Before The Storm & Book Review!!

Greetings one and all to the residents of blogland from the icky, sticky, storm's-a-brewing, humid top of our 'hill'. BOY! Even this confirmed hot-weather-chick is a bit melty around the edges today. I sure hope the brewing storm brings some wet stuff and humidity relief soon ... It's knickers-stickin' weather if you ask my 92 year old Grandma! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Since it's too icky-sticky for my sewing mojo (I love the dry heat!) what better way to spend the afternoon than with my feet up and a cup of tea beside me in front of the fan (no air con and currently no breeze!) diving into a book. I'm a bookworm from way back ... if you ask my Mum, she'll tell you I've been devouring books since I was about 8 months old ... of course, these days I READ the books as opposed to gnawing on the pages! Tee! Hee! Hee! I come by my love of reading very naturally ... Mum and Dad both love reading and some of my earliest memories are of being read stories before bed.

And since today is the first Wednesday of the month, I thought I'd join my GORGEOUS blogging buddy Kerryanne from Shabby Art Boutique in her ...

Kerryanne is rediscovering her love of reading and sharing a book review on her blog on the first Wednesday of each month and inviting her blogging buddies to join her. I probably won't manage it every month, but since reading is how I've spent this afternoon, today it's working! :0)

So ,,, to my review. First, I have a confession ... this is actually a RE-READ, not a first time read. Do you re-read books? My Mum shakes her head at Dad and  me cos we can both read books we've enjoyed over and over. Some of my books are old friends who have travelled with me through 12 house moves since I left home to go to uni 27 years ago ... I've lost track of how many times I've read them. 

In the last few years, I've become a firm convert to e-reading. When my Beloved Geek Boy first bought me an iPad for my birthday/Christmas one year, I was sceptical ... how could this flat electronic device replace the joy of turning paper pages? Well ... my iPad and I are now inseparable! :0) Not only is it SOOOO easy to buy e-books and have them delivered within minutes, there's the biggest bonus for me of having the contents of several large bookcases stored handily on my iPad that fits in my handbag. :0)

But I seem to have digressed somewhat from my path of reviewing my latest re-read ... stop giggling Chookyblue!! :0)

So my book ...

... is by one of my favourite authors, Nora Roberts. While some of her stories are a wee bit predictable, most are a luscious mix of mystery/murder/crime with a splash or romance ... and several of my favourite of her series' have a gloss of magic, myth and 'otherworldly' to spice them up.

"The Collector" doesn't have that otherworldly quality, it's one of Nora's clever, twisting, entertaining murder/crime stories which sees professional house-sitter Lila thrown into a whirl of murder, theft, lost artworks, psychotic villains ... and of course, attraction and love! After witnessing the murder of a model whilst house-sitting, Lila finds herself drawn to team up with well-known artist Ashton to investigate what REALLY happened. Ash, meanwhile, has his own reasons for investigating the murder. Can they find why the model was murdered and who is responsible before someone ... maybe one of them! ... becomes the murderer's next victim??

Lots of twists, some interesting tidbits about lost art, humour and romance ... not a bad way to escape from reality for a while! :0) It's not rocket-science, but a fun read that will keep you guessing and a great introduction to Nora Robers' writing style if you haven't yet 'met' her. :0)

And if this doesn't sound like your sort of book, pop across to visit Kerryanne HERE to see what SHE read this month ... and I think others will be sharing some suggestions of their own. Uh oh! I can see none of us are going to get any of our shores done this month ... we'll be too busy READING! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Before I head off to check that my silverside is cooking happily, just a quick OPAM note. Official sign up is now CLOSED. If you've emailed my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg or me to sign up and haven't received a welcome letter back ... please let one of us know. I've had a few email hiccups this week, which I think are now sorted. So ... you OPAMers should now have our badge on your sidebar and under it, the start of your list of 2016 finishes ... or these can also be put on a separate blog page as long as it's easy for Sweet Peg or me to find. As you finish projects, pop them on your list so you don't miss any in the end-of-month panic. There won't be a prize draw for January ... yet. Sweet Peg and I will do a double draw at the end of February for January and February, so if you like you can send the tallies for both months then, or, as some people have already, you can send your January finishes now. Have fun creating, everyone! :0)

Til next time ...

BOOKWORMY BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS