Sunday 23 September 2007

This and that

Things are rather busy here at the moment. I need to do a review of The Historian, which I finished a couple of days ago, but doubt that I'll have time to do that for a while. My sister-in-law sadly passed away on Friday night. She had a brain tumour, so truthfully we were actually glad that she hardly suffered at all. This coming week is going to be busy therefore and probably quite difficult for all. Add to that that we're on holiday in Cornwall the week after so have stuff to do for *that*, plus my computer crashed on Tuesday so I'm using my husband's, *and* I have a cold so am not feeling one hundred per cent... I really doubt any reviews will get done this week and certainly not the week after. I am enjoying escaping the stress by reading everyone else's blogs though, and getting some reading of my own done. I enjoyed The Historian so much that I wanted to read something travelish about Europe so I'm reading A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor. It's an account of his walking trip from Holland to Constantinople, at the age of 18, in 1933 - the first part anyway - I have the second instalment on the tbr pile and may take it away as holiday reading next week. It's quite a classic among travel books, I gather, and I can understand why as it's really very good indeed.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry about your sister-in-law. I understand about being sad she is gone but glad she did not suffer much. My father has Alzheimer's and the new behavior challenges are difficult. It's hard to know what to wish for.

I hope your holiday will be restful and rejuvenating. I'm glad to hear that you will do a review of The Historian. I keep meaning to read it but it's long and will take quite a commitment.

Take care of yourself!

chrisa511 said...

Sorry to hear about your sister in law, Cath, but like Kay said, it's good to hear that she didn't suffer much. My thoughts are with you and your family. I hope you beat this cold soon and enjoy your holiday! Glad you enjoyed The Historian. It was great, wasn't it? It put me in the mood for some "travel reading" as well. Hope things get less stressful for you soon!

Booklogged said...

May I offer my condolences, too. It is good that she didn't have to suffer too long, but what a loss for the rest of your family. {(Cath)} that's an cyber-hug. I don't suppose it's as comforting as a real one, but it's meant with the same warmth.

I loved The Historian, too.

DesLily said...

Sorry for your loss. It's never easy, but always thankful for no suffering.

glad you enjoyed the Historian.. hope you come back soon.

Tara said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your sister-in-law. This happened to a young gentleman I worked with.

I know what you mean by relaxing with other people's blogs and leaving yours alone for the moment, it felt so good to do this during my stressful time at the end of August.

Take care.

Susan said...

So sorry to hear about your SIL. It sounds as if you're having quite a time :( Enjoy your break and, of course, your books. I'll look forward to reading your reviews whenever you post them.

Cath said...

Kay: I'm so sorry to hear about your father. I think Alzheimers is one of the saddest things and something most of us fear I think. So sad for your family to have to see a loved one change like that.

Thanks for your good wishes.

Yes, The Historian is long, I think I took about 7 or 8 days to read it but benefitted from the fact that my pc is down so more time to read. Amazing how much time your pc eats. ;-)

Chris: Thanks very much for your good thoughts, I appreciate it. I loved The Historian, a real joy of a book. And it's made me want to find out more about Eastern Europe, which I think is a real sign of a good book.

Booklogged: Thank you so much for your condolences and your lovely cyber-hug. Who knows, one day we may get to meet and I can give you a real one. :-)

Deslily: Thanks for your kind words... and for your lovely blog. I visit daily and always find something of interest or to amuse me. :-)

Hi Tara. It's so sad that there's so much more cancer around these days. Or at least there seems to be. And especially awful when people go long before their time. I see you understand about escaping with other people's blogs. The book people here always seem to have something of interest to say and I must say I always enjoy your posts.

Susan: Thanks for your kind words, I appreciate them very much and hope to be back soon with some thoughts about my current reads.

Robin said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your sister-in-law, but I'm glad she didn't suffer too much, or linger. It's still a difficult loss, however. Thinking of you...

BookGal said...

Sorry to hear about your sister in law. My condolences to your family.

Cath said...

Robin: Thanks for your kind words. It is a blessing when people don't suffer unnessecarily but yes, you're right, the loss of my husband's much loved sister is a difficult one when she was not exactly elderly (62). Very sad.

Bookgal: Thank you, your condolences are very much appreciated.

Bybee said...

I'm sorry for all the trouble your family is having. The book you're reading now sounds nice.

Cath said...

Bybee: Thank you. The book I'm reading is fascinating, hopefully I can find time to write a review soon.

Nan said...

I'm so very sorry for your loss, Cath.

Debi said...

Oh my, what a tough week! I'm so sorry about your sister-in-law!

I do hope you can enjoy your vacation!

Cath said...

Nan: Thank you for your condolences, it's so kind of you.

Debi: And thank you for your kind words too. We had a delightful and relaxing holiday, thanks. When I eventually get my own computer back I'll try to post some photos.