A couple of fun/thought provoking quotes from my current read, "The Lollipop Shoes," by Joanne Harris, c. 2007

"As if she could see it in the air around me like candyfloss gathering on a spindle." p219

"All the same I can't help feeling uneasy. Rarely does anything ever come free - there's not a gift or a kindness that doesn't have to be paid for in full in the end. Life has taught me that, at least. That's why I am more cautious now. That's why I keep the wind-chimes over my door, to warn me of the Kindly Ones, those messengers of credit due -" p356

"You choose your family," Mother said. As I chose you and you chose me. That girl - she wouldn't have cherished you. She wouldn't have known how to take care for you: how to slice the apple widthways to show the star inside, how to tie a medicine bag, how to banish demons by banging on a tin pan, how to sing the wind to sleep. She wouldn't have taught you any of that - p102

-- I would recommend this title. It had a good sense of setting.

(last updated Jan 13th, 2008)

Running index of books mentioned here April 2006 to Jan 2008

"24-Karat Kids," Mar 2nd, 2007
"A Carol for Christmas," Jan 7th, 2007
"A Country Practice," Aug 6th, 2006
"A Day With A Perfect Stranger," Jan 19th, 2007
"A Familiar Feeling," Mar 11th, 2007
"A Fistful of Sky," July 8th, 2007
"A Match Made in Heaven," June 4th, 2006
"About Adam," Aug 12th, 2006
"All Because of You," Jan 4th, 2008
"All Night Long," May 28th, 2007
"Almost Like Being In Love," Jan 23rd, 2007
"Amy's Honeymoon," Jan 13th, 2008
"Angels Fall," Aug 25th, 2006
"At the Scent of Water," Jul 13th, 2007
"Baby Father," Jan 13th, 2008
"Backpack," Jul 29th, 2007
"Beach Girls," Sep 4th, 2006
"Beach of Dreams, Sep 21st, 2007
"Boobela and the worm," dec 31st, 2007
"Brimstone," Apr 23rd, 2007
"Buffalo Before Breakfast," Jan 16th, 2007
"Burning Road," July 18th, 2006
"Cage of Stars," Feb 17th, 2007
"Can you keep a secret," Apr 26th, 2006
"Caroline's Journal," Dec 17th, 2006
"Cell," July 31st 2006
"Chasing the dime," May 4th, 2006
"Chocolate Kisses," Dec 13th, 2006
"City of Truth," May 8th, 2006
"Crazy as Chocolate," Aug 30th, 2007
"Dance of the Gods," Nov 7th, 2006
"Dance With Me," Dec 8th, 2006
"Death by Meeting," Nov 16th, 2007
"Dirty Blonde," Mar 16th, 2007
"Dying To Sing," Nov 13th, 2006
"Escape from Cabriz," July 31st, 2006
"Fairy Dust and the Quest For The Egg," Aug 24th, 2006
"For Love and Family," Sept 7th, 2006
"Forty Stories," July 6th, 2006
"Four Blondes," Oct 4th, 2007
"Friday Night Cocktails," Nov 16th, 2007
"From the Diary of a Snail," Sept 21st, 2007
"Ghosts of Boyfriends Past," Feb 2nd, 2007
"Goodnight Mister Tom," Nov 4th, 2007
"Hard Truth," May 28th, 2007
"Having the Boss's Babies," Sept 15th, 2007
"Home, Where the Wild Roses Grow," A0r 12th, 2007
"I Heard The Owl Call My Name," Jan 14th, 2007
"If The Shoe Fits," Feb 2nd, 2007
"In My Mother's House," Apr 30th, 2007
"Into the wild," Nov 4th, 2007
"Killer Takes All," May 14th, 2006
"Light Readings," Aug 30th, 2007; postponed for now; sept 13, 2007
"Lie By Moonlight," May 31st, 2006
"Love Falls," Oct 13th, 2007
"Old Bones," Jan 13th, 2008
"On Angel Wings," Nov 4th, 2007
"Out of My Depth," Oct 20th, 2007
"Palaces in the sky," Dec 31st, 2007
"Please Mr. Einstein," Jan 30th, 2007
"Point Blank," Feb 5th, 2007
"Ready for Love," Dec 24th, 2006
"Reunion," Nov 5th, 2006
"Ride the Wind," Oct 6th, 2006
"River Angel," Jul 27th, 2007
"Round the Clock Temptation," July 24th, 2006
"Sam's Letters to Jennifer," July 31st, 2006
"Second Opinion," Oct 21st 2006
"Stargirl," May 26th, 2007
"Stories To Excite You," Feb 10th, 2007
"Strange Bedpersons," Aug 15th, 2006
"Suburban Shaman," Aug 30th, 2007
"Take Me," Mar 16th, 2007
"The Bad Girls' Club," Dec 1st, 2007
"The Big Love," Dec 17th, 2006
"The Borrowed Ring," Mar 31st, 2007
"The Boy Next Door," Jan 23rd 2007
"The Capture," Apr 2nd, 2007 & Oct 13th, 2007
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time," Feb 17th, 2007
"The Diary of Petr Ginz," Aug 12th, 2007
"The Dream-Hunter," Feb 20th, 2007
"The English Breakfast Murder," July 11th, 2006
"The Friday Night Knitting Club," Nov 16th, 2007
"The Hotel Everest," July 3rd, 2007
"The House Guest," July 8th, 2007
"The Husband," July 21st, 2006
"The Jury," June 27th, 2006
"The Last Days of Dogtown," Feb 26th, 2007
"The Lollipop Shoes," Sept 14th, 2007
"The Marriage Adventure," Dec 1st, 2007
"The Mediterranean Tycoon," Apr 12th, 2007
"The Orange Outlaw," Feb 10th, 2007
"The Owl & Moon Cafe," Mar 16th, 2007
"The Playboy and Plain Jane," Sept 25th, 2006
"The Quest for the End of the Tail," July 22nd, 2007
"The Rescue," June 28th, 2006
"The Right to Write," Oct 4th, 2007
"The Rule of Four," March 5th, 2007
"The Scarecrow Room," Jan 13th, 2008
"The Screaming Room," Dec 1st, 2007
"The Sledding Hill," Jan 13th, 2008
"The Stories of Eva Luna," March 31st, 2007
"The Summer I Dared," Apr 19th, 2007
"The Unbelievably True Fairy Tale," Jan 25th, 2007
"The Way It Is," Oct 20th, 2006
"The Worry Tree," Jan 4th, 2008
"Timeline," Jan 3rd, 2007
"Twins Too. Run Girls, Run," Jan 13th, 2007
"Velocity," July 12th, 2006
"Wedding Belles," Sep 1, 2007
"Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed?" May 12th, 2007

Format
title of book -- date -- read after

from Wainuiomata Library

"The Lollipop Shoes," by Joanne Harris, c. 2007 -- Sept 14th, 2007 -- "Crazy for Chocolate," see below

"Having the Boss's Babies," by Barbara Hannay, c. 2005 -- Sept 14th, 2007 -- "Windmills of the Gods," bookcrossing 5417989

"From the Diary of a Snail," by Gunter Grass, c. 1972 -- "Having the Boss's Babies," see above

"Four Blondes," by Candace Bushnell, c. 2000 --

"The Right to Write," by Julia Cameron, c. 1998 -- "Four Blondes," see above

from Lower Hutt Library
"Love Falls," by Esther Freud, c. 2007 -- Oct 13th, 2007 -- "The Capture," see below

"Out of My Depth," by Emily Barr, c. 2006 -- Oct 20th, 2007 -- "Love Falls," see above

from Petone Library
"The Capture," by Kathryn Lasky, c. 2003 -- Oct 13th, 2007 --"Footloose," bookcrossing 5481325

from Nathans Bookshop on Queen St
"Beach of Dreams," by Sergio Bambaren, c. 1996 -- Sept 21st, 2007 -- "From the Diary of a Snail," see above

I collect passages as I read and these ones gave me pause for thought ...
"Suburban Shaman," by Cecil Helman, c. 2007

Elias works in a poor, rural environment, in which much of the belief system is summed up by the well-known Xhosa saying: Ubuntu ngumntu ngabanye abantu ('People are people through other people). Each person's humanity is expressed through a relationship with others, and their humanity in turn comes through a recognition of his or hers. To be uninvolved with other people, and in the life of the community, is to be an incomplete person. p175

... or even the word "enthusiasm" (from the Greek, 'the God within) ... p73

Fun passages from my current read, "Wedding Belles," by Zoe Barnes, c, 2006

"Look at my boobs - if you've got a microscope handy. They're like two aspirins on an ironing board." p10

She might look feminine, but this was the kind of woman who had muscles on her toenails. p34

Belle had never expected life to be exactly fair, but she did wish it wouldn't take quite such evident delight in tripping her up. p84

Recently finished:

Meant-To-Be Marriage by Rebecca Winters, c. 2006
Backpack by Emily Barr, c. 2001
Will by Kelly Jamison, c. 1993
River Angel by A. Mansette Ansay, c. 1999
Dangerous Alliance by Helen Bianchin, c. 1995
Calum by Sally Wentworth, c. 1995
The Quest for the End of the Tail by W.J. Corbett, c. 2000
At the Scent of Water by Linda Nichols, c. 2004
The Newcomer by Margot Dalton, c. 2000
A Fistful of Sky by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, c. 2002
The Horizontal Instrument by Christopher Wilkins, c. 1999
The House Guest by Barbara Anderson, c. 1995
A Place Called Ugly by Avi, c. 1981
The Tullagindi Rodeo by Kerry Allyne, c. 1986
The Shadow Child by Judith Lennox, c. 1999
An Unusual Affair by Lindsay Armstrong, c. 1991
All Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz, c. 2006
Hard Truth by Mariah Stewart, c. 2005
Blue Skin of the Sea by Graham Salisbury, c. 1992
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, c. 2000
Smart Women by Judy Blume, c. 1983
Of Love and Dust by Ernest J. Gaines, c. 1967 (didn't finish it)