Well, the whole blog for work thing didn't work out - got shut down faster than you can say 'I'm terrified of new technology and of anyone who thinks of something before I do'.

But they can't tell me to shut down my personal blog - so, here I am.

What I am reading:

For grownups -
East of Eden by John Steinbeck. It's a book club pick - in other words I didn't pick it myself. At first I was resistant and concerned that I would, well, HATE it as I had read a bit about it and heard it described as a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis - the bible does not interest me let alone retelling parts of it... But I was so very wrong - it's a fantastic book, a really interesting story that covers a couple of generations of a couple of families and has fascinating autobiographical links to the author who grew up in the valley in California where the book is set and who's immediate family play a supporting role. Steinbeck's use of language has made me stop and re-read paragraphs and sometimes pages, he presents things in a very interesting way and tops it all off with drama, mystery and humour. I am very glad it was suggested and even more glad that I got past my preconceived notions about it - I'm not quite finished it yet, I have a hundred or so pages to go and book club is next week - it should be interesting to see what the others think of it.

For kids -
Over Christmas the big kid and I read When Santa Fell to Earth by Cornelia Funke - we timed it beautifully and finished this seasonal story just before family descended upon us for the holidays. It was fantastic - a kids book that didn't pull any punches and tackled topics such as: bullying, family dynamics, friendship, courage, and perseverance all while also telling a beautiful Christmas-y story -- pretty cool.

time to go - until next time I remain,
jennybookworm