Currently Loving…My old home

Having just spent three weeks back in South Africa, I can tell you I fell in love with the country all over again.

We left at a time of great insecurity and instability. A time when we could perceive no future for our family. And in order to fully integrate into another country, another society, we had to push back all our memories of  South Africa, ignore them and focus only on making a new home for ourselves. Which we did. Incredibly successfully.

But that doesn’t mean that going back to South Africa didn’t tear our emotions apart. Didn’t remind us of everything we’d left behind, or force us to see how much the country has changed since then.

You see, no matter what has happened since we left, South Africa was a part of us. And it always will be. So this post is just to let the world know, that no matter how much I might have changed, and no matter how much my life has changed, I will always love the country I grew up in with a deep and abiding passion.

Jess

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Barnes And Noble…I love you

(Cross posted to Down Under Divas)

You might read this title and think the reason I love Barnes and Noble is because last year, while in the States, my family and I spent a wonderful fall afternoon whiling away the hours in the B&N on 5th Ave in New York. We hadn’t intended to spend the afternoon there. We just popped in to look around and find a few books for the kids to read, and three hours later we found ourselves sitting in the coffee shop, all of us reading and enjoying a drink, with no thought about leaving anytime soon. Perhaps the afternoon was so enjoyable because we just don’t have book stores like that in Sydney anymore Not since Borders closed down. Now when I book shop I do it on the net. So an afternoon in my favorite kind of store, doing my favorite things was indeed a treat. Anyway, you may think that’s my reason for declaring my undying love for B&N, but you’d be wrong.

You also may think I appreciate this major bookstore because it provides competition for Amazon. Yep, I’m pretty unimpressed with Amazon at the moment. Now that they have all those millions of readers using Kindle, they seem to be having NO problem putting up the prices of their ebooks. Seriously, I never thought I’d say this, but it’s becoming too damn expensive to buy an ebook there. So yay B&N for having consistently lower prices. Now, if you could just import your Nooks and books here to Australia, I’d be ecstatic. However… no matter how ecstatic I’d be, this isn’t the reason I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with B&N.

No, the real reason I love this bookshop is because…Office Affair is flying out of their doors. Last week a miracle of kinds happened. Office Affair hit the B&N Nook bestseller list. Much to my stunned surprised, it crept into the Top 100. Hello? The top 100? That is freaking awesome. Some of my books have hit bestseller lists on Amazon, but I have never had a Top 100 on Nook.

Then something even more amazing happened. Office Affair hit the Top 25 at Nook. Um, hello? My book in the top 25? Not possible. Then…the IMPOSSIBLE happened. It hit the Top 15. May I just state that at this time I was unable to breath. In fact, since the book hit the Top 100, my lungs have been acting funny. I haven’t gotten an adequate breath of oxygen in a week.

Here’s the astounding part. Not only did Office Affair hit a high of No 12 on the site, it was also featured on the Nook Home Page…UNDER FREAKING BESTSELLERS!!! And that just blows my mind.

As I write this post, Office Affair is spending (what I suspect) is its last day (maybe even hour) on the home page. It’s fallen now to now 26. (Yeah, I refresh the darn page every hour. I am that obsessed.) But may I just say, this has been the ride of my life. I’m okay with not breathing properly, especially if this is the cause.

Thank you to Barnes And Noble Nook Books and thank you to all you readers who have bought the book. You have made me a very happy, albeit very teary, writer.

Jess

Currently Loving…The Sun

Nope, there’s absolutely nothing cryptic about the title. I am currently loving the sun and the sunshine.

Sydney has experienced a deluge of water this last week. Rain, rain and more rain. Parts of New South Wales are flooded and the sky has been a leaden grey for days.

And today…those clouds cleared, and all I see for miles around are blue skies.

Even took the dog to the park early, just so I could sit down, with my face lifted up and feel all that lovely sunshine warm my skin.

I tried to take a picture of the sun, but I guess even iPhones don’t have the ability to look directly into that great big ball of fire.

Wishing everyone a warm, sunny weekend.

Jess

Currently loving…*Sigh*

So, what am I currently loving?

It’s pathetic really, but here you go:

Chopped up apples in fresh, all natural yogurt.

*Sigh* Can you tell I’m on diet?

It’s amazing how everything tastes so good when you have limited amounts of it, isn’t it?

Jess

Currently loving…an awesome book series

A couple weeks ago I finished reading Maria V Snyder’s YA Study series, and cannot explain how much I loved it. I finished the first book in a day, the second book the next day, forced myself to take a break between books two and three, and then missed the characters so much, I read the third book on day 4.

The books are magical. Literally. I think if I tried to describe them I would not do them justice, so rather read the blurb from the first book, Poison Study, and see for yourself:

Poison Study:

Choose: A quick death or slow poison…

On the eve of her execution for murder, Yelena Zaltana is offered an incredible reprieve – on the condition that she becomes the food taster for the military leader of Ixia, Commander Ambrose.

Avoiding poison is the least of her troubles, however… General Brazell, father of the man she killed, has vowed bloody revenge; she’s beginning to have feelings for her captor, Valek; and someone is plotting the downfall of the current regime.

In a desperate race against time, Yelena must learn to control the growing magical talent within her and master the demons of her past. The Commander’s life, the future of Ixia and all those she loves depend on it…

————–

Go ahead. Read the first book. You will love it.

The nice thing about this series is that Ms. Snyder follows it up with a whole new series “Glass” – about a character we meet in the Study books. She brings us right back to magical world she’s created, and generously lets us meet up with all those wonderful characters from the Study series.

But please – don’t make the mistake I made. Don’t read Glass before Study. You’ll enjoy all six books way more if you read them in order.

Happy reading,

Jess

Currently Loving…

I’m such a slacker when it comes to blogging, I thought I’d try something new. So, I’ve decided to add a weekly post to my blog. I’ve called it “Currently Loving” and I intend to post under the title every Friday.

(Just kick me if I forget, please.)

So, what is “Currently Loving”? Well, it’s a general category that’ll cover something I’m currently really enjoying. A book, a movie, TV program or maybe a song I can’t stop listening to. And if you have any things you’re currently loving, please tell me about them. I’m always looking for new music, books, movies etc.

So, what am I currently loving at the moment?

It’s a song. One I heard on the radio a few months back, loved it and immediately downloaded it. It’s become a fave of the whole fam, and every time we get in the car we all have to listen to it and sing along at the top of our voices. (Ok, so the Dee family version isn’t so pretty, but the original is way cool…)

It’s called Summer Paradise (By Simple Plan & featuring K’naan)

Oh, and know what I love about this vid? It’s set in Australia.

Enjoy.

Jess