2016 - My year in books

I had such an amazing reading year - honestly it's been one of the better ones. Although I have not reviewed every book I have read I have at least reviewed the best ones. To ask me to give you "my best book of 2016" is a bit like asking me to tell you which of my 3 kids is my favorite - totally impossible and extremely unfair. So I give you the following (bilingual as books go in my little space in the computer) based on what I read this year of course, and not as the best books released this year.

Book of the year (English): I could not choose just one (or the planned 3) because there is very little to choose for me between numbers 3 and 4

1. I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes reviewed here  -spies, adventures, galore!
2. Recipe for love and murder - A tannie Maria Mystery by Sally Andrew  - reviewed here
totally unexpected and unique in every way . A great local read.
3. The husband's secret by Liane Moriarty -  reviewed here - a great book touching the issue of community responsibility and the moral question on poetic justice (or not)

and a special mention to:

The curious charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick reviewed here  - a most charming read.

Boek van die jaar (Afrikaans): By ver my moelikste keuse

 

1. Koors deur Deon Meyer - my resensie hier. Na lang oorweging moes die boek vir my wen bloot omdat Meyer gewaag het so ver uit sy gewone genre en dit so vrek goed gedoen het!
2. Offerlam/Offerande tweeluik van Chanette Paul - my kort resensie oor Offerlam hier. Ek het sopas Offerande klaar gelees en in my vakansie roetine nog nie by 'n ordentlike resensies van die tweeluik uitgekom nie (beplan wel een in die nuwe jaar) maar ek kan maklik sê dat van my heerlikste leesure hierdie jaar in Caz se geselskap plaasgevind het.
3. Die Soenoffer - Isa Konrad - my resensie hier - een van die beste sielkundige rillers wat ek nog ooit gelees het.

en 'n spesiale vermelding aan:

Oorlewingsgids vir 'n bedonnerde Diva van Sophia Kapp - my resensie hier - lees as jy
n vrou is - of selfs al is jy nie. Jy kan nie hierdie boek mis nie.

Youth/Young adult book of the year: (an Afrikaans choice)

 

'n Goeie dag vir boomklim van Jaco Jacobs - lees hier. Jaco is 'n meester en ek en my 11 jarige dogter was albei gaande oor hierdie middelkind grootword storie.

New writer discovery of the year: (English)

 

Sally Andrew - I am busy with the second Tannie Maria mystery and it is possibly even better that the first one. A new style and voice and local to boot.

Nuwe skrywer ontdekking van die jaar: (Afrikaans)

Isa Konrad - ek het nou 3 van haar boeke gelees en elkeen vreeslik geniet. Sy is 'n meester wat atmosfeer en plek skep betref.

The book I abandoned this year:

A year of Marvelous Ways by Sarah Winman -it has great reviews everywhere but I found it slow, over descriptive and very static. I loved "When God was a rabbit" also written by her but not this one.

So there you have it - my year in books. What was your best books this year and did you abandon any? Any new favorite writers?

Christmas wishes

Wishing you all blessings, love and lots of family time over the festive season.

Dis Dinsdag - tyd vir boeke

As 'n enigste kind was lees vroeg in my lewe al 'n toevlug. 'n Toevlug uit alleen wees, uit verveeld wees en ontsnap na 'n wêreld buite jou eie. In graad 2 moes ek aan die skool biblioteek juffrou bewys dat ek goed genoeg kan lees om boeke te kon uitneem uit die groter kinders se afdeling. Na my juffrou se insette is ek toegelaat my te verlustig in Liewe Heksie, Pippie Langkous, Trompie en Saartjie. So het ek baie vinnig myself deur dit wat toe beskikbaar in Afrikaans gewerk - dis net Maasdorp wat my nooit regtig geinteresseer het nie. Maar Die Uile was my absolute gunsteling tot ek Frits Deelman en die Lennet boeke ontdek het.  In Engels is elke liewe Enid Blyton boek verslind en Nancy Drew en die Hardy Boys. 'n Lekker speur storie was maar altyd my kos - van vroeg af. Dit is daarom so heerlik om my Prinses te sien lees - ek sien myself op dieselfde ouderdom - met dieselfde lekker en uitdagings - en presies dieselfde Nancy Drew boeke!

Gou het ek myself dus so half sonder nuwe leesstof bevind - tot my Ouma Anna (sy was 'n besondere vrou - ek het hier oor haar geskryf) besluit het ek is oud genoeg vir haar Ena Murray boeke en selfs Danielle Steel. Ek het stadig deur haar boekrak gewerk - hier al op laerskool. Vir my 12de verjaarsdag het ons buur tannie haar eie boek vir my gegee - "Waardin in die Wolke"  - ek was heel verstom om te ontdek Tannie Ettie (Bierman) was 'n skrywer. So het ek al haar boeke ook verslind.

By die biblioteek in Waverley was daar twee tannies - een wat altyd geglimlag het en my enige iets laat uitneem het, en een wat kwaai oor haar bril geloer het en vir wie ek altyd moes oortuig ek het regtig al deur die kinder afdeling gewerk. Hier in standerd 5 kyk die kwaai tannie eendag na my Mills and Boons hopie vir die dag en sug. "Nee wat my kind", sê sy. "Los hierdie - kom saam". En sy prop "The Hobbit " in my hand - en "Dune" van Frank Herbert en "The Clan of the Cave Bear". En dit was die einde van my belangsteling in enige boek wat as romanse bestempel kan word. 'n Hele nuwe wêrel het vir my oopgegaan.

Dus was dit vir my 'n onverwagse uitdaging toe ek gevra word om "Wilde hawer" van Madelie Human te lees.

Wilde klawer is 'n omnibus met 3 Romanza boeke - "Om Ben lief te hê", "Om Dirk te tem" en "Om Kobus te ken". Ek het so langtand begin lees aan die eerste boek en voor ek my kon kry het ek was ek vinnig deur die boek - en gaan toe maar sommer aan met die tweede een en die derde een.

Alhoewel ek dood eerlik moet erken dat hierdie nie my gewone koppie tee is nie, het ek werklik lekker gelees. Verbasend - maar dit is wat gebeur as jy jouself buite jou gewone gemaksone uitdaag. Jy mag dit dalk net geniet. Ek dink wat die verskil was van die gewone liefdesverhaal is dat Madelie Human romanse uit 'n komiese oogpunt benader - en dit maak al die verskil. Dink "When Harry met Sally" in 'n Afrikaanse boek. So bietjie tong in die kies oor die liefde en die tipiese slaggate rondom dit.

As jy hou van romantiese komedies is hierdie heerlike vakansie leesstof. Dit is ook 'n baie oulike Kersgeskenk vir enige iemand in jou lewe wat van hierdie genre hou.

Boheem van Chanette Paul 

Kayla Cilliers (voorheen Katrien Bresselaar)  beland op die kunstenaarskolonie Bohemia met 'n verlede vol geheime  - net om haar in 'n moord vas te loop. Sy kan hierdie komplikasie in haar lewe nie regtig bekostig nie - veral nie met haar vingerafdrukke op die moordwapen nie.

Hierdie is die derde boek in Chanette Paul se Gys Niemand reeks wat afspeel in die Niemandsdorp omgewing. Gys, Gertjie en die nimlike Faantjie Fortuin (my gunsteling van die trio) is na Springety en Fortuin al ou bekendes. Dit is volgens my een van die lekkertes van hierdie reeks - elke storie is uniek, spanningsvol en vol intriges maar 'n mens voel tuis in die bekendheid van die drie deurlopende karkaters.

Boheem is gevul met heerlike kunstenaar karkaters soos wat die omgewing van die boek toelaat. Judy was vir my 'n gunsteling wat kleurvol beskryf word - maar elke karkater in die boek is lewensgetrou - in hierdie geval meestal in hul eie eksentrieke denke. Dit is maklik om 'n prentjie te vorm sonder dat die skrywer in lang beskrywings verval.

Die storie is tipies van die reeks deurlopend op 'n spanningslyn geskryf met 'n bietjie komedie ter verligting gesprinkel. Ek het veral geniet hoe die magspel selfs in so 'n omgewing tussen karakters uitgespel word -in 'n omgewing waar mens nie so iets verwag nie - of moet mens juis? Is kunstenaars verhewe bo die soek na mag en erkenning of is hul juis soveel te meer soekend daarna? Getrou aan die reeks sal daar wel romanse iewers ter sprake wees maar sonder om noodwendig die storie se lyn te beinvloed of oorheers.

Twee vrae bly by my - gaan Gys en Gertjie ooit bymekaar uitkom? En wanneer gaan die Visvrou se misterie verduidelik word?

Boheem is 'n heerlike boek en perfekte vakansie leesstof. Die Gys boeke word almal tans weer uitgegee met pragtige nuwe skudblaaie.  9/10 vir 'n uitstekend geskryfde boek.

LAPA het die boeke aan my verskaf vir resensie doeleinde - die opinies hier uitgespreek is egter 100% my eie

Five for Friday edition 25 - the it's almost holiday one!

1. I completed another run around the sun on Sunday and spent most of it singing in The Capital singers project - which really deserves a post on it's own. It was special and it was fun! We also spent wonderful family time together and the hubby made me a wonderful French chocolate cake - just as I love it.

2. Our Bookclub had a wonderful end of year/Christmas dinner on Tuesday night. The joy the friendship and great books bring into my life is just amazing

3. I look at all these Elf on the Shelve posts and I am like - "What the hec, who has time and energy for this?" Nothing against you if you do it - in fact I totally admire your dedication, creativity and mostly energy. But I am way too tired..

4. For those who did not manage to get a Lego Advent calendar - look what I found! This is brilliant! An electronic calendar with instructions to build Christmas items from standard Lego pieces one generally have available. We are so going to build some of them over the weekend and holidays. Check is out here: Lego classic advent calendar

5. We had our end of year dinner last Friday at the Hillside Tavern - an old Pretoria institution. Every byte that each of us had was wonderful! What a great lunch. The best for me was the Duck a'l Orange I had - it was truly out of this world.

In case you have not noticed I have 2 wonderful competitions running for great Christmas toys. Enter now - both are closing at 5pm this Sunday.

Fabulous fun with Stikbot and another giveaway

Prima Toys asked the Princess to do a review of Stikbot - one the funkiest tween and teen gift this Christmas. Stikbot is a toy cum app combination that combines traditional toys with social media with a special app.

You pose the Stikbots that come with easy to pose suction cups and create either photos or stop motion videos with them.

There are backdrops, stickers, music and sound effects and simply provided hours of great fun for her - and yes, the brothers adored it too. However what I love most about this is that it successfully integrates creativity and imagination with technology. It is a fabulous idea and a safe way to integrate on social media as it is 'faceless".

I have to tell you that the young guys in our office totally freaked out when they saw this! I will bring it to the office one day soon - they will have huge fun. This is without a doubt one of those "age is no limit" toys.

You have to see their faces when they see the end result of their first movies - it is simply magical! A's first movie was set in the desert and C's is an underwater dive. We obviously need to refine a bit but I love that there are such great instant results. Go check them out on our Instagram account (@catjuggles)

The folks at Prima Toys have give us one #Sitkbot zanimation Studio set to give to one of our readers to the value of R439. This is the top set in the series and a whole lot of fun.

Rules are as follows:

1. Post me a comment below and tell who in your household will enjoy this toy most. No comment, no entry or bonus entries. Just tweeting and retweeting will earn you no entries. Entries close by 5 pm on Sunday 11 December 2016.

2. For bonus entries:  Visit (and a like would be great) our new Facebook page Juggling act of life
                                  Follow StikBot ZA on Twitter 
                                  Tweet the following:" I would love to win the #SitkBotZA zanimation Studio set with  @catjuggles and @Stikbot_ZA http://juggelingactoflife.blogspot.co.za/2016/12/fabulous-fun-with-stikbot-and-another.html

One entry each to a maximum of 4 entries.

3. Please mention every of the actions that you have done so that I can allocate the correct number of entries to you. No mention no bonus entries. I will check that the winners have done the actions as claimed.

Conditions:
1. Winners will be chosen by us and the decision is final.
2. Winners will be emailed and mentioned on Twitter - prizes have to be claimed by 12 December 2016 at 1 pm.
3. Only entries within South Africa are eligible.
4. Prizes will be delivered to the winners by Prima Toys.
5. Prizes are as show or similar and can not be exchanged or claimed in cash.

Best of luck! Thanks to Prima toys.

Airstorm fun - and a giveaway!

There was much excitement in our house this weekend as Just Fun Kidz sent us a wonderful Air Storm package to review. I thought of naming this post "best Christmas toy for boys" but honestly the girl child was just as taken with these as the boys were. The boys are now 9 and A is almost 12 and these are perfectly suited for their ages - in fact, the grown ups in the house had quite a lot of fun with them too.

The Air Storm Sky Ripperz were immediately claimed by Mr L who loves the idea of rocket of any sort.

Wow do they fly! The 75 meters advertised on the packaging is definitely achievable and after a few tries in the garden we took it to a park where it truly showed us how well it flies. The kids have already decided that this is a beach essential these holidays and we will give it a good few flies there. It makes a great whistling sound as it flies. The kids had quite a few competitions with it seeing who flies the furthest and highest.

Mr C is bow obsessed and was so excited to see the two bows! He loves elves and centaurs because the shoot bows and arrow so these were right up his sleeve. He and A tried the two bows out and right from the start competed at target practice and how far they could shoot with them.

The Air Storm Zano Bow is a nifty little bow that comes with two suction arrow and a handy target on the back. It shoots with great accuracy and lots of target shooting happened. What we totally love about this one is that it can very handy slip into a backpack to take on holiday or visit a friend. Also absolutely fantastic is that both bows can with the switch of up and down adapt for lefties. Mr C actually tried them both ways and love checking with which hand he was most accurate. As a mom I love that both the bows have storage place for the arrows so no arrows lying around.

The big guy of the 2 is the Air Storm Z-curve Bow - the ultimate toy bow. This is one potent and very strong and accurate bow. It comes with one suction cup arrow that provided lots of target shooting fun, and two zonic whistle arrow that screeches through the air. It shoots far and very accurate when the kids get the hang of it. One of A's friends have a 13 year old brother and he was so taken with this bow that he has asked for it for Christmas. I do believe all 3 these but especially the Zano Bow has an age range up to adulthood !

The Air Storm range are available at Toyzone, Toy Kingdom, Kid Zone, Hamleys and on Take a lot.

As it's almost Christmas I have two great giveaways this week and this is the first one!

Not one but two of my readers can win this stunning Just Fun Kidz Air Storm package that consist of all 3 the products reviewed above valued at R1200 per hamper.

Rules are as follows:

1. Post me a comment below and tell me which one your kids would love most of the 3. No comment, no entry or bonus entries. Entries close by 5 pm on Sunday 11 December 2016.

2. For bonus entries: Visit (and a like would be great) Just Fun Kidz on Facebook
                                  Visit (and a like would be great) our new Facebook page Juggling act of life
                                  Follow Just Fun Kidz on Twitter 
                                  Tweet the following:" Here's hoping we win the fabulous Air Storm hamper with  @catjuggles and @Just_Fun_Kidz athttp://juggelingactoflife.blogspot.co.za/2016/12/airstorm-fun-and-giveaway.html "

One entry each to a maximum of 5 entries.

3. Please mention every of the actions that you have done so that I can allocate the correct number of entries to you. No mention no bonus entries.I will check that the winners have done the actions as claimed.

Conditions:
1. Winners will be chosen by us and the decision is final.
2. Winners will be emailed and mentioned on Twitter - prizes have to be claimed by 12 December 2016 at 1 pm.
3. Only entries within South Africa are eligible.
4. Prizes will be delivered to the winners by Just Fun Kidz.
5. Prizes are exact as show and can not be exchanged or claimed in cash.

Best of luck! It will be two very lucky and happy families that win these. Thanks to Just Fun Kidz for giving me the chance to treat my readers.

Five for Friday edition 24

1. It was our Princess' turn on Wednesday to receive recognition for the year's work at school. We are very proud of her. The list of achievements were long - topped by the much sought after Top ten achiever award.  Also a special mention for their hockey team who won the league without conceding one single goal!

2. We had the very best burgers ever on  Wednesday night as we did a quick celebratory dinner with the kids on their achievements this year. we went to Burger Bistro and my word! Best ever! I had the Marilyn Monroe - melted brie with strawberry, balsamic and black pepper jam. The chips are really exceptional too and the menu is priced well. We will certainly visit them again soon.

3. We are opening the Lego Star Wars Advent calendar this year - to much excitement from the kids. Follow us n Instagram @catjuggles to discover every day's treat hidden behind the windows. It is a great one for the kids - no sweets and sugar and a lot of fun. I can not believe I went to all that trouble to make advent calendars before discovery the Lego ones! We have done the Lego City and Lego Friends ones in the past but the kids are huge Star Wars fans so it is promising to be the best one ever.

4. Today is the last day to get the cheaper pre sold tickets for Pretoria's biggest and most beautiful Christmas Carol event - you can buy them here. I am so looking forward to spread the joy of singing and Christmas! There are also tickets available at the doors and children 12 and under are free! (no ids under 4 allowed)

5. The kids have completed their Stikeez 2 collection - one for the 3 of them, with me only visiting Pick n Pay once. I told them I am totally not doing Stikeez this time - the previous time it drove me nuts as we do not have a Pick n Pay conveniently situated between the work and home route. But my mom took over the task, collected in the retirement villages and in a bink of an eye - and with swopping 4 at school, their collection was done. I relented and bought the collectors box and that was it!


Any 5 or Fridays to share?

Gabby - my sweet girl

 We knew, right at the start when we adopted our sweet Gabby girl that her time with us will be limited. That we had only a little time to show her that humans care and humans love. She came to us first as a foster and then as our own girl through Labrador rescue. Our vet was convinced that she came from a puppy mill and was bred until her body could produce no more - and then dumped. To us, she was the sweetest girl ever. She just gave love from the moment she came into our house - she literally gulped all the love and attention and just gave and gave in return. With us she experienced the beach and holidays, love and nature walks. Evenings cuddling in the arms of a human sister or brother - and boy did she love those cuddles, tummy rubs and brushing.

Gabby love, rest in peace - we know your body could go on no further. Our love for you will live forever in our hearts. 

We would like to plead to each and everyone of you to NOT support unethical breeding practices. Be careful where and whom you buy dogs from. Report unethical breeding practices and show heart to a rescue. Rescue dogs have a special love to share. Adopt don't shop - almost every breed has a rescue organization that have wonderful dogs available to adopt. And if you want a puppy - makes sure that the breeder does so with the right ethics in place.