Good post Christmas type reading...

It seems to me that this is the time of year I like to read these kind of books.  It could be that this coincides with both a semester start up (four weeks pass by in a blur) and it is also post-Christmas and my mind is apparently full.

This is almost a typical addition to this series, except that it seems that Reacher is making a connection with a woman, that appears that it will extend beyond one novel, or in flashbacks.  This adds an interesting layer to the paradoxical drifter that dispenses rough justice as he weaves his way across America.

The story kept you guessing, and was truly fast-paced. I think I started to wane about 75% of the way through, and then it picked up again.  Some decent dialogue with Reacher and Chang, and zipping across the country.  The journalist could have been a little more fleshed out, however, in this story, I think the underlying story is the fact that Reacher is making a deeper human connection that may make him pause in a place longer than a week.

I have no idea what I expected, and in that, this one delivered

This is a book I enjoyed, and I would recommend with a word of caution I think.  It is totally different.  Like nothing I have ever read before... much like the first time you read one of Neil Gaiman's books, or even Tom Robbins... your perception of reality needs to shift by a few degrees to wrap your mind around what you are being presented with.

Especially after the Promise, I enjoyed this book.  This is an intelligent read that pushes a few boundaries.  Before reading it, I would like go read a few reviews and how folks respond to see whether or not it would be your cup of tea.  Some moments are brutal, it isn't for the faint hearted, and yet it does present a character arc that makes sense, and a satisfying resolution.

Worth taking a risk on.

Not quite up to expectations..

I seem to have found myself on a mystery kick again.

I have been waiting for this one for a while from the library (because I could) and looked forward to reading it for it's entertainment value.  Post Christmas, who needs to use my brain?

It was okay. It almost felt like this has been done before, with more heart, from this author.  Maybe I was in a "mood"... I normally like the banter between Pike and Cole... but this time it just wasn't working for me. It felt like this was trying to like a Jack Reacher kind of novel, but it missed for.

Decent, yes.  As good as earlier books in this series, not in my humble opinion.

Now this is the type of mystery that grabs and keeps my attention...

Books like this make me wonder how books like "girl on the train" or "the nightingale" get so popular and these ones are not quite so viral by not quite capturing the public opinion in the same way.  This was a far superior read.  I will admit to a bias, I enjoy Rankin's books.  I haven't read one for a while... and this one was true to form.

John Rebus is truly a character.  One I have enjoyed reading about, getting to know, learning about his Scotland. I must admit I stopped reading Rankin for a bit since Exit Music because I didn't really want to get to know a new character because I was being crotchety.  Serves me right.  Rankin is currently weaving a few of his main characters together, and it works.

This was a great crime mystery, and the plot worked.  Especially after reading the Stewart mystery.  Comparing the two... one feels like a fluffy beach read, and the other one feels like one you would read by the fireplace, tea beside you, enjoying the atmosphere. A fine start to the books I will dive in to this year.

And so a new year begins.

I think last night was the quietest NYE I can remember.  Somehow, it was truly suiting to how 2015 seemed to have evolved. This was a year of so many things.  Although I didn't do a polar bear swim, it feels like there is a symbolic break from one year to the next, and even the ritual of sitting down and crafting a few words on to this blog helps to mark the line that separates one year from the last.  I enjoy looking back, even if it is only once or twice a year to see where my head space was... and things evolved from there.

What were the moments that counted?  There were a few..

*Like B starting to play sledge hockey.  This was huge.
*C playing 3 on 3 hockey and seeing a change from what hockey 1 was and what hockey 2 could be
*Our time together at Beach Acres.  We love this place.
*The difference between kindergarten and grade 1
*The beaches along the Washington Coast line
*Seeing the whale at Salt Creek together
*Making fire and setting up a camp
*Becoming a manager at work
*Choosing a different path for my relationship with my mom - I appreciate the different awareness I have now, even if it really hurt
*Fort Langley Tour with V and G
*Watching the blood moon together
*Watching the meteor shower out at the lake
*Date night back in March
*How well the kids did in Science Alive
*Making socks
*The new adapted bike to borrow for B
*Everything working out to make both sledge hockey and riding happen for B
*Watching C dance
*Our Christmas tree - it is beautiful
*My dahlias survived and were beautiful
*parade and fireworks
*Star Wars, the force awakens.. they did it right
*Small acts of kindness that surprised me along the way
*My closest friends. I needed them in different ways this year and I needed to lean

I may have missed stuff.  So it goes.

There were many tough moments, and choices that were made along the way.  It wasn't easy watching the changes with my MIL, however, she is doing okay.  Not perfect, but holding her own. I am lucky for her, and for the weekends she spent with us. I am truly grateful for the time to know her differently and better that I would have otherwise.  Crazy stuff with my family.  Stuff I will never fully grasp or understand, and for much of that, it is a blessing.  Our cars aging, and not always gracefully.  I ripped another door handle off.  How does this happen more than once to a woman? Never seeming to have enough money and worrying about whether or not funds are going to clear, when they will appear, and what edges to cut. Wondering why holes appear so quickly in B's shoes and then realizing it has already been over a month since he got new ones...

Sometimes this seems like tempests in tea cups.. some days, I will admit to having felt so overwhelmed.

Other stuff, like the wind storm in the summer, and the earthquake a few days ago.

Watching Game of Thrones, Outlander, and Vikings, and all the knitting that happened as a result.

Reaching 50 books this year, with a few to spare.

KEEN helping us with purchase of B's shoes.  Amazing company to deal with.  Thoroughly recommend them.

Truly, by 2016 there are a few things I want.
-our finances to be better under control
-to have had another amazing trip to the Island for Easter
-to have camped at least 3 times this summer
-for the kids to have done Science Alive and at least one more week up at work this summer
-More hockey, more riding, swimming lessons for the boys
-to try stand up paddle boarding this year
-to actually lose that 10 pounds and see a number I haven't seen for a long time not the scale
-get some new fish for our tank
-see something new this year, or try something out we have never done before
-at least start the St Brigid sweater
-to enjoy SOTW and at least Billy Elliot
-to take our family to some kind of theatre event
-birthday parties for the boys
-Family holiday in November somewhere away from BC
-to see Bard on the Beach as a date night with K
-to read another 50 books by December 31
-make a phonebook (FINALLY) to start printing out and documenting some of the amazing pictures we take
-to do that plunge again next year... if the cards are right

I think more than anything else I want to keep my wits about me.  I think this can nicely sum it up.  See where this adventure leads and try not to have weeks or months where it seems like flies by and things are no longer so organized.