Perfect

Mother's Day doesn't get much better than this:

Perfectly selected gifts - bedsocks, a padded coathanger and a box of Haigh's chocolates (my favourite);

7:45 am start for the Melbourne Mothers' Day Classic 4km run, which Zoe and I did in under 24 minutes (and a cute pink Tupperware sandwich container in the showbag);

Breakfast at Laurent (chocolate croissants and a bowl of coffee);

Jaffa muffins made with Zoe for my mum;

Lunch at Mum and Dad's;

Zoe off for the afternoon at a friend's house;

Some knitting and maths while she is gone!

Perfect!

Zoe has finished reading "The Recruit" by Robert Muchamore. Here's what she has to say about it:

This book was definitely for 11 year olds and older because the themes of the book are not suitable for younger children. I found the book very interesting. I liked the main character because he had to be pushed to do things but he liked the things that he had to do in the end. This is the first in the Cherubs series and I want to read more!

I finished "Magician" by Raymond E Feist yesterday. I am reading it for book group - fantasy is not a genre that I get excited about. This one didn't grab me for a while as I really dislike the cliched stories of dwarves who live in mountain mines and elves who are beautiful and live in trees. Also, the formal style of the dialogue I find irritating. However, the range of this novel is better than I expected because the perspective varied from both sides of the battle (of course there is a battle) and neither side had all the right or moral high ground. It wasn't a simple tale of good triumphing over evil. There was also an exploration of different political systems which held my interest. Several of the characters were appealing and I did end up caring about what happened to them. I might even read further into the series.

Greg is reading "All Quiet on the Western Front" and finding it very depressing. Another book for work, of course.