Review: All the Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For Marie-Laure, blind since the age of six, the world is full of mazes. The miniature of a Paris neighbourhood, made by her father to teach her the way home. The microscopic layers within the invaluable diamond that her father guards in the Museum of Natural History. The walled city by the sea, where father and daughter take refuge when the Nazis invade Paris. And a future which draws her ever closer to Werner, a German orphan, destined to labour in the mines until a broken radio fills his life with possibility and brings him to the notice of the Hitler Youth,

In this magnificent, deeply moving novel, the stories of Marie-Laure and Werner illuminate the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

What a fantastic book. I didn’t think it was going to be for me initially but with short chapters and different POVs it soon had me engaged.

Marie-Laure’s struggles are well written and believable. Werner is a young German boy who manages to escape a very poor and sad upbringing by using his brilliant skills in making and repairing radios for the German army.

We follow both their lives as the book builds to a point where their paths cross. Memories of hearing Marie-Laure’s father’s voice over a radio lead Werner to help keep her safe while she is broadcasting messages from the French resistance.

It’s really well written and loose ends and stories finished nicely at the end.


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18 in 18 - February Report

What a short month!  I know it’s actually the shortest month but it also went very quickly.  Here’s an update on the things I’ve achieved or made progress on.  Or not!  Nick and I both had colds during the month so that didn’t help.  Thankfully we’re both well at the moment but a week of snow has left us all with a bit of cabin fever.

1.     Bake once per month (bread/cake/biscuits etc) Well last month I claimed the bake on 1^st February as a January offering but now, thanks to no other baking I’m back to claiming it for February!  I have family coming for dinner on Friday so maybe I’ll get something made for then.

4.     Plan a lunch date/date night with Nick once a month (theatre/cinema/meal)

Well we did get out a couple of times together so that’s a plus but not sure that a get together with all his siblings or attending a quiz night count as dates.  Both were fun though.

8.     Walk at least 3 times per week – I managed this although some of the walks were more of necessity than anything else such as shopping or library trips but I haven’t used the car much this month so that’s a win!

12.  Complete my reading challenge (52 books for the year)  Still on track. 

In February I read:

All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr

Three Things About Elsie – Joanna Cannon

Stolen Marriage – Diane Chamberlain &

Close to Home – Cara Hunter

Details and reviews can be found on my Goodreads site.

13.  Keep my bullet journal updated – work in progress but going ok.  I need to find a regular time of day to do this.

14.  Blog at least once per week (plus regular memes) – almost achieved.  The month started well but I faded a bit in the last week.  Although I have started planning some A-Z posts.

15. Take more photos – I need a little voice in my head reminding me to do this.  Or an app on my phone.  Maybe there is one.  Let me know if so.  After all my Fitbit reminds me to walk every hour.  I have taken some pics for example when it snowed and I cooked today and took photos but I’m still pretty useless.

17. Do more crafting – update on blog.  Well the main part of the baby blanket I’m working on is finished and I’m now getting the edging done.  I need to make 3.6 metres of it (although I need to check the dimensions of the blanket to make sure it matches!) and so far I’ve done just over 1 metre.

18. Try out a new recipe each week – again I didn’t manage this every week but during February I cooked 5 new recipes which averages out to one a week +1 You’ll have to trust me on this as again there is no photographic evidence but I made the following:

Pork chops with butternut squash

Chicken & Corn casserole

Moussaka

1 pot chicken stew

Tiramisu

Some of these (such as Moussaka and Tiramisu) I have made before but these were all different versions which I count as new.

Actually I do have evidence of the Moussaka:

I made these two today (four actually – two were still cooking) which I will freeze.  We will be hosting Nick’s siblings next Friday for food and then we’re going out to one of our local bars so I’m trying to be prepared.  There will be 14 of us.

Cooking ahead makes for a lot of washing up.  This was after fully loading the dishwasher:

Nick had also made a large quantity of Bolognese sauce which is how the wok came to be used.

Well progress on 9 of my 18.  I think I need to up my game!

SoCS - 3/3/18 - Fine

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “fine.” Use it any way you’d like, bonus points if you use it as the last word of your post. Have fun!

For details on how to take part and where to leave your link visit Linda's site here.

Come on then, hands up how many of you, when asked the question "How are you?" say "Fine thanks."

I am definitely guilty of this but there have been many periods in my life when I have been anything but "fine".  I think for me that's because I've always been pretty much self-sufficient.  I don't find it easy to accept offers of help and asking for help is even harder.  But I'm getting better at it.

I've realised that it's ok to admit to not being fine.  To admit to needing help and accepting offers of help when made.  I have a family member who was anything but fine a while back but they opened up to their situation and are a great advocate for talking about mental health.

We need to talk more.  I need to listen to my own advice.

The trouble is, when people ask you the "How are you?" question they are not always ready for a long reply detailing exactly how you feel.  All they want is a quick response in a positive way.  Often we're too busy to delve into things too deeply.  But asking how someone feels is seen to be polite.  It's what you do.

Plus, admitting we're not fine indicates we might not be coping with life and no one wants to be seen as a failure.  But having poor mental health is not a failure.  It's a health issue, just like any other.

Yes we can help ourselves by owning up to the problem and reaching out for help but sometimes you're almost at rock bottom before you can bring yourself to do that.  It's hard to help someone who doesn't realise or want to accept they need it.

Of course most of the time I still answer "Fine thanks" but there are people who I can be more honest with and responses might be anything from "I'm good" to "I'm having a bad day actually".

Thankfully today is an ok day.  Shame the weather isn't fine though.  I'm bored with the snow here but it does seem to be gradually disappearing.  If I lived anywhere that snow was a permanent feature during winter months I would not be fine. 

 

Friday's Fave Five- 2/3/18

 

Friday is time to look back on the week and find five things to be grateful for.  Drop in to Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for full details and other participants.

Here are mine for this week:

1) Snow! 

Although it's not the snow I'm thankful for it's the fact that I live where I have the prettiness of the snow but haven't been snowed in.  We've had one of the worst spells of winter weather this week for many years but fortunately our transport services are still running and shops are within walking distance.  Some areas have been hit much harder and roads have been treacherous but here in London we're carrying on fairly normally albeit in lots of layers of clothes!

2) Seeing Nathan.  I managed to get over there on Monday.  He is such a joy.  Even when he's grumpy and needs a ride out in his buggy to get some sleep!

3)  Catch up TV - great when you're stuck indoors and have a pile of ironing to get through.

4)  Good heating - definitely needed it this week.

5)  The safe return of my two sons from a stag weekend in Krakow (Poland). One of their best friends is getting married in May so a group of about 18 of them went to Krakow for the weekend.  It's a cheap place to go and although they are all in their late twenties so not really youngsters you do worry when there was bound to be alcohol involved that they will all get back safely.  Thankfully they did but I think it was wise they had both booked a day off on Monday to recover!

Have a good weekend all.