It's Monday! What are you reading?

What are you reading Monday  is hosted by Shelia over at Book Journey. Head over and check out what others are reading!

It was before Christmas the last time I participated in this and I read a heap over the break. Unfortunately it has been a slow start to the year and I have yet to start and finish a book in 2011.

What I finished since I last participated.

At Home - Bill Bryson
Trouble all the Way - Sonya Hartnett
Jessie Mei Mei - Sharon Guest and Stuart Neal
The Burning Bridge - John Flanagan
The Complete Peanuts 1953 - 1954 - Charles M Schulz
Ten Thousand Sorrows - Elizabeth Kim
World of Chickens - Nick Earls

What I am reading now?

The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson

This is the second book in the Mistborn Series. I'm enjoying and it's not hard to read so I'm not sure why it's taken me so long! Hopefully it doesn't set the tone for the rest of the year. I should finish it today.

In The Winter Dark - Tim Winton
I'm listening to this in the car. Once again, finding Winton read aloud is magical.

What's next?

The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton
This will be read for my January Book Group.

So what are you reading?

Library Loot

Library Loot is co-hosted by Claire at The Captive Reader and Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader.  This week it's hosted by Claire at The Captive Reader so pop over and see who else is participating.

This is my first Library Loot and I plan to use it as a way to track my library borrowings this year. I work at one of our local council libraries which can be both a blessing and a curse! I get a lot of my library loot via request, although I do pick up the odd thing through client recommendation or the returns chute.

This week everything that has come in has been on reserve.

In the Winter Dark by Tim Winton.

Anyone whose read my blog knows my love of Winton. I'm slowly working my way through his back catalogue. While I am borrowing these from the library, I do plan to build up my collection of Winton's work. He's just too good to not own. I have this as an audio book, making the trip to and from work so much more pleasant!

The Scold's Bridle by Minette Walters.

Another author whose back catalogue I am working through. In my opinion one of the best and most original crime writers ever!

Making Laws for Clouds by Nick Earls.

My third back catalogue author in this lot. I reviewed World of Chickens earlier this week and Earls himself made a comment. I was so excited!! I'm still trying to compose an answer!

The Golden Snail by Graeme Base.

A picture book for my series on Australian picture book authors and illustrators.

Library loot this week: 4                     Year to date: 4

So what is your loot this week? Leave me a link, I'd love to know!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading. This is how it works:

•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page

•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

Welcome to my first Teaser Tuesday for the year! This weeks teaser comes from 
 

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

Either the Mistborn knew he'd been spotted, or he was ready for an attack, for he easily dodged. OreSeur hopped to his feet, spinning, and Vin whipped her belt free, dropping her metals. 

I'd love to know what your teaser is! Leave me a link!

World of Chickens

World of Chickens - Nick Earls

This is part of my ongoing quest to read all of Nick Earls books. This was his 6th book, his 5th adult book.

World of Chickens focuses on Phil and Frank who we came across several times in Earls' book of short stories, Headgames. Phil and Frank are working at Ron Todd's World of Chickens to earn money while doing degrees in medicine. Through out the book they meet some interesting people and have some funny and not so funny experiences.

I'm not sure what to say about this book. I enjoyed it although Frank's character just annoyed the hell out of me. It's a fun read, but not one you would have an indepth discussion about. It was fun. I'm looking forward to the next Earls book.

My 2011 Challenges

This year I have signed up for 6 challenges! I vast increase from my one last year!! There is a link to each challenge at the top of my page, but I thought I would summerise them here. The links here will take you to the sign up pages.

In no particular order, this year I will participate in:

100+ Reading Challenge

This is the one I did last year and I've just signed up again. Hosted by Rachel over at Home Girl's Book Blog I found this a great way to track what I read over the year.

Aussie YA Challenge

This is hosted by Nic over at Irresistible Reads. This is one of two YA challenges I will be taking part in, the difference being this is specifically Australian YA. I plan to read at least 12 Aussie YA books this year to complete the challenge.

2011 E-Book Challenge

Hosted by The Lady Bug Reads. For my birthday last year my husband bought me a Kindle. I love my Kindle and would dearly love to read more stuff on it. I'm aiming to read at least 6 E-Books this year, possibly steppin' it up a level to 12! Best thing about the challenge - books read for this will qualify for a couple of my other challenges! Love the double dip!

The A-Z Challenge.

Hosted by Becky at Becky's Book Reviews. I heard a lot about this one last year and always thought it sounded fun. I'm going for the 52 books, 26 book titles and 26 authors for each letter of the alphabet. Another challenge that will be good for double dipping.

Twenty Eleven Challenge

This challenge is hosted by Bart over at Bart's Bookshelf. Bart has listed 11 categories and you need to read one or two books for each one. I think this could be an interesting way to stretch my boundaries.

For the Love of YA Reading Challenge

Hosted by Jamie over at For the Love of YA  this is the second of my YA challenges. I've opted to try for 20 YA book, with the possibility of 40.

So there you have it, my challenge list for the year. On top of that, I plan to participate in:

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? A meme hosted by Shelia over at Book Journey.

Teaser Tuesday hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading

Library Loot which is co-hosted by Claire at The Captive Reader and Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader.

Six challenges and three memes. I can do that!

Australian Picture Book Authors and Illustrators - Graeme Base

Welcome to my first Australian Picture Book Authors and Illustrators post. To find out more about this, click here. 


Graeme Base

 

image from: http://www.wfc2011.org/guests/Base_Graeme.html

Graeme Base is most probably one of Australia's foremost and best known author/ illustrators. His illustrations are known for incredible intricate details and often have a riddle or something to search for. Hours can be spent with his books!

 I'll be looking at the following picture books in January.

My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch (1983)
Animalia (1986)
The Eleventh Hour (1989)
The Sign of the Seahorse (1992)
The Discovery of Dragons (1996)
The Worst Band In The Universe (1999)
The Water Hole (2001)
Jungle Drums (2004)
Uno's Garden (2006)
Enigma (2008)
The Legend of the Golden Snail (2010)

Ten Thousand Sorrows

This will be my final review for 2010! Wow. I've had a great year blogging about my reading and have enjoyed the chance to share my thoughts with others. Finding other book blogs has been an absolute revelation and has enhanced my choice of books so much. Thank you for visiting my blog in 2010. I'm looking at changing a few things in 2011 and hope you are willing to continue to ride along with me!


Ten Thousand Sorrows by Elizabeth Kim

I borrowed this from the library on a client recommendation. She said it would touch my heart and it did.

At a young age, Elizabeth hid in a basket and watched as her grandfather and uncle hung her Korean mother. Her crime?
Sleeping with an American soldier and having a mixed race baby. Considered worthless, she was abandoned at a Christian orphanage where the staff were told "she has no name,...I don't know her birth date or how old she is. She's nobody."
She was confined to a small cage like crib and given no comfort at all. Eventually she was adopted by an American couple who were evangelical Christians . On her second day in their house she woke from her nap and was violently ill on the sofa, vomiting worms all over the cushions. She was shouted at for it and called an animal. For years afterwards Elizabeth's mum would recount the event to anyone who would listen saying she couldn't understand why she chose the sofa to be ill on rather than going to the bathroom. She also stated when they first got Elizabeth she was "just like an animal." And this is the environment Elizabeth grew up in.

Ten Thousand Sorrows recounts Elizabeth's life. Her abusive marriage and her search for something to hold onto in this world. Constantly told she was ugly and worthless, she believed this to be true and could never understand how someone would think differently. Anyone who said she pretty and nice obviously was lying or had a hidden agenda. While the birth of her daughter gave her the impetus to leave the marriage and gave her a reason to live, it took a long time for her to come to a place where she liked herself and felt worthy of that love.

Ten Thousand Sorrows is powerful, but easy to read. Elizabeth Kim tells her story simply as a matter of fact. Her journey shows incredible courage and the power of forgiveness.