#Weekend CoffeeShare: Sailing

Hi Campers… oh no wrong club, sailors…

A Very Warm Welcome to Weekend Coffee Share which is hosted by Diana at Part-time Monster. To join in this fun sharing idea do pop over to Diana’s blog: Part Time Monster Weekend Coffee Share

If we were having coffee –

I’d say that I’m recovering from a sailing adventure! And since I arrived back home I’ve been craving sugar and drinking frothy caramel lattes. Would you like to join me for one? I promise it will be calorific heaven, I might even serve it in a little coffee cup dinghy!

Last weekend we were away on a friend’s sailing boat. So I thought I’d invite you to come along with me to see some of the lovely places we went to. The photo featured at the top was taken at Yarmouth, Isle of Wight.

We began our yachting adventure in Southampton. With lots of goodies stowed aboard for our journey: food, wine, and an abundance of savoury and sweet treats we set off. It was quite a feat that Fat Bottomed Girl even got going! Who’s that you might ask? Stop being so cheeky. I know what you’re thinking… but… it’s the name of the well stocked sailing boat. Of course!

Our captain had everything covered, even providing yours truly and my daughter with sailing jackets, and of course obligatory life vests for everyone..

Here’s Captain Jon, our sailing aficionado.. (He’s been sailing since he was twelve…) with my hubby David on the right, sharing a Father’s Day bromance moment! Ahhh..

C’est Moi, smiling widely… in my red sailing gear, you can’t see my hands but I’m sure I must be praying for good weather!

We’re all trying to keep the optimism up, by wearing our shades… all except me, with my compulsory glasses wearing. I have to see where I’m going. We don’t want any man or woman overboard issues. I say this because my husband has fallen off a boat a few times.. twice in the Mediterranean, and once in the UK, so it’s now best to keep an eye on him, and generally good advice to keep him away from the vino. Oh no, no chance! Only kidding, he fell off last time while cleaning the boat on a boy’s trip (well that’s what he told me.) He hit his head and nearly drowned. Luckily one of his friends realised he’d vanished, and scooped him out of the water just in time. Quite a feat as he is over six feet tall.

So, on this trip we were hoping not to have to use this Man Overboard Rescue Sling. We did hear a few emergencies coming over the radio… but luckily the coastguard dealt with them pretty super pronto.

My friend Diane is striking a laid back kind of pose. You can tell she’s used to this sailing lark! She isn’t about to do any life saving just yet, especially if it involves pulling a six foot man out of the sea.

Oh, mustn’t forget the two youngest members of the crew, my daughter Gina, and her friend Sophie. Somehow wearing the sailing attire seems to make them look a lot younger than they are… Sweet. Oh Dear she’s going to kill me for that remark..

Generally it was pretty much plain sailing. But there were a few we better pay attention to where we’re going moments, when all these yachts kept chasing us. Steady on!

Gina had a chance to take the helm. Here’s a sweet photo of the two of them… one to keep… as it was Father’s Day. Ahh…

We stopped for a bite to eat at a lovely bay at National Trust Nature Reserve – Newtown. As you can see it was a bit overcast, but nevertheless you do get a sense of the tranquility and unspoiled nature of the place.

For our last evening we splashed out and had a tasty meal at a very lovely restaurant in Yarmouth, called The George, which had this amazing restaurant with beautiful sea-views. As you can see the sky was now a hazy blue colour after being a bit grey!We also stopped for an ice cream at The Gossips cafe at Yarmouth, but whatever you do, do remember to keep that to yourself, as we don’t want that kind of information getting around..

We had a wonderful weekend.. though I have to say I still feel as if I’m in sleepy mode. It must be that continual rocking motion. We had a long drive back home and stopped for fish and chips on the way back. Yum. All that sea air really makes you hungry!

Hope you had a great week. What have you been up to? Been sailing recently?

Hope you enjoyed my Weekend Coffee Share post.

Cheers. What can I get you to drink?

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

Sharing Options:

June 24, 2016 37

My Kyrosmagica Review of The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Goodreads Synopsis:

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse-Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends — one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena — Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

My review:

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and The Olympians #1) is the first novel in the Percy Jackson and The Olympian series. The series consists of five novels: The Lightning Thief (2005), The Sea of Monsters (2006), The Titan’s Curse (2007), The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008) and The Last Olympian (2009). It has since been followed by a sequel series of five books titled The Heroes of Olympus.

The Lightning Thief received mostly positive reviews and won awards including the School Library Journal Best Book of 2005.

The Lightning Thief has all the elements to make me purr like a kitten but somehow it left me slightly disappointed. I enjoyed The Lightning Thief but I didn’t love it and that surprised me.

So, a little recap of the story, as I see it. Percy is always getting into trouble. Typical twelve year old boy if you ask me! He thinks his problems are caused by his dyslexia and ADHD playing up. But this isn’t the case, Percy is no ordinary guy, he’s a demigod. He sets off on a quest with a disguised satyr, and the half-blood daughter of Athena, to settle a feud between Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. Poseidon has been accused of stealing Zeus’ lightning bolt, and unless Percy can return the bolt, there will be a war between the gods. Along the way Percy discovers who his father is, no ordinary mortal of course, and Percy and his companions meet the Furies, Medusa, the motorcycle thug Ares, and various other immortals….

REASONS Why I should have loved it:

Greek Gods.

I just love myths, and legends. But somehow at times this just seems too far-fetched. Can I say that? When I’m talking about fantasy? Well, I just did! Greek Gods in the 21st Century – Some of it works and some of it fell short of perfect. Can you envisage a modern day Mount Olympus on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building? The door to Hades right there at DOA Recording Studio, somewhere in LA, really? I see what Rick Riordan’s trying to do, giving Greek mythology a modern day voice to entice the younger reader into an awakening interest in Greek mythology. I applaud him for that but maybe for me it was a bit too much…… modernising.

Characters and Narrative Voice.

I struggled to get emotionally involved in Percy’s quest. He’s had a hard life but I’m just not feeling it. Sometimes (not always) he sounds older than a twelve year old. To be fair maybe demigods abandoned by their fathers grow up too quickly, that would explain it.

Parallels to Harry Potter

There are many parallels between The Lightning Thief and Harry Potter, and I’m a huge fan of Harry Potter, so this kind of irked me a bit.

Here are some of the similiarities:

Percy’s closest friends are a girl, the half-blood daughter of Athena, Annabeth, and a boy, Grover, a disguised satyr, rather like Hermione and Ron, but in costume.

Percy goes to Camp Half Blood were he trains, this reminded me of Hogwarts, but just different setting.

The camps are divided into different houses which compete against each other in a Capture the Flag tournament. Percy realises his powers in water, and how water can heal him. The Capture the Flag tournament is a dead ringer for Quidditch. Of the two I preferred the fast pace and excitement of Quidditch.

One of the houses has kids who Percy doesn’t get along with, so Slytherin.

Percy and friends use an invisibility cap – invisibility cloak in Harry Potter.

********Spoiler************ Look Away.

***At the end Evil Kronos might be returning – kinda like Voldermort.***

The aspects of the story I liked:

Incorporating dyslexia into the storyline. This is great. This makes dyslexics cool! Dyslexics can read and understand ancient Greek. It’s about time that dyslexics get the attention and recognition they deserve.

The ADHD. Again. Clever. Stop slagging off those kids that can’t concentrate in class. They have advanced reflexes, and are battle ready!

What else did I really enjoy?

The humour. Made me chuckle. Humour rating, 5 crazy stars :

Medusa. I loved this part. Stop staring! Serves you right haven’t you heard it’s rude to stare. Medusa grabbed me by the scruff, while I clamped my eyes tight, shut. You would wouldn’t you? Medusa rating 5 stars !

The Three Furies, especially Mrs Dodds.

The nasty step dad got his comeuppance. Enjoyed this. He deserved it.

The twist in the tale at the end. Of course I saw this coming but nice twist.

My overall conclusion:

This first book in the series is middle grade fiction. I sense that as the story develops the characters will grow older, and find their emotional voice and depth. I would be interested in reading more of this series to see how it progresses. If I don’t I’ll be in trouble as my daughter is a huge Percy Jackson fan!

Highly recommended for readers of Middle Grade, YA, Fantasy, Mythology, Adventure and anyone who enjoys a good laugh. Oh, that’s me!

My rating:

Difficult to rate. I’m going to settle for 3.75 stars…………

Author Website:

http://www.rickriordan.com/home.aspx

Found this interesting piece of information about the development of the novel on Wikipedia to share with you:

– “Development for both The Lightning Thief and the Percy Jackson series began when Riordan began making stories for his son Haley who had been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. His son had been studying Greek mythology in second grade and asked that his father come up with bedtime stories based on Greek myths. Riordan had been a Greek mythology teacher in middle school for many years and was able to remember enough stories to please his son. Soon Riordan ran out of myths and his son requested that Riordan make new ones using the characters from Greek myths while adding some new ones. Riordan created the fictional character Percy Jackson and his travels across the United States to recover Zeus’s lightning bolt. After Riordan finished telling the story his son asked that his dad write a book based on Percy’s adventures.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lightning_Thief

Some of my favourite quotes:

“My name is Percy Jackson.
I’m twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.
Am I a troubled kid?
Yeah. You could say that.”

“How did you die?”
“We er….drowned in a bathtub.”
“All three of you?”
“It was a big bathtub.”

“Hades raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment,as if the garment was stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out. The ADHD part of me wondered, off-task, whether the rest of his clothes were made the same way. What horrible things would you have to do in your life to get woven into Hades’ underwear?”

Grover didn’t say anything for awhile. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, “Can I have your apple?”

“The real world is where the monsters are.”

“The sea does not like to be restrained. ”

“Your uncle,” Poseidon sighed, “has always had a flair for dramatic exits. I think he would’ve done well as the god of theater.”

“Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards.”

Have you read The Lightning Thief? Do comment, I’d love to hear from you.

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

Sharing Options:

January 22, 2015 6

My Kyrosmagica review of Garth Nix’s Lirael

Goodreads synopsis:

Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. Now, two years past the time when she should have received the Sight that is the Clayr’s birthright, she feels alone, abandoned, unsure of who she is. Nevertheless, the fate of the Old Kingdom lies in her hands. With only her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, Lirael must undertake a desperate mission under the growing shadow of an ancient evil.

In this sequel to Sabriel, winner of the Aurealis Award for Excellence in Australian Science Fiction, New York Times best-selling author Garth Nix weaves a spellbinding tale of discovery, destiny, and danger.

My review:

This wonderful trilogy was introduced to me on Goodreads via the Hot Key books Old Kingdom READ-ALONG.

It is quite fascinating how Garth Nix fast forwarded the essential elements of the story many years into the future, rather than continuing Sabriel and Touchstone’s more youthful story. We are introduced to Lirael, a young woman who wants desperately to be accepted as a Clayr, yet she is lacking in one important quality that the Clayr must possess. Each year she grows older but the ability to see into the future, which is a coming of age gift of the Clayr, bypasses her. Lirael can’t help but feel excluded, an outsider, overgrown, useless, lonely and ultimately desperate.

Unable to bare her wretched existence a day longer she decides to commit suicide by flinging herself off of the glacier, a dramatic attention seeking act! But she is thwarted by her own fear and by an unexpected interruption. We are re-introduced to the Abhorsen Sabriel, and King Touchstone but the two main characters of the previous novel play a much smaller part in this second novel. Instead of killing herself Lirael discovers a sense of purpose in the quiet duties of a Librarian, learns Charter magic, and creates the magnificent Disreputable dog a Free Magic creature infused with Charter Magic. If you loved Mogget, an ancient Free Magic cat construct of unknown origin bound by a red Charter magic collar to serve the Abhorsen, you’ll love the dog. These two furry characters are just so amusing. Loved them both! Their banter is just so on point.

So the adventure continues and what an entertaining ride it is. Along the way we meet Sameth, Sabriel and Touchstone’s son, who is overwhelmed by his princely duties as Abhorsen in waiting. He would prefer to construct toys to catch insects than stare into the eyes of evil Necromancers and who can blame him? He feels inadequate, and the efficiency of his sister Ellimere just makes him feel even more useless and paranoid. There are interesting parallels between Sameth and Lirael, but the way in which they deal with overcoming obstacles are quite different. Lirael is without a doubt the stronger character. It is interesting how Garth Nix writes strong female characters but his male characters tend to be a bit lacking and not quite up to the task! All in all, I really enjoyed the character of Lirael, I warmed to her straight away. Sameth was a bit pathetic at times but he grew on me! Even when he tries his best to escape trouble he just seems to walk deeper into its clutches!

The ending came as a bit of a surprise but maybe I should have seen it coming!

Overall, I would highly recommend Lirael to readers of Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, and Adventure.

My rating:

Have you read Lirael? Do comment I’d love to hear from you.

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

Sharing Options:

October 17, 2014 3