The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - The Engineer's Thumb

Image from Goodreads

The Basics

Dr Watson is woken up early one morning to see to a young man. To his horror he discovers that the man is missing his thumb. 

First of – EWW! He has his thumb hacked off. Now that’s just plain icky.

Second (of? – nah, that doesn’t sound right) – The victim – Mr Victor Hatherley – was a bit of an idiot whose reasoning for ignoring the warning given to him was a bit A LOT weak.

I mean, really, there’s obviously something very dodgy going on and what do you do? You hang around because you are feeling ‘put out’ by the fib you have been told.

Yeah, he was asking for it really.

IDIOT.

I loves how he had a full blown fit of hysterical laughter – hmm…I’m  starting to think that I am a liiiitle but twisted.

The best bit though was when Sherlock – as cool as you like – pulled out a paper clipping and shows him a missing person report of some who was just like himself. Young. Single. Engineer. And obviously very dead. Brilliant. And obviously because he’s Sherlock Holmes he remembered the clipping just like that *clicks fingers*.

Sherlock Holmes is just that good!

It was really interesting though because as Victor (I’m sure he won’t mind be using his first name without an introduction) is telling his story I am thinking OH MY GOODNESS the baddies have had all night to get away! 

Will they catch them?

The Great Reading and Blogging Block of 2013 - Part 2

Continued...

•  I tried 'The Re-Read'

The re-read is this wonderful thing - unless your my mother who thinks all books were invented to be read once and shelved - that can eat up hours and hours of your time. Time that perhaps you should be using to discover new characters and place. But you know what? You don't want to go and meet some strangers so you go and reacquaint yourself with some old friends instead. 

So as I have been wanting to move on with the rest of the Mary Russell Series by Laurie.R King I thought I would give the Beekeepers Apprentice another read to remind myself of some things before heading on with the rest. 

Good plan, yes?

No. It failed miserably. For 8 weeks!!!!!! I have been reading this books I am not even half way through. 

This is not a reflection on the book. Not at all! It is a wonderful, fun read (FYI if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes it is definitely up your street). But have I been able to re-read it? Nope. 

So I though that maybe it was a little too soon to read it again. It is a who-dun-it after all and I kind of knew who did the doing. So I moved on again, and again, and again. And every time the re-read failed. 

OK, so the re-read was obviously not the thing to kick start the reading again. 

• The 'To-Be-Read'

Pretty much covered this (see the end of Part 1 about reading first few paragraphs etc)

Another failure. 

• The Audio-Book

I have some epic favourite audio-books. I kid you not. These are books that I have listened to repeatedly. 

Needless to say that this time there magic was a dud and they actually grated on my nerves. 

Can you believe that? I couldn't and I stopped listening ASAP in case I put myself off. 

So then I went for  nice new shiny Audio-book and I downloaded The Fellowship of the Ring. It can be argued that I have been living under a rock for the past... a long time OK, and I have just seen The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers so I thought I would give the books a try.

*groans*

Couldn't someone have warned me?

(more to come on THAT in a future post - or five)

• The 'screw it' plan

Yip, I reached the breaking point. Up until a week ago the only books I had bought in the last 8 weeks were The Lord of the Rings and they weren't getting me anywhere.

So I began the search.

After all the read pile and the TBR pile weren't doing much good so I finally thought 'screw-it'. This is were all logic (not that there ever was any to begin with) goes flying out the window and I look everywhere for a books to just read already!

ASDA (got to love ASDA) came to the rescue with The Zoo (I wanted to read that when it was in hardback so I thought - you got it - 'S-I') and The Witness (haven't read many Nora Roberts books, but I have read some of the JD Robb ones and so 'S-I lets give it a shot' ended up with it in my basket).

But, needless to say, both of these were a bust. Don't get me wrong, I THINK I am going to really enjoy them when I am in the right frame of mind, but the reading-mojo-sucking-monster of doom just wasn't having either of these.

Want to know what finally started be reading again?

Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?

Of course you do.

The £3.33 e-book came to the rescue. Complete with a red cape and hero-music.

Lovely cute heroine, hero who is a bit of an idiot but catches on pretty quick and a not overly complicated story line.

Just what I needed to get me back into the swing of reading again!

Bit anti-climactic really isn't it. Lol.






I am so glad to be finally reading again *happy dance* because not only am I now...well...reading but I also have my blogging brain switched back on. Yay. It was so weird. I have reviews written down (and some even typed up) but I just couldn't muster up the get-up-and-go to post them or do anything really.

But now I am back! And I can even feel the tension and stress draining through my fingers as I type.

Things will be back into some semblance of a schedule this week coming :)

The Great Reading and Blogging Block of 2013 - Part 1

Reader HELL!

I have passed through the fire and emerged. Slightly singed and frazzled but I shall move on from this horrible experience.

Ok, so slightly dramatic there but you get the point.

I think for every avid reader going through a book block/reading block/what-the-heck-where-have-all-the-good-books-gone spell/whatever you want to call it is something that everyone else just doesn't understand. And its ANNOYING because they just don't GET IT1

Do you find reading blocks stressful?

I find reading blocks stressful.

Now from a logical stand point reading blocks should actually be good things. Shouldn't they? Well yeah, because look at all this extra time I suddenly have to get thinks done. The washing up can be done straight after dinner instead of being left until I am eating off a napkin, that pair of trousers I have been meaning to take-up for the past month, smashing lets do it, those receipts that have been sitting around until I got time to do my accounts, awesome, bring it on.

*tumble weed*

You got it. I had ALL of this free time - or supposed to have - because I wasn't reading and still nothing got done - apart from the washing up, I might have been exaggerating a little there.

Why didn't anything get done?

 Because I was -

1.  picking up any unread book on my shelf, reading the first few paragraphs (or pages if it was lucky) and then throwing it across the room placing it back on the shelf with a look of utter loathing. This happened quite a few times. *pets book shelf* Mummy didn't mean it. 
2. Freaking out about all of the books that I felt I should be getting through and I wasn't because I couldn't get into anything. 

It was like some vicious reading-mojo eating cycle of doom. 

And it was uber-stessful and not just because of all the unread books staring  pleadingly at me from the book shelf but because I read to de-stress. Yeah, EXACTLY! How am I supposed to unwind when I can't get into a book? How am I supposed to forget about real-life rubbish and get lost in someone elses rubbish a fantasy word when it won't let me past the first chapter!

So what did I do?

More next time in Part 2...

Elfin by Quinn Loftis Tour & Giveaway

Before tonight Cassie Tate’s biggest concerns were whether she could pass Algebra and how she was going to keep Elora, her best friend, from dressing her in a skimpy fairy costume for Halloween. Her feet were firmly planted in suburban reality and she had no reason to believe her life would be anything but that of a typical teenager. That is until tonight, when Cassie saw something that no human was ever supposed to see; in the blink of an eye she was thrown into the world of the Light and Dark Elves.

He comes from a realm where light and dark have fought for millennia. He is of a race known to humans only in myths and legends. The darkness that lives inside him is a part of both who and what he is and it makes him the most gifted spy and assassin in the history of his time. His life is not his own; he lives in the service of the Dark Elf King. He slays who he must, has mercy on no one, is relentless in his hunt, and never tires of seeing his prey fall. He is Triktapic, assassin, spy, most feared of the Dark Elves.

Now, in the midst of his King’s complicated plans to expand the Dark Elves’ holdings into the mortal realm, for the first time, Trik finds his loyalties divided. For no Elf, Dark or Light, can turn away from their Chosen.

Unbeknownst to the mortal realm, the battle between Light and Dark is being brought to their doorstep. The only one who can keep it at bay holds darkness in his heart like a lover, and the one who can sway that heart must decide if she can look beyond his black past, beyond his evil nature and see the man he is destined to be.

The question must be asked, does love really cover a multitude of sins? Can true love actually conquer all or will his darkness consume those around him until all that stands is an assassin with the blood of the mortal realm on his hands?

I love me a good elf story!

Thumbs Up!
There is no messing about with this novel. From the very first page we are thrown head first into the action and I loved that. 

Our hero is a dark elf (with one or too secrets up his sleeve). But how cool is that. He has done BAD things in his life and he is aware of that and doesn't try to explain away or tone down his deeds. 

Cassie (heroine) was adorable in her awkwardness during her first few meetings with Trik and her father had me giggling with the questionnaire he prepared for any potential boyfriends. 

The idea that Cassie and Trik's souls could talk to each other was a great concept. 

The thing I loved the most was that although there are Dark Elves and Light Elves each of them have a streak of viciousness.

Thumbs Down!
I did feel that the relationship between Trik and Cassie moved very quickly  - but then there is a magical bond joining them...

Some slight info-dumping moments as characters explained the ins and outs of things to each other but with the bam-bam-bam speed of the story it was the best chance to get things across that we needed to know 

So actually I technically don't have any thumbs down points.

Except for...

*shakes kindle*

Why no more pages?

Final Thoughs!
I really enjoyed this book. As I said before at the beginning there is absolutely no messing about and I loved being sucked into the story. 

There were moments that had me on the edge of my seat and cringing in a 'NO don't do it!' kind of way, but like watching an accident about to happen I quite happily turned to the next page. 

Great fun. 

Author Info!

Quinn lives in beautiful NW Arkansas with her husband, son, Doberman and cat (who thinks she is a ninja in disguise). She is beyond thankful that she has been blessed to be able to write full time and hopes the readers know how much all of their support means to her. Some of her hobbies include reading, exercising, crochet, and spending time with family and friends. She gives all credit of her success to God because he gave her the creative spirit and vivid imagination it takes to write.

Links

Website: http://www.quinnloftisbooks.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QuinnLoftisBooks?fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthQuinnLoftis

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5014564.Quinn_Loftis

http://www.amazon.com/Elfin-ebook/dp/B00ASGTKR0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362781638&sr=8-1&keywords=Elfin

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/elfin-quinn-loftis/1114023032?ean=2940016128511

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/269223

Giveaway!

Win 1 of 3 signed Quinn Loftis Swag Packs
International
Ends 30th April

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top Ten Tuesday #3

You can find out all about Top Ten Tuesday at the Broke and Bookish Blog

Top Ten Books I HAD to Buy...But Are Still Sitting on My Shelf Un-read!

Haha! Be glad this is a list of 10 or you could be here aaaaaaaall day ;)

1. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

2. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson - it seems like everyone has read this book!

3. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon - I finished Outlander (or Cross Stitch) but then I left too long between finishing it and getting my hands on Dragonfly in Amber so I still have to read it. Maybe there is a re-read of Outlander in my near future?)

4. Seeing Redd (Book 2 - The Looking Glass Wars) by Frank Beddor - another case of reading book 1 and leaving too long to get hold of the 2nd. By the time I got it I had lost any sense of urgency I had to read it. 

5. Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson - It seemed like a good idea at the time... *whistles*

6. Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

7. The Time Machine/The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

8. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett - I LOVED the first 3 books in the Tiffany Aching series, but there was too much of a gap between the 3rd and the 4th. I jumped to but it but I have been dragging me feet to read it ever since. 

9 & 10. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay and Between the Lines by Jodi Piccoult and Samantha Van Leer

These are both books that I LOVED the idea off and just haven't got round to yet. *scuffs floor*

I haven't seen the Dexter TV series either so it is going to be a complete surprise when I get round to reading it! :)

Happy Tuesday y'all! Hope you have a good and safe week!

A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons (How to Train Your Dragon Bk #6) by Cressida Cowell

It's Hiccup's birthday, but that's not going to keep him from getting into trouble. To save his dragon, Toothless, from being banished, Hiccup must sneak into the Meathead Public Library and steal the Viking's most sacred book. But the Vikings see books as a dangerous influence, and keep them locked up and under heavy guard. To save his friend, Hiccup must brave the Hairy Scary Librarian and his dreadful army of Meathead Warriors and face off against the formidable Driller-Dragons. Will he make it out and live to see his next birthday?

(Description from Goodreads)

Thumbs Up

In Hiccup’s world books are seen as ‘a highly dangerous civilising influence’ and because of this they are kept in the Meathead Public Library – a castle guarded by hundreds of men, driller dragons and, worse of all, the Hairy Scary Librarian who will actually kill you if he catches you. And thanks to Toothless destroying ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ by Professor Yobbish (that Gobber the Belch stole from the library) Camacazi , Hiccup and Fishlegs set themselves a mission – to get a replacement from the library.

I love how Camacazi, Fishlegs and Hiccup are all becoming closer to each other even though Camacazi’s mother is the chief of another tribe she is game for anything and jumps right in with Hiccup and Fishlegs when they are in need of help.

Thumbs Down

With this book there isn’t a great deal of pages dedicated to the story. There is about 200 pages of story and then a good chunk at the back of the book is made up of ‘Dragon Profiles’ and a ‘Dragonese Dictionary’ – fantastic fun for younger readers! (Ok, I admit I tried some dragon lingo out on my mum, she just looked at me funny,”

“You dear reader, I am sure cannot imagine what it is like to live in a world in which books are banned.
For surely, such things will never happen in the Future?Thank Thor that you live in a time and a place where people have the right to live and think and write and read their books in peace and there are no needs or Heroes anymore…And spare a thought for those who have not been so lucky. “

Top Ten Tuesday #2

You can find out all about Top Ten Tuesday at the Broke and Bookish Blog

Top Ten Books on My Spring 2013 TBR List!

I am assuming this is books that I want to read in the spring and not books that are coming out in the spring that I want to read, yeah?

Well, I'll work on that assumption. 

I have a TBR pile that will kill me in my sleep should it ever fall over (no change there) but there are some books that I am wanting read and out the pile. 

1 & 2. How to Steal a Dragon's Sword and How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel by Cressida Cowell

This is book 9 and 10 in the How to Train Your Dragon Series! Believe me when I tell you it is a miracle I have stuck with this series. Not because there is anything wrong with the books! But because my attention tends to wander - most of the series I read have 6 books max!

3 & 4. The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie R. King and Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch

Both of these books are the first in a series and I have been meaning to re-read them for months so I can re-fresh my memory (and love for them - they were AMAZING) and read the rest! 

5 & 6. Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I read and thoroughly enjoyed Hunger Games but I couldn't get any further than page 100 (or so) in Catching Fire. But they are still sitting on my shelf eating up space. The one thing that is putting me off bunging then in the 2nd hand-shop box is that so many people have told me that Catching Fire was their favourite of the series. 

I am going to try and give them one more try!

7. Misery by Stephen King

I have never read a Stephen King - I don't like watching horror so reading it is an absolute NONO in my books. 

But it seems like everyone has read at least 1 so I picked what I could figure was a not so freaky one. 

Once I have read this I can officially say I have read a Stephen King novel. 

8. Jaws by Peter Benchley

DUDE! Just look at the cover! Classic!

(enough to put me off of open water for life)

9. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

I seriously need to get this read already!

(I love the old-school fantasy covers that have a scene (or character) out of the book :))

10. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I am going to surprise myself with number ten I think! :)

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Dear Dork (Dork Diaries Bk #5) by Rachel Renee Russell

Nikki Maxwell develops a sudden interest in student journalism that may or may not (okay, definitely does) have to do with the fact that mean girl Mackenzie has started writing a gossip column. And there just might be some juicy info involving Nikki's crush, Brandon, that Nikki doesn't want Mackenzie reporting to the world. So Nikki joins the school newspaper staff--and ends up as an advice columnist! It's fun at first, answering other kids' letters. But when Miss Know-It-All's inbox is suddenly overflowing with pleas for guidance, Nikki feels in need of some help herself. Fortunately she has BFFs Chloe and Zoey on her side--and at her keyboard!

(Image and Description from Goodreads)

Umm…to say that I bought this book a few days after it came out – because I loooove the series – it has taken me almost 4 months to finish reading it. Yeah…

Thumbs Up

The artwork is just as amazing as ever. The pictures work as brilliantly as they always have at portraying what is going on in Nikki’s head.

Thumbs Down

Nikki’s immature attitude to thing started to grate.

A prime example of this is her lying to her father about where he is to pick her up from a party. Why? Because she doesn’t want anyone to see her being picked up in his works van – because he is an exterminator it has a giant bug on the top. So she writes down the wrong house number. This would have been fine but the house number doesn’t even exist on the street she is on. But she lets her dad keep thinking that it is HIS fault that he got the address all screwed up.

I could have slapped her!

And then there is the whole drama that was going on through the book where she thinks that she is going to be thrown out of school. Blah, blah, blah. Drama that (by the way) she brought on herself.

I just couldn’t bring myself to care enough about what was happening to her.

Final Thoughts

I just didn’t like this book as much as I have the others.

I was really disappointed in it, which made me kind-a sad as this is a series I have grabbed since the first book. I was loving the series so I don’t know what magic was missing from this one but I just didn’t care a fig abut Nikki. I didn’t care if she was expelled (actually I think she would have deserved to face some kind of consequences), it just didn’t interest me.

I am really hoping that the next book will do the trick when it comes out in the summer. 

Top Ten Tuesday #1

I am taking a wee break from re-painting my room to do this - I have half an hour to wait until the paint dries and I can move the furniture :) It is going to look so pretty! Eeeeek.

Anyhoo.

You can find out all about Top Ten Tuesday at the Broke and Bookish Blog :)

Top Ten Series I'd Like To Start But Haven't Yet

(pssst like 8 of these are already all on my shelf waiting to be read or I have the first book :))

1. Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

(I have the first 2)

I think this one really goes without saying! I have only seen clips of the tv series - I want to read the books before I see the series (yes, I am one of those 'that's not how it was in the book' kind of people ;)) - and it all looks EPIC! 

PS - I think I am going to turn out to be a Sandor/Sansa lover. Just saying...

2. Lily Bard Mysteries by Charlaine Harris

(I have them all *faints*)

Soooooo these were being sold nice and cheap by the Book People so I have had the whole series on my shelf for *cough* and embarrassingly loooooong time. 

It seemed like a good idea at the time and I was going though a crime phase. 

3. Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

(I have them all - 3 of them :)) 

Woohoo. I love me some dragons! And dragon stories with a girl as the main character are even better!

4. Doona by Anne McCaffrey 

(I have the 3 of them)

I just stumbled across this series by accident when I was checking out Anne McCaffrey's back-list.

5. Fire Dancer by Ann Maxwell

(I have the 3 - again, it seemed like a good idea at the time CURSE YOU EBAY)
I was going through an Anne McCaffrey phase but I wasn't in an Anne McCaffrey mood and so I ended up with all of these instead. Of course, by the time they dropped through the letter box I had moved onto something else. Still, I can't wait to get stuck into them when I get the chance.







6. Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

(I have the first book)
I was in search of something to replace the How to Train Your Dragon series after I finished book 10 and thought I would give this a try :)









7. Parasol Protectorate Series by Gail Carrigar

(I have the first book)
This is a series that a friend of mine has been going on, and on, and one about for years but I kept smiling and nodding my head when she talked about it and then putting it out of my head - vamps etc aren't really my thing. But after becoming just a little but addicted to Kresley Cole's Series I figured I would give them a shot.
I have a feeling this is going to be a book I will be kicking myself for not picking up sooner.





Now it is time for books I don't have. Phew!

8. The Dark Tower by Stephen King

I am wanting to broaden my reading and I think this would be a good way to do that :)










9. Lords of the Underworld by Gena Showalter

This group was mentioned in one of the Immortals After Dark books so I would love to check them out and see is Nix (favouritest character EVER!) makes an appearance.








10. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein

I LOVE fantasy but I have never, ever, ever read the Lord of the Rings (or the Hobbit - shhh don't tell anyone). I am hoping to fix that this years though :)










Ok, break over and back to painting and furniture shifting.

Tatty Bye! :)

Young Adult Romance Shout Out! - Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot’s books (at least the ones that I have read) are great fun…well, the first time around anyway, I have come across very few of her books that I have been able to read more than once for some reason. I don’t know why this is as I thoroughly enjoy them the first go around. Any thoughts on why that could be?

Her heroines are so quirky in their own ways that it makes their stories a joy read. From Mia, who agrees to suffer through Princess Lessons to save the whales (her father donates money to Green Peace every day as long as she does), to Sam (All American Girl) who dyes all of her clothes black to shown that she is in mourning for her generations – its brilliant.

And, even if they don’t think they are, each of her heroines are intelligent and view the world in their own ways. Whether they use big words that could slaughter by score in a game of Scrabble or just some witty observation, they know their own minds.

Then there are the relationships with boys.

They aren’t perfect. Although I hate reading about glaringly obvious and cringe worthy misunderstandings, I think it is better than having a crystal clear, plain sailing relationship. It lets the readers – who I would think are mainly young girls – to see that relationships take a lot of work on both sides and may require compromise and a meeting half way on both sides or that sometimes it is up to you to be the bigger person.

(Images from Goodreads)
 

Young Adult Romance Shout Out! - Tamora Pierce

I can still remember when I first discovered Tamora Pierce. It was my first year of secondary school and like all little nerds and bookworms I had very few friends and made a bee-line for the library as soon as I could.

Compared to the library at my primary school I thought I had died and gone to bookie heaven – I mean there was even an ADULT(ish) section as the library had to cater to up to 18-19 year olds.

It was during my perusal of these brand new (to me) shelves of YA books that I found the Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce and I thought they were the best thing since sliced bread! Everyone else was reading about the adventures of a boy wizard while I was desperate to know if Alanna was going to complete her knights training without being found out that she was a girl!

Tamora Pierces writing just swallowed me up and I couldn’t get enough.

Her books have everything and more.

Goodies, baddies, adventure, hidden identities, betrayal, romance, drama, angst…the list goes on.

Her heroines are so strong, they know their own minds and what they want and they don’t let others fulfil their goals for them.

There is also mature content in her books. But, one of the best things that has always stood out to me about that side of things is that her heroines take responsibility for their own bodies and will get themselves that universes version of birth control – this is usually some kind of charm. They know that they might not be ready to take that step with whoever they are with right at that moment but for when they are – either through their own initiative or through another woman’s guidance – they make sure they are prepared.

Although romance is a feature of these books it is not the be all and end all of the stories. Tamora Pierces heroines can prioritise. They know that there are things going on that are bigger than themselves – I’m not saying that they don’t have any emotional break downs or anything – and they don’t let their personal lives become their one and only focus.

I have not read all of Tamora Pierce’s work – I am trying my best though :) – but I cannot imagine her heroines diverting much from the headstrong blue print – other than in their personalities.

Her books are great adventures and I have been recommending the ones I HAVE read for years! If you have wanted a story where it is the girl dressed in chain-mail and brandishing the sword than these books are definitely up your street!