back to back reading

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Grace tagged me on facebook to share 7 of my favourite books. Really? ONLY 7?! With 5 decades of reading and a personal library of close to a 1000 books, How can I choose just 7 - you can relate to this feeling, right!

But I took this as an opportunity to start a new album and share the books that are in my home. It is taking me through some nostalgic moments. I invite you to share my journey .... No promises, but I’ll try to do one post per week on my book collection.

Under the tag "books I read", you can find my old posts & pics about a few books, most with a tatted bookmark. I'll try not to repeat them, if possible.

Back in the ‘80s, with my very first paycheck, I ended up in a bookstore. This became a monthly habit. My checklist included classics, complete works preferably in hard cover/binding.

The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde was among the very first of such buys.

Oscar Wilde has such a wonderful way of presenting stories laced with humour and satire, whimsy characters, and witty epigrams. But reading his plays back to back revealed that he often repeated them! I penned a few thoughts on back-to-back reading here

I wonder if these plays will impart the same pleasure now - age and experience or time has a way of changing one’s preferences, one’s perspective…

The Picture of Dorian Gray remains one of my favourite novel for the message it imparts.

I’ve read all his short stories, a few of his sonnets, ballad, and De Profundis. The latter revealed a sad and weak side of the sensitive author. He was also born in the wrong era. 

I didn’t get around to reading most of his essays, and a lot of his poems, etc.

Though huge (almost 2 inches thick!) and hard cover, it is surprisingly lightweight! But the print is too small to read comfortably now - this is where e-readers score over print. Nevertheless, it sits proudly and worth every penny.

()()()()

The Complete Sherlock Holmes

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This is a box set of 2 volumes, and I have All 4 novels and all 56 stories, back to back or more literally,  cover to cover!!! (the marks of reading are visible on the spine and covers ;-P) Just could not put it down. I consider this character the best sleuth among all I’ve read, and Doyle’s suspense consistently the best. He generally has very few characters, and spins the mystery around those handful….unlike Agatha Christie who collects oh so many characters in every single story.

I also enjoy the single-minded focus and logic of the story and of the detective work.

One peeve, though, is that the complete picture is not painted and a vital clue is mentioned towards the end, thus preventing the reader from participating. But the story still holds one’s attention to the very end.

I liked the TV series where Jeremy Brett plays Holmes – a bit over the top, but like I said, the stories are so compelling ….

This box set is actually my 2^nd or replacement buy. I had lent my original collection (a leather-bound complete works) to a friend and it never came back!

So what are your thoughts?

a long wait

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I've been waiting for a lot of things this past week, and the wait continues.  The only silver lining is that today I finally took up my shuttles with enough focus & gusto to start tatting my new surprise pattern for spring.

I did fill up a few more pages of my sketch book with prospective patterns.

For the present,  though, let's turn back time. I worked on a couple of antique/vintage patterns a while back. Here's a peek ....

This sampler is from Coats and Clark book #121. Georgia asked for a volunteer to diagram the pattern. I went a step further and tatted it as well, along with a notated pattern in modern terms.

My sampler curved a bit, looking like a lacy collar. But I probably know the reason why. I'm sure it will lie straight if I tat it again.

This was a single-sided scalloped edging from Book 5 by Marie Antoinette Hees. But return back along the same path, and we have ourselves a bookmark. And add a tail with charm, all in one pass.

The pattern was shared in the Jan 12 newsletter from Bella Online. But there a few inconsistencies between diagram, notation, and tatted model. I finally chose to work off the tatted model ; the diagram was too confusing. 

I called this 'Bookmark for a Queen' because of its specially chosen colors, lending a bit of oriental flavour. I 'dedicated' it to the protagonist of these 2 books - Mehrunisa who later became Empress Nurjahan. 

Recommended by my dear friend & mentor Georgia, I had a great read !  And ironically, I liked the 2nd book (sequel) better than the first ! So many memories passed through, having visited many of the places and mausoleums, having studied the Mughal dynasty in our History classes, being acquainted with the architecture and cultural nuances (Mughal culture has confluenced so much down the generations, that some of it was an eye-opener). For a brief few days, I just did not want to take up any other book, so strong was the characterisation by Indu Sundaresan.

Peeping out from between the books is the mini 3D carnation. Perhaps it can be a Persian rose ! The bookmark, to me, symbolises her rubies.

Once my waiting is over, both patterns will be shared. 

Till then,  happy tatting as usual :-)