With No One As Witness [8] February 24, 2009

I am currently reading more than a few books right now which really seems to slow down my reading. I will have to work on knocking a few of them off before I start my new stash of Baldacci’s (YAY!). This latest , With No One As Witness by Elizabeth George, was another crime/drama, mystery, serial killer novel. She is a British author and lets you know that from the first page. The book was full of British vocabulary and slang (bloody this and that buggering off together to have a nosh). I was not prepared for this since I have not really read much British writing after the 19th century. It really bothered me for the first 150 or so pages, but then I started to become indifferent to it and the story took over. It was quite interesting bringing in racial politics of England, profiling, psychology of a killer, but then it brought in child pornography towards the end and became a little disturbing.

Something else I did not realize when I started the book is that it features a team of detectives, Havers and Lynley, that have quite a long history together. This is actually the 12th book in the series of 14 so far. It is kind of like starting to watch 24 in the 4th season. There were so many characters from previous seasons who made appearances but you may not care as much about them. While the main story of  the novel was stand alone, there were many smaller story lines that were not as meaningful to me. Even when tragedy strikes “at home” for one of the main characters it did not affect me as much as perhaps a loyal reader. I was far more interested in the parts about finding the killer and wanted to skip the rest. I am not in a hurry to go back and read the previous books but maybe someday. I only recommend if you have read the rest of the series first.

In other news I got my bookmark from my Ravelry swap partner today(thanks again drie80!). It is absolutely gorgeous (photo below). It was my first swap and I loved it.  I am doing an Envelope swap this month as well (fill it in under $5). With Ravelry and Postcrossing I am getting a ton of mail these days from all over the world. I also received my wedding invitation from Sarah . I can not believe how soon my trip will be coming. It is so exciting! I wish it were longer, but duty calls at work. Murat is getting everything ready for his visa so I will keep you all posted on how that turns out. Well off to do my Turkish homework so I will be prepared for lessons tomorrow.

Bookmarks I made (photo by MissJulie)

My bookmark by drie80

Postcrossing and Watercolors January 14, 2009

There have been some new developments in the new year for me. I recently joined a website called Postcrossing. You sign up (for free) and say you want to send someone a postcard. They give you a random address of someone in a different country (who belongs to the site), and you send them one. Then someone from a completely different country sends one to you. I love this idea! My first card goes to a girl in Finland.

This brings me to the second piece of news. I decided to take up watercoloring as a small hobby. This may seem odd to many folks because I am not artistic in a painting/drawing way. I have never done more than the occasional forest scene (that I have been doing since I was 10 years old). I am much more into photography, writing, knitting, and crocheting than painting. I have to say that I am very pleased with my first piece. I used a photograph I took as inspiration, but made some of my own changes to it. It will actually be the postcard I will send to the girl in Finland. I need to get a can of spray for protecting it this weekend, but then off it will go. I will also my making/painting a bookmark for a handmade bookmark swap in my Ravelry group. I am really excited to try new things this year and see what happens.

Also, I should be finishing up my book in the next couple days so check back for a full review…

My first watercolor!!!