Books

Review – Crafty Creatures

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

Hi there,

As I felt pretty crafty today, I thought I’d try to create one of those lovely little guys in Jane Bull’s Crafty Creatures. (I hope you all remember that digital ARC I got from DK Books a while ago) Well, the book was published last week (at least in the US. It will be out in the UK next week), so, if you like what you see, you’ll be able to buy it 🙂

Image linked from DK Books¹
Summary quoted from DK Books¹:

Packed with more than 30 inspiring ideas, from fat felt cats, to dangly octopuses and zany pom-pom pals, Crafty Creatures and author Jane Bull help you create your own world of colorful, cuddly animals, as well as phone pouches, purses, jewelry, and more!

With helpful templates and patterns alongside basic sewing techniques, Crafty Creatures includes simple step-by-step instructions with detailed photographs to make sure everyone can accomplish any project in the book.

My Craft & My Thoughts

When I leafed through the book, I was instantly in love with one creature in particular. It was a little bunny made of an odd pair of old (or new if you like) gloves. The bunny (called Odd Bod in the book) looked so cute and it seemed like the perfect upcycling idea that wouldn’t be too hard to do. So I decided to make one. And after about one hour of work (well, I didn’t work constantly I guess), this is my result:

bunny

Now back to the book.

It is divided into 5 chapters: Woolly Animals, Friends in Felt, Sew Cute, Animals in Stitches and Sewing Kit and Useful Know-how

Woolly Animals features the following crafts: Woolly Octopus, Knittens, Koala Bear and Friends, Li’l Ted, Odd Bods, A Box of Monkeys, Ducklings

This is my favorite chapter. I think the creatures in it are big enough to play with. Plus, there is something for every difficulty level. And there are crafts that reuse material that would have otherwise been thrown away.

Friends in Felt includes: Pocket Pets, Big Pets, Mobile Owls, Cozy Cats, Minimals, Templates, Wild Ones, Bees and Bugs

The crafts in this chapter are cute and I love felt. They all are pretty flat though. And I don’t really know what to do with most of them. The mobile is an exception. And there is a tip to turn the small, flat animals into brooches, which is a nice idea.

Sew Cute features: Dog’s Best Friends, Pretty Birdies, Bunny Girls, Doodlephants, Your Little Pony, Jolly Giraffe, Cat’s Bed

This chapter has bigger designs than the last one. The Bunny Girls are made to play with and so is the Jolly Giraffe (which has a great design by the way). I also like the idea of the Doodlephants: They are plain elephants you can draw on, so you can create a unique creature. Great idea for a party!

Animals in Stitches shows you how to do: Pictures in Stitches, Pet Portraits, Stitch a Doodle, Doodle Decorations

There aren’t any real creatures to craft in this chapter. It just shows you how to stitch animals and how to use stitched things in your projects.

And Sewing Kit and Useful Know-how includes the chapters: Creating Creatures, How to Stitch, Spring Chickens, Mice Made Easy, How to Knit, Knit Stitch, Purl Stitch, Knitting Shapes

This chapter is very useful, as it explains steps that are the basis for some crafts.

To sum it up, I think that Crafty Creatures is a very nice book for people who are interested in starting to knit or sew cute little animals. There are some ideas to pick up for experienced crafters, but I think that beginners and less-experienced people will have more fun with this book (especially if they have an interest in knitting!). As I’ve mentioned before, some of the crafts are small and quite flat, so their purpose isn’t quite clear. I think they could make nice decorations for presents (if the gifted person appreciates the effort). So decide for yourself if this is the book for you. I definitely enjoyed making that cute little bunny!

bohnen3s

¹ http://us.dk.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781465409140,00.html?strSrchSql=crafty+creatures/Crafty_Creatures_Jane_Bull#

Review – Goodbye For Now

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

Hello,

Today, I’ll review Laurie Frankel‘s novel Goodbye For Now. I have to admit that I’ve read the German translation called Der Algorithmus der Liebe as I’ve received a copy from Lovelybooks and Random House Germany to participate in a book discussion. Nevertheless, my review will be in English, and, if the translator has done a good job, there shouldn’t be any problem. 🙂

Provided by Random House¹
Image provided by Random House¹
Summary quoted from Random House¹:

Sam Elling works for an internet dating company, but he still can’t get a date. So he creates an algorithm that will match you with your soul mate. Sam meets the love of his life, a coworker named Meredith, but he also gets fired when the company starts losing all their customers to Mr. and Ms. Right.
When Meredith’s grandmother, Livvie, dies suddenly, Sam uses his ample free time to create a computer program that will allow Meredith to have one last conversation with her grandmother. Mining from all her correspondence—email, Facebook, Skype, texts—Sam constructs a computer simulation of Livvie who can respond to email or video chat just as if she were still alive. It’s not supernatural, it’s computer science.
Meredith loves it, and the couple begins to wonder if this is something that could help more people through their grief. And thus, the company RePose is born. The business takes off, but for every person who just wants to say good-bye, there is someone who can’t let go.

My Thoughts:

Goodbye For Now is mainly set in Seattle, Washington but setting isn’t Ms. Frankel’s main focus. She rarely gives detailed descriptions of the characters’ surroundings. Only in the later chapters her writing becomes more pictorial and when it does, many things are left to the reader’s imagination. Either that, or the author expects the reader to know about the geography of Seattle. But I didn’t mind, because setting isn’t that important in this novel. The characters and the story are what make it worth reading.

The three main characters are Sam, Meredith and Dash. The reader sees almost everything through Sam’s eyes. He is a very likable character with a great sense of humor and is therefore easy to identify with. Meredith is a stereotypical woman. At first, she is very nice but later in the book she gets demanding and whiny. To make it short: She doesn’t know what she wants and she really got on my nerves. Dash completes the trio by being very positive and social. He is a funny guy without wanting to be funny. Dash is a wonderful addition to the book as he helps to lighten up the darker parts. In my opinion, this trio of main characters is very balanced. Sam, Meredith and Dash are surrounded by various other characters, each with their own little story to tell.

The plot of Goodbye For Now is new to me. I like that Ms. Frankel introduces the pros and cons of a computer program that enables people to communicate with the “dead”. She shows that this is not something that everyone would think of as good and she also points out that serious problems can arise. Goodbye For Now combines an easy to read writing style with a serious topic. This is not your usual love story. (Even if the German title suggests it) Goodbye For Now is a book that will make you laugh, cry and think.

bohnen4s

¹ https://www.randomhouse.com/book/219384/goodbye-for-now-by-laurie-frankel

Review – Dewey

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

It’s Friday and the weekend is near!

Today you’ll get a review of a book I’ve been wanting to read for a long time: Dewey by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter. I love cats and when I heard about Dewey’s story, I knew I had to read this book.

dewey
Image provided by Hachette Book Group¹
Summary quoted from Hachette Book Group¹:
How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually become famous around the world? You can’t even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa. – See more at: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/vicki-myron/dewey/9780446407410/#sthash.94H83mTs.dpuf
How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually become famous around the world? You can’t even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa.
My Thoughts:
Dewey is a biography, a non-fictional book, so this review will be a little different. The book was written by Dewey’s “mom” Vicki Myron and you can feel her love for Dewey throughout the book. This gives a nice touch to the book and it is probably the reason why it is so popular. At times, the book tells Dewey’s story so lively that I thought I was there myself.
We also get to know a lot about Ms. Myron’s personal life. For some that might be interesting, for others not so much. It didn’t bother me. For my taste, it was just the right amount, so that was okay.
Ms. Myron co-wrote Dewey with Mr. Witter who is an experienced biography writer. I don’t know which parts of the book he wrote, but I can imagine that he might have written the parts about the history of Iowa or Spencer. But it doesn’t really matter who wrote them. They were perfectly written, but still, for me, they just didn’t fit. I understand why these parts were put into the book and I think this is an interesting topic, but all I wanted was to read more about Dewey and not about another downfall of Spencer.
Other than that, Dewey is a heartwarming biography of a very lucky cat. It is great book for cat-lovers, or people who like a special story.
bohnen3s

¹ https://www.hachettebookgroup.biz/titles/none/dewey/9780446407427/

I Won – An Awesome Bag

~ Hanna ~ 4 Comments

Hi there,

I’m quite busy right now and the heat wave is still there. I just finished reading another book and you’ll get a review soon – pinky promise 🙂

Last week I won something awesome that I wanted to show you. Like many of my colleagues studying English, I struggle with Denglish, that is constantly mixing German (Deutsch) and English. It’s a wonderful language of its own, but stylistically, it’s terrible. So I was more than happy when I found out that I won an accessory that fits my terrible habit: a Denglish tote bag. And here it is (also included in the picture are all the great goodies that came with it. And please note the beautiful stamps)

denglish

I won this great bag at Lovelybooks and if you like it, you can get one for yourself, or your mom, or your friend at The Hipstery. They also have other great Germany related things. To promote the items at The Hipstery, Adam Fletcher, one of the owners of the store, even wrote a book. It’s called How To Be German In 50 Steps and it is written in German and English. He even works on another book called Denglish For Better Knowers. How awesome is that? (Yep another awesome there. I love Denglish)

If you have any questions concerning the meaning of any of the things written on the tote bag. Just ask me. I’d be happy to help. I’m sure they don’t make any sense to someone who doesn’t speak German 😀

Review – Perfect

~ Hanna ~ 1 Comment

Hello again,

Last week I received a review copy of Perfect by Rachel Joyce. Lovelybooks and RandomHouse UK (Doubleday) had another great cooperation (oh how I love them for these, I can’t say it enough) and I received the copy to participate in a Lovelybooks book discussion.

Perfect
Image provided by Black Swan¹
Summary quoted from RandomHouse UK¹:

Summer, 1972: In the claustrophobic heat, eleven-year-old Byron and his friend begin ‘Operation Perfect’, a hapless mission to rescue Byron’s mother from impending crisis.

Winter, present day: As frost creeps across the moor, Jim cleans tables in the local café, a solitary figure struggling with OCD. His job is a relief from the rituals that govern his nights.

Little would seem to connect them except that two seconds can change everything.
And if your world can be shattered in an instant, can time also put it right?

My Thoughts:

Perfect is set in England in the 1970s and in the present. I really enjoyed how Rachel Joyce described different processes. Like for example the process of sugar cubes being dropped into cups of tea. She does that brilliantly.

The main characters are a boy called Byron and a man called Jim. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to connect that well with Byron. Maybe it also has to do with the storytelling. I’ll talk about that later on. I was however perfectly able to empathize with Jim. I was able to feel every single emotion he felt. And many of them weren’t that pleasant. So be aware that this book is only for people who aren’t depressed, because it will most probably make you feel depressed.

As I already mentioned above, Perfect features two main characters. There are two strings of storyline – one set in the 1970s and wrapping around Byron’s life, and one set in the present, telling us more about Jim. In my opinion Byron’s story, which seems to be the main plot, is really slow-paced. This might also have to do with it being written in past tense. More than once, I caught myself looking forward to another chapter about Jim. To me, Jim’s story seems much more lively, probably because it written in present tense and because it really is much more lively. There are things happening in Jim’s storyline, whereas a lot of Byron’s storyline is spent planning and waiting. I also missed a real climax in the book. As I mentioned before, I really liked how Ms. Joyce described processes. This is fine writing. Still, I was a little disappointed after all the praise I’ve read about Perfect. I’d recommend it to people who don’t mind a slow and depressing read.

3 Star Rating: Recommended

¹ http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/perfect/9780552778107

Review – The Last Banquet

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

It’s Monday, and as most people don’t like Mondays, I thought I’d make this Monday a better Monday for some of you. Or at least I’ll try to do so. (Wow that were a lot of Mondays 😀 )

It’s review time for The Last Banquet by Jonathan Grimwood. I really enjoyed reading it 🙂

And that Kindle offer I was talking about is still on.

Image provided by Canongate
Image provided by Canongate
Summary quoted from Canongate¹:
Jean-Marie Charles d’Aumout is many things.
Orphan, soldier, diplomat, spy, lover.
And chef.This is his story.We meet Jean-Marie d’Aumout as a penniless orphan eating beetles by the side of a road. His fate is changed after an unlikely encounter finds him patronage and he is sent to military academy. Despite his frugal roots, and thanks to wit and courage in great measure, he grows up to become a diplomat and spy.Rising through the ranks of eighteenth-century French society, he feasts with lords, ladies and eventually kings, at the Palace of Versailles itself.Passion, political intrigue and international adventure abound in Jean-Marie’s life, yet his drive stems from a single obsession: the pursuit of the perfect taste. Three-Snake Bouillabaisse, Pickled Wolf’s Heart and Flamingo Tongue are just some of the delicacies he devours on his journey toward the ultimate feast.But beyond the palace walls, revolution is in the air and the country is clamouring with hunger of a different kind. – See more at: http://www.canongate.tv/the-last-banquet.html#sthash.CGzKnrAu.dpuf
Jean-Marie Charles d’Aumout is many things.
Orphan, soldier, diplomat, spy, lover.
And chef.This is his story.We meet Jean-Marie d’Aumout as a penniless orphan eating beetles by the side of a road. His fate is changed after an unlikely encounter finds him patronage and he is sent to military academy. Despite his frugal roots, and thanks to wit and courage in great measure, he grows up to become a diplomat and spy.Rising through the ranks of eighteenth-century French society, he feasts with lords, ladies and eventually kings, at the Palace of Versailles itself.Passion, political intrigue and international adventure abound in Jean-Marie’s life, yet his drive stems from a single obsession: the pursuit of the perfect taste. Three-Snake Bouillabaisse, Pickled Wolf’s Heart and Flamingo Tongue are just some of the delicacies he devours on his journey toward the ultimate feast.But beyond the palace walls, revolution is in the air and the country is clamouring with hunger of a different kind.

My Thoughts:

The Last Banquet is set in 18th century France and I could really feel it. It doesn’t matter if it is young-boy-dung-heap France, or adventure-seeking-young-man-in-woods France, or middle-aged-man-at-fetid-Versailles France. Mr. Grimwood was able to create them all for me. And then he added food. Surprisingly, the descriptions of the tastes are often rather simple but there is something else that helps to whet the reader’s appetite. First, there are detailed recipes and if you read those, you’ll get hungry for sure. And second, Jean-Marie loves food and therefore, he thinks a lot about it. These two points, mixed with the descriptions of tastes make a fabulous banquet!

The main character, Jean-Marie Charles d’Aumout is very likeable. He narrates his story and I never felt like I didn’t want to follow him anymore. He does things that some readers will find hard to understand but he does them because he thinks them right. And I think they mostly are. The other characters were also interesting. There are far too many to talk about each of them in detail. I liked that Mr. Grimwood let his characters change in the course of the book. If you think about the huge time span the Banquet covers (almost a life time), this is only natural and it makes the book so much more dynamic.

The Last Banquet is not your usual story of a French aristocrat growing up and growing old in the 18th century. It is the story of a man and his love of food. I really enjoyed how Mr. Grimwood made Jean-Marie discover new tastes in the strangest places. This sometimes made me laugh out loud. Jean-Marie’s life never gets boring, he talks and writes to interesting people, to the outside world, he leads the life of a noble, he hunts, has friends over, gets into dangerous situations, and there are women of course,… (I really can’t tell you more). I enjoyed reading The Last Banquet and accompanying Jean-Marie Charles d’Aumout on his search for the perfect taste.

bohnen4s

Incoming – The Last Banquet – +Offer

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

Hey it’s me again 🙂

I started reading The Last Banquet by Jonathan Grimwood. This book was really an impulse buy. Book Depository suggested it to me and said they had signed copies, I liked the synopsis, and I bought it. Sometimes it’s as easy as this. I really enjoy reading it.

And I think you should know that there is an OFFER for the Kindle version on Amazon right now. I can see it for € 3.69 on Amazon.de and for $ 4.82 on Amazon.com (though this last price could be even cheaper if you are in the US because they usually charge Europeans more). There might be a bargain price for other e-readers too. Just have a look.

Image provided by Canongate
Image provided by Canongate
Summary quoted from Canongate¹:
Jean-Marie Charles d’Aumout is many things.
Orphan, soldier, diplomat, spy, lover.
And chef.This is his story.We meet Jean-Marie d’Aumout as a penniless orphan eating beetles by the side of a road. His fate is changed after an unlikely encounter finds him patronage and he is sent to military academy. Despite his frugal roots, and thanks to wit and courage in great measure, he grows up to become a diplomat and spy.Rising through the ranks of eighteenth-century French society, he feasts with lords, ladies and eventually kings, at the Palace of Versailles itself.

Passion, political intrigue and international adventure abound in Jean-Marie’s life, yet his drive stems from a single obsession: the pursuit of the perfect taste. Three-Snake Bouillabaisse, Pickled Wolf’s Heart and Flamingo Tongue are just some of the delicacies he devours on his journey toward the ultimate feast.

But beyond the palace walls, revolution is in the air and the country is clamouring with hunger of a different kind. – See more at: http://www.canongate.tv/the-last-banquet.html#sthash.CGzKnrAu.dpuf

Jean-Marie Charles d’Aumout is many things.
Orphan, soldier, diplomat, spy, lover.
And chef.This is his story.We meet Jean-Marie d’Aumout as a penniless orphan eating beetles by the side of a road. His fate is changed after an unlikely encounter finds him patronage and he is sent to military academy. Despite his frugal roots, and thanks to wit and courage in great measure, he grows up to become a diplomat and spy.Rising through the ranks of eighteenth-century French society, he feasts with lords, ladies and eventually kings, at the Palace of Versailles itself.

Passion, political intrigue and international adventure abound in Jean-Marie’s life, yet his drive stems from a single obsession: the pursuit of the perfect taste. Three-Snake Bouillabaisse, Pickled Wolf’s Heart and Flamingo Tongue are just some of the delicacies he devours on his journey toward the ultimate feast.

But beyond the palace walls, revolution is in the air and the country is clamouring with hunger of a different kind.

Review – The Ocean at the End of the Lane

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

It’s review time again 🙂

I finally got around to reading the pre-release copy of Neil Gaiman‘s The Ocean at the End of the Lane that I won from The Independent.

(If my writing sounds a little strange today, blame it on too many watermelons 😀 )

DSCN3840

Summary quoted from Headline¹:

It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond the world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive: there is primal horror here, and menace unleashed – within his family and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it.
His only defense is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang.

My Thoughts:

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is set in a rural town, probably in the 20th century. Although there are lots of scenes that take place during daytime, there is a certain darkness that I felt spanning these scenes. This gave the setting quite a creepy atmosphere. Sometimes everything about the narrator’s house seemed so shabby and rotten. I think this was brilliant.

The main characters we meet in Ocean are the narrator (sometimes in the form of a grown up man, more often as a little boy) and his family, the narrator’s friend Lettie and her family and then there is a woman called Ursula Monkton. All characters are very believable, some friendly, some scary, some a little blurry. The blurriness of these characters might be because they are of lesser importance to the story. But as we are experiencing the story through the little boy, I think his mother shouldn’t be that blurry even though she only plays a minor role.

The story itself is interesting and I’m still not that sure what to think of it. I don’t know if Mr. Gaiman wants it to be interpreted or not. I’m not sure if it should simply stay a fantastic tale, or if there is supposed to be more depth to it. If there is, I think it’s clever. (I can’t tell much more without putting spoilers in here). If it’s just a tale, I think it’s a nice tale but it’s not very special at all. It reads quickly, it’s NOT for children, of that I’m sure, but it didn’t surprise me. The Ocean at the End of the Lane a very dark and scary tale of a boy who is unfortunate enough to be involved in something he doesn’t understand and fortunate enough to find good friends.

bohnen3s

¹ http://www.headline.co.uk/Books/detail.page?isbn=9781472200310

My Summer Santa Was Here

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

I’m back from a short trip to Cavallino, Italy and as summer is in full swing, I’m gonna tell you a little secret!

Santa was here last week. Yep… you read right. Summer Santa came to my house and brought me presents. You remember that post about the Summer Book Exchange organized by Ruby’s Reads? Well the time has finally come, Santa sneaked in and left something for me 🙂

And here are the two books I got (and I have to say, that Hitchhiker has got really cute stickers inside. You can put them on the cover and create a new cover every time!):

DSCN3865

Summary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy quoted from panmacmillan¹:

On 12 October 1979 the most remarkable book ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor (and Earth) was made available to humanity– The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s an ordinary Thursday lunchtime for Arthur Dent until his house gets demolished. The Earth follows shortly afterwards to make way for a new hyperspace bypass and his best friend has just announced that he’s an alien. At this moment, they’re hurtling through space with nothing but their towels and an innocuous-looking book inscribed with the big, friendly words: DON’T PANIC. The weekend has only just begun… Volume one in the trilogy of five

The second book is Treasured Tales from Beatrix Potter:

This book includes Ms. Potter’s stories

  • The Tale of Tom Kitten
  • The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
  • The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
  • The Tale of Pigling Bland
Thank you Santa!!

¹ http://www.panmacmillan.com/series/hitchhikersguidetothegalaxy

Review – A Thousand Perfect Things

~ Hanna ~ 2 Comments

Hi there,

I hope you’re all having a great weekend. Last week, I finished Kay Kenyon‘s A Thousand Perfect Things (thanks again to Premier Digital Publishing for the ARC). So here’s my review. Enjoy. 🙂

Image linked from Kay Kenyon¹
Summary quoted from Kay Kenyon¹:

In an alternate 19th century, there are two warring continents on an reimagined earth: the scientific Anglica (England) and magical Bharata (India). Emboldened by her grandfather’s final whispered secret of a magical lotus, Tori Harding, a young Victorian woman and aspiring botanist, must journey to Bharata, with its magics, intrigues and ghosts, to claim her fate. There she will face a choice between two suitors and two irreconcilable realms.

My Thoughts:

A Thousand Perfect Things is set in the 19th century on two fictional continents called Anglica and Bharata. I really enjoyed Kay Kenyon’s descriptions of the setting, especially of exotic Bharata. She managed to make me feel enchanted by this distant place. It seemed to me that her descriptions got more vivid in the last third of the book.

As to the characters, this novel mainly focuses on Tori Harding, a young woman who unlike other women her age is not interested in marriage, but wants to become a botanist. I had no problems empathizing with Tori. I also enjoyed the variety of other characters in A Thousand Perfect Things, yet there were no big surprises.

I really enjoyed this special story Ms. Kenyon created. It has history, magic and far off places. All the things I like. Still, the story had its lengths and that was the downside of this book. I read it on my Kindle, so I can’t say how many pages the book really had. But it felt like 600 and it shouldn’t have. Still, I strongly recommend to finish A Thousand Perfect Things. This book feels magical!

bohnen4s (actually 3.5 beans)

¹ http://www.kaykenyon.com/novels/