Thursday, June 28, 2012

Hello and Photos

A big hey from me. Just a little personal catch up post, for those who are interested, if not, move right along ;)

Bookish stuff first:

1) coming up in the next week I have 3 New Adult reviews, plus a review of Courtney Summers new zombie novel (I seem to be out on a limb with my thoughts on it).

2) Yes, that's THREE new adult reviews. It has been a GREAT reading month. I love the genre (which doesn't yet officially exist) and am really thrilled with some of the newest releases.

3) Huge congrats to MAJA of The Nocturnal Library who has won my Preloved giveaway. Maja - I'll be right in touch xo

4) My new library is HUGE. It has ten branches and you get 15 reservations per card. My family makes 5 cards, all care of greedy little me (LOL). My last library was only 3 reservations per member, which I thought was normalish, but am now wondering what is the normal amount?


Anyways, already have over 40 reservations between us and I seem to be down there every second day collecting things. So much bookish goodness. It's overwhelming and awesome all at once.


5) not so bookish: since moving, internet is stuck on dial-up speed. Do any of you guys remember those dinosaur days? MY GOSH, it's painful. I am not a patient person in the context of waiting for a web page to load. So apologies for not bouncing around all your blogs. Hopefully it will all get sorted soon...(although my husband is currently in Thailand, so waiting for his return where he can handle it for me. Haha!) Meanwhile, I've been taking the opportunity to have internet-free time

What I've been up to:


We moved to the Sunshine Coast a few weeks back. Here's a few pics I've taken while schlepping around the place:

Five minutes east of my house, the Pacific Ocean :)

Five minutes west, the rainforest.
I actually prefer the bush to the beach. Both are lovely, but the bush feels like home to me, having grown up in the Blue Mountains.

My middle boy, Reuben, taking some time out.
Reuben has Aspergers and he is just lovely.
Moving states is a big thing for the little guy <3

From my top deck. Was overcast, but we have ocean views. Lush.
Also, lots of bird poo ;)

View from my study downstairs: our jungle-y backyard
I call it my study, but so far the kids always seem to be in there ;)
Bonus: my kids, first day of new school.
They are going great so far.
New school system means Sam skipped up a grade, he's pretty happy about that ;)
How are all you guys? I am flabbergasted that it is nearly July already. I am so looking forward to the end half of this year - as always, the best is yet to come! Can't wait to find some more favourite books and share them with you guys over the coming months.

xo Nomes

22 comments:

  1. Hey Nomes!!! By reservations do you mean check outs? Or holds? Actually our library doesn't have any restrictions. You could take out a 100 books and they don't care, though if you're late you have to pay a fee.

    I LOVE those pictures, and what a backyard view! I so want to come visit you now and see those beautiful kids. What wonderful smiling faces. :)

    Can't wait for the reviews.

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  2. Those photos are beautiful! I remembered my family visited the sunshine coast once and it was lovely. I also agree about the bush, I enjoyed walking/exploring the bush during school excursions when I was younger. I should plan a trip with my friends one day to explore again =)

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  3. Such gorgeous photos!! Ahh I am so jealous (and you can laugh at how bizarre i think it is that people in Australia go to school in July/August XD And my library doesn't have a hold limit hehe but I'm glad your new library rocks!

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  4. Nomes! Great to see you back here again! I've missed your awesome posts and reviews! Your new library sounds fantastic! I bet you're spoilt for choice! And your new place looks gorgeous! Next to the pacific ocean and the rainforest! :) I look forward to reading your new reviews! :)

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  5. Beautiful photos! Glad the kiddies are settling in at their new school and you have a massive library nearby! I don't think I've read any New Adult books yet but I'm interested. I have Holier Than Thou in my TBR pile which I think is classified as NA.
    PS You poor thing dealing with dial up! Man, we've come a long way, eh...

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  6. Your kiddies are sooo cute.
    I adore your new photos. Wow. What an amazing place to live.
    Yay for a new fab library!

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  7. The new place looks gorgeous and that new library sounds like a win!!
    =)

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  8. Hey Nomes, it's so nice to see you back! Your new home looks like heaven to me, I've never lived anywhere near a beach OR rainforest :(. Looking forward to reading the reviews you have coming up and am glad to hear you had time to read with the move and new house and everything!
    I think dial up was before my active internet days ... ;).

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  9. Yay, New Adult reviews! Looking forward to it.

    I remember the days of dial-up. Yes, oh so painful. I hope you get that fixed soon. In the meantime, the new library situation sounds great! I don't know what a reservation is: is that when you check out/borrow a book, or is it the number of times you can place a hold on a book? I just looked it up, at my library the borrowing limit is 50 books per card (only 10 DVDs/videos/audiobooks per card), and I don't see any limit on number of holds. I think it costs 50 cents per hold and per interlibrary loan though (which I don't love!)

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  10. Oh, how beautiful! It's so unlike where I live (Also nice, but in a sedate English understated way,) and I just want to hop on a plane. Hope you're settling well into your new home - and that you get your internet sorted soon.

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  11. Aww, the Sunshine Coast is gorgeous - you're very lucky. And you have Eumundi markets - they're awesome. We came very close to moving there once upon a time, but the lure of London was too much!

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  12. It looks like you've moved to paradise :) I'm terribly jealous, esp. on a grey Melbourne morning!

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  13. So good to see you back, Nomes!
    Lovely pictures and I'm glad you and your family's doing well :)
    Lucky you about the new library! I can only check out 3 at a time.

    Waiting for those reviews XD

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  14. Nomes, we've all missed you. <3 The pictures you shared with us are gorgeous, and your children look lovely! That ocean... *whistles* how breathtaking! And are those parrots perched up there? ;)

    I look forward to those reviews! :)

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  15. Yay for New Adult reviews! I will have to make sure to check back and read those :)

    Also, some breathtaking photos and scenery you've got there! Perhaps I should bump Australia up on my travel list :D

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  16. I am honestly so excited to read your New Adult reviews! I would love for New Adult to become, you know, a real thing, because I don't even know where to start to find books about this new-adult period of my life. This blog seems like a good place to begin ;) And VERY excited for your Courtney Summers review as well!

    Whoa, only three reservations per card? I'm pretty sure we can have 50, but I haven't quite reached that point yet ;) And there's also weird rules about only so many per genre, format, though I think you can have more children/MG/YA books than adult ones.

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  17. Oh my gawsshhhh I can't believe that's by your house! That is amazing holiday destination type scenery.

    Hmmmm I think there might be a 40 - 50 hold limit at my library?

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  18. Oh, wow, Nomes! The photos ARE GORGEOUS, and so glad to hear you're setttling happily into the new home! And the library? SQUEE!

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  19. It's great that you're all settling in, the area looks gorgeous and your kiddies are adorable!

    My local libraries all allow for 20 books per card, one library lets you have them for 1 month (2 over the Xmas hols) and the other 2 libraries allow 3 weeks.

    I am loving New Adult too and I hope that more authors start writing books about NAs!

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  20. Congratulations on the big move, Nomes - it looks absolutely beautiful, and your library sounds great.

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  21. Yay! I love New Adult, so excited to read your reviews. Also your new library sounds fantastic. All libraries vary (at least here in the US), but 3 seems really low. I'm honestly not even sure I have a limit of how many books I can check out on my card, but if so, it's higher than 20 and I always have loads on hold.

    Grats on your move, and thanks for sharing the pictures, it looks amazing! I prefer the bush to the beach too, that's what happens to those of us mountain kids. But I would LOVE to live 5 minutes from both.

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  22. Yay New Adult reads! Love that genre. You live in such a great location, I'm totally jealous. I love how you're near both the beach and that hiking forest-y trail. I bet you take a lot of walks? I'd be encouraged to do that if I lived in a similar location. Also, your kids are adorable, looks like they're pretty happy with your new place. :P

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Thanks for the commenty love :)