Tuesday Reviews Day - Books

Hello fellow bookworms!

I'm now only one book away from reaching my Goodreads Reading Challenge of 60 books for 2018! I may extend it again...not sure.

First up — The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

This classic was first published in 1959 and is believed to have kick-started the whole supernatural/horror genre. It tells the story of four strangers meeting at Hill House, including Dr. Montague — a doctor with a keen interest in the occult and wanting to prove that Hill House is haunted.  Eleanor, Theodora, and Luke are his test subjects, I guess you could say. 

I know a lot of people loved this book but I have to say it wasn't for me. I found it very boring and slow-paced. I couldn't wait to get to the end just so I could call it finished. I only rated it 2 stars.

I read this book before I even became aware of the new Netflix series by the same name. The series is good and spooky.  It did stray from the book though.

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As a lover of British crime series on Netflix, I've found myself completely drawn into the same realm in Kindle books. I've just finished Katherine Pathak's 10th book — The Dark Isle — in her DCI Dani Bevan book series. I love that Amazon offers pretty good Kindle deals at up to $2 a book at various times so I can compile a whole series at very reasonable prices. I thoroughly enjoyed the DCI Dani Bevan series. I have rated the books at either 4 or 5 stars. I feel that Katherine Pathak's storytelling has improved with each new book and I have just started the 11th book in the series.

Other British crime series I've read have been as follows - 

The Detective Erika Foster series by Robert Bryndza — six books so far. I've enjoyed this series very much and look forward to his next one.

The DI Fenchurch series by Ed James. This book series took a little getting used to with a different writing style to the previous series I'd read. The characters took me time to warm up to but it did improve as I progressed through the series. Five books into the series so far.

The DI Lottie Parker series by Patricia Gibney. This is the book series that first introduced me to the world of Kindle crime fiction books.  Set in Ireland, interesting plots, and despite the lead character being addicted to prescription medication and alcohol, I really liked this series.

I have two more Crime Series in my Kindle library to start. One written by Joy Ellis, the other by Damien Boyd. I hope I enjoy them as much as the ones mentioned above.  If you are into crime fiction too, do you have a favourite author or series?

More reviews next Tuesday so stay tuned...

Sunday musings....albeit a day late

It seems I'm always running late of late and I don't really have a good excuse except to say I've been feeling down with this chronic pain thing. That said, there are so many people worse off than me so I try not to complain.

It's been a rainy few days and the rain is forecast to continue into next week. Don't get me wrong — I love the rain! We sure do need it and the gardens are loving it! The grass is finally greening up again, whereas last week, the grass/lawn was a dry yellow-brown.

And look, we even have toadstools popping up.

I'm sure there is a fair bit of water building up in the creek that runs through the bushland at the end of the street too. All needed, of course.

That said, I must admit that any more than three days of constant heavy rain starts to feel all gloomy to me, especially indoors. It IS perfect weather for reading books, watching movies, and Netflix though! We watched the whole set of the Harry Potter movies again.  I've also been binge-watching the new Netflix series — The Haunting of Hill House. It IS good! As timing would have it, I recently finished the book before I even knew the series existed. I will be talking about the book in tomorrow's Reviews post so be sure to check that out. In case you're wondering — yes — the series has strayed from the book.

I've also been watching some online art classes since my last post. I absolutely loved Ian Sidaway's klass via Sketchbook Skool! I sketched him in ballpoint and fountain pen while I watched his Q&A video with Koosje Koene.  Click HERE if you're interested in checking out his blog.

I decided against participating in INKtober this year. I just wasn't in the right head space to put more pressure on myself. I have been getting a little sketching done here and there though.
This is a VW Beetle that I've been planning on sketching for a while now.  It's still a work in progress.

I do plan on adding colour, just not sure which colour yet.

This wet weather is making me crave soup. I made this delicious split pea and veggie soup the other week so may make up another pot. It lasts Brad and me three dinners. I LOVE soup with buttered bread or bread rolls!  Vegan butter, of course.

I'll leave you with a snap of my ever faithful companion — Cody doing what he does best — sleeping.

Don't forget to check out my Book Reviews tomorrow....

Scribble Picnic - Chicken

Hi everyone,

The past couple of weeks have been a little busy with helping my son move to a new place and cleaning up the old place which will be finalised on Friday.

I planned a finished piece but time just got away from me so it's another work-in-progress this week. I hope to add more images to this post as the day progresses.

The theme is CHICKEN.

I started this little guy with a soft pencil sketch

First pass with watercolours. This was as far as I've managed so far...hope to post more here later.

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Okay...I'm back with a couple more images including a completed piece...see below.

...okay, I think I'm calling it finished. I wish I hadn't used coloured pencils as they left texture where I didn't want it. I feel like he's overworked now. We live and learn, right?

To see what my fellow picnickers have been up to for this week, click HERE.
To find out how to join us each fortnight, click HERE.

I hope to be back with an update soon....bye for now.