An invitation to join a book club.........

.................and this was the book they were reading this month.  I had read Breath when it was first published and it had stayed in my mind, it is a very thought provoking book by one of Australia's leading adult and children's fiction writers of these times.  I didn't have time to read it but I did download the audio book and I listened to it over the weekend, a very good way to enjoy a great book again. 

This book has central characters that all love extreme activities and the most often surfing, so this book for me being the mother of my own Surfer Boy was so easy to get into, many descriptions seemed so familiar.  The book isn't a surfing story it's a story of pushing oneself to the limit, part coming of age and the consequences this coming of age has upon ones adult life.  It is beautifully written and a book you will never forget.  I have now downloaded a book of Tim Winton short stories which are equally as enjoyable.  If you haven't already read his most famous book Cloudstreet then you must!

I haven't as yet formally joined the book club but I think it will happen.  Our next book is Mrs Cook, I've started it and so far so good.  Mrs Cooks husband Captain James Cook discovered our great continent more than two centuries ago.  

When I was at the local library last week the librarian told me I was very lucky to be invited to join a book club in this town, apparently it's very difficult to get a place, members just stay for years.  The woman next to me at book club had been in that club for 24 years!  I really enjoyed myself even if some of the discussions felt a little like being examined at high school!  The company was great and the homemade blueberry crumbly cake was very good!

I haven't been very settled for the last 6-7 months in my new home and my reading has suffered.  I usually try to read at least 20 books a year and I have a little book in which I record every book I read, I've kept this record since 1981!  This year I've so far only managed to read ONE book!  I've started a few but not been able to get into them.  Not sure why?  I've always loved escaping with a good book but sadly I think I've lost my reading mojo somewhere.  I did buy a pile of books earlier in winter but I have only started one of those.  

Anyway the one book I have read was Rotten Gods by Greg Barron.  Why?  I was curious about this book.  The author was once someone very special to me way back when we were both university students.  Rotten Gods was released July 1st, 2012, I have been a bit slow getting it read.  His second book Savage Tide was released July 1st this year, I have a copy ready and waiting.  These two book are the first two in a trilogy and the central character is a female and although not the fiction book I normally read I did really enjoy the story, it kept me turning the pages and I'm keen to read his next offering.

Here we are in the mid 1980's, young and relaxed.

Cutting fine figures on the beach.............so long ago.

So what have I been doing instead of reading you might ask.  I've become a bit of a movie buff.  It started late last year when I visited Dear Husband out here not long after he took up his new position.  I visited the local library and they had a collection of books bagged up with their movie and the display was labelled, 'Don't judge a book by it's movie'.  I joined the library and began working my way through some of these sets.  I always read the book first then watched the accompanying movie and thoroughly enjoyed all that I read and watched.

This library also has a great collection of DVD's so once I moved here I have begun borrowing and watching a huge number of movies.  We also have a good internet plan so I do watch a lot of movies online both on my laptop in bed and also on our smart TV.  So good watching movies with no advertisements on a big screen at home.  I've only been to the cinema once, there doesn't seem to be many art house style movies shown at the local cinema complex, something I loved when I lived at the coast.

You want to know what I've seen this year?  I have a list can you believe that?  I think I have a few OCD tendencies when it comes to lists.

1 All I Need is Love - Cinema at the coast

2 Monsieur Lazhar - Cinema at the coast

3 Lolita 1997 - DVD

4 Rabbit Hole - DVD

5 Oscar and Lucinda - DVD

6 The Namesake - DVD

7 Arthur and the Invisibles - TV broadcast

8 Inventing the Abbotts - DVD

9 Great Expectations (Gwyneth Paltrow) - DVD

10 Notes for a Scandal - DVD

11 One Day - DVD

12 The Great Gatsby - Cinema in the country

13 Burlesque - DVD

14 Three Dollars - SBS Demand

15 Changing Sides (French) - SBS Demand

16 Valentines Day - DVD

17 The Descendants - DVD

18 Temple Grandin - DVD

19 Mother and Child - DVD

20 The Help - DVD

21 The Weatherman - DVD

22 Saturday Night Fever - DVD

23 Quinceanera (Mexican) - SBS Demand

24 Mona Lisa Smile - DVD

25 My Afternoons with Margueritte (French) - DVD

26 Boy (New Zealand) - SBS Demand

27 The Yellow Handkerchief - DVD

28 The Fringe Dwellers (Australia) - SBS Demand

29 The Song of Lunch (England) - ABC iview

30 Beneath Clouds - SBS Demand

31 Emma's Gluck (Bliss) (Germany) - SBS Demand

32 Careless Love 2012 - SBS Demand

33 Barney's Version - SBS Demand

So maybe joining a book club will be a good thing.  I need to find my reading mojo before it completely escapes me.

Movie watching has been very good for my crocheting!

Are yo a reader or a watcher or both?  Any good reads this year?  Any movies I need to keep an eye out for?