is an outstanding student. Her first conflict with this system comes when a favourite teacher is put on trial for espionage and the young Anchee Min is expected to testify against her.

Part two
Part two tells of her life on a farm outside of Shanghai with other teenagers. She is moved to a place called Red Fire Farm a labour camp. She was assigned to work there and has little hope of escaping her life of manual labour. At this point, Min finds a role model to follow and stays on track with Maoism. She soon finds difficulty, however, when a friend is mentally broken by interrogation and humiliation after being discovered in a sexual situation with a man. Abuse of power by her superiors and a lesbian relationship with another farm-worker further erode Min's trust in Maoism. At the end of Part Two, she has been selected to move back to Shanghai and train to be an actress.

Part three
Part three is the story of her training at a film studio, in competition with other young trainees. More abuse of power and complex love relationships exacerbate her disillusion with Mao's system. She comes in and out of favour with her superiors in the film studio, depending on who is in charge. Eventually, her acting career falls through, and Min works as a clerk in the studio. At the end of part three, in 1976, Mao dies, and his wife Jiang Qing is arrested. The next few years are briefly mentioned, and the memoir ends with a short explanation of how Min came to live in the United States in 1984.

 

BOOK: City of bones by Cassandra Clare

Omg... I love this book I really did, now I have always made a point of staying away from shitty teenager romances after the disastrous Twilight but I watched the film with my friends and really enjoyed that also

So what came next had to be the books I have spent the past tow night staying up till early hours of the morning reading they caught me that bad.

 

 

The book is very different from the film which is always a bad thing in the book she has the characters and whiney teenagers which I found a bit shitty but it was still a good read.

 

BOOK - The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

 

The Thirteenth Tale by Dianne Setterfield

 

***** 5 Star rating

 

This book kept me up till 4 in the morning.

The twist and turns are in credible and I never once saw that ending coming.

I loved it when she was describing her bookshop and books in general it felt like you could of really been there.

She is very powerful with her words and describes things perfectly.

Amazing book. Recommended to everyone.

Beatrix Potter

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrix_Potter

 

Over the weekend I have been recovering from surgery and the internet was down so all I had was the telly (not my first choice) anyway I wanted to watch a few films so I decided on watching a good old fairy tale the one I choose was great Beatrix Potter.

My old time favourite I just love that woman being a lakes girl myself I think she did wonders for the country side it's because of her we have a one.

 

When I saw the film Miss Potter I just had to have it and watch it also it has some amazing actors in it Ewan McGregor, Renee Zellweger. Although the film was great and heart breaking (I cried when Norman died) it really showed you a woman despite her ravishing life and wanting for nothing she was not afraid to get her hands dirty when called for also she was a very loving and caring woman with people and animals.

http://www.beatrix-potter-shop.co.uk/

http://www.hop-skip-jump.com/

BOOK: The Dwarves

The Dwarves by Markus Heitz

 

My personal opinion is: This book was great to start with by now I am half way threw it it is getting quiet boring dragging a bit, I have taken a break for a few weeks but I will start with I gin soon and hope it gets better.

 

For countless millennia, no man or beast has ever succeeded in breaching the stone gateway into Girdlegard. Until now . . .

Abandoned as a child, Tungdil the blacksmith is the only dwarf in a kingdom of men. But when he is sent out into the world to deliver a message and reacquaint himself with his people, the young foundling finds himself thrust into a battle for which he has not been trained. Not only his own safety, but the life of every man, woman and child in Girdlegard depends upon his ability to embrace his heritage.

Although he has many unanswered questions, Tungdil is certain of one thing: no matter where he was raised, he is a true dwarf.

And no one has ever questioned the courage of the Dwarves.

What's your first new year book?

Northwich Library

I use my local library quiet a lot even though we have the internet in the house.

Why?

 I just love the library being out the house, no distractions, not being hounded by my dogs for attention, I get a bit of quiet time.

 

What does your library look like? 

Mine has authors come and talk about their books,

Kids and adult reading clubs,

Free hour on the computers you can reserve books if they don't have them in the library

Northwich Library

 

 

Nelson Mandela

The death of Nelson Mandela has affected an array of people throughout the world. The 95-year-old civil rights leader was more than the face of post-Apartheid South Africa, he was the embodiment of a movement that asked for basic human dignity regardless of colour or creed.

Honoured throughout his life for his works with HIV/AIDS, social justice, and poverty, the Nobel Peace Prize winner also touched many in the world of fashion.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary as well as a politician and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

In April 1959, militant Africanists dissatisfied with the ANC's united front approach founded the Pan-African Congress (PAC); Mandala's friend Robert Sobukwe was elected president, though Mandela thought the group "immature". Both parties campaigned for an anti-pass campaign in May 1960, in which Africans burned the passes that they were legally obliged to carry. One of the PAC-organised demonstrations was fired upon by police, resulting in the deaths of 69 protesters in the Sharpeville massacre. In solidarity, Mandela publicly burned his pass as rioting broke out across South Africa, leading the government to proclaim martial law. Under the State of Emergency measures, Mandela and other activists were arrested on 30 March, imprisoned without charge in the unsanitary conditions of the Pretoria Local prison, while the ANC and PAC were banned in April. This made it difficult for their lawyers to reach them, and it was agreed that the defence team for the Treason Trial should withdraw in protest. Representing themselves in court, the accused were freed from prison when the state of emergency was lifted in late August. Mandela used his free time to organise an All-In African Conference near Pietermaritzburg, Natal, in March, at which 1,400 anti-apartheid delegates met, agreeing on a stay-at home protest to mark 31 May, the day South Africa became a republic. On 29 March 1961, after a six-year trial, the judges produced a verdict of not guilty, embarrassing the government.

Mandela died of a lung infection on 5 December 2013 at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg. He was 95 years of age and surrounded by his family. His death was announced by President Jacob Zuma. On 6 December Zuma announced a national mourning period of ten days, with the main event being an official memorial service to be held at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on 10 December 2013. Mandala's body will lie in state from 11 to 13 December at the Union Buildings in Pretoria and a state funeral will be held on 15 December 2013 in Qunu.



BOOK: The Death and Life Of Charlie ST Cloud

The death and life of charlie st cloud

Charlie St. Cloud has been given the gift of seeing his deceased brother, but when a new love interest is in trouble he must choose between saving a life or continuing to see his brother everyday.

This film is best served with a bottle of wine and loads of tissues!

Its defiantly a tear jerker, i welled up a few times.

I liked the film its a sloppy romance.

But the book is very different obviously more detail but still very different.

Don't you just hate it when the don't make them the same?!

Film: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

A nine-year-old amateur inventor, Francophile, and pacifist searches New York City for the lock that matches a mysterious key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

My personal opinion: I love this film.

 Eye watering all the way threw it. 

Touched the heart on so many levels.