MrCat

I am up for this weekend.

P%P one star? What?

While I am all for feminism and equality, saying that you are ignored by the literary world because you write in Arabic and critical of the racist mind set of others is just bs. Jean Paul Sartre refused the Nobel and Boris Pasternak could not receive it due the political context at the time but they never cried about being ignored by the literary world. George Orwell was also critical of his country's colonial power and yet he was not ignored. Simone de Beauvoir was very critical of patriarchal mind set (after all, she did write the feminist bible - The Second Sex) yet she was not ignored by the literary world. So I have no idea what Saadawi is talking about and I'll just assume it's her bitterness and envy that made her say that. But still... I am now curious to read her work. Might add it on my TBR list.

I've participated in a read-a-thon this weekend without even realizing it., Finished Life of Pi Friday and Saturday and read half of Diary for a Young Girl on Sunday. I think that amounts to around 600 pages.

I have finished reading The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass, Life of Pi by Yann Martel and I am almost done with Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. With the exception of the first book, my disappointment is off the charts. *hides away from people throwing rocks*

Dune by Frank Herbert and Foundation by Isaac Asimov should be read by anyone, regardless if he's new to SF or a SF connoisseur. Some of Asimov's works are kind of outdated, especially given how we see robots today compared to 50-60 years ago but still they are excellent novels. Dune is kind of a space opera so it might tickle his fancy better.

Has anyone read anything by Zadie Smith? Her new book came out last week and my FB feed is invaded with it. I have no idea who this lady is but I have to admit that all this publicity made me curious.

Strange, I never found classics hard to read, unless we are talking about specifics like Plato or Chaucer where the language is sometimes difficult. Austen especially has a very light style. I found certain Russian novels hard to follow but that is mostly due to character names.

It's been raining a lot these past days. Wooooohoooooooo

Jane Eyre from the book with the same title. Behemoth from The Master and Margarita Hermione from the Harry Potter series. Hamlet Holden from Cathcher in the Rye Just kidding, Holden was the most annoying character in any book. Ever.

I'd say that a dedicated reader won't be using a tablet for reading, they will mostly go for an e-book reader. But occasionally reading on a tablet might not be so bad and you don't have to carry around another device just for that. I think e-readers are designed for a specific audience and I don't see the point of buying one unless the person plans on using it a lot. You speak of people using tablets to read but what about using your phone...

As far as I can remember reading about my Paperwhite, it has four low light LEDs behind the screen and they project the light in an angle, not directly on the screen. So when you are reading, the light does not go straight into your eyes. That might be the big difference between regular tablets and this device. Also, I don't think the IPad has E-Ink technology. There is also a brightness setting that lets you set the light according to your needs. i'd say that if you are used to using a lamp at night for reading, a backlit e-reader will suit you fine. I am not sure if other readers have this , but a great feature of this Kindle is the fact that you can read in the sun. The Kindle Fire for example (and tablets in general of course ) have a glossy screen that reflects light when in bright sunlight but with backlit e-readers you don't have that problem. If only they would make a new Kindle with the old keyboard attached to it. I am not very fond of the touchscreen.

So when is this exactly planned for this month? I have never participated in one of these but it might be a fun challenge.

http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/kobo-aura-one-has-been-sold-out-for-weeks I have never read from a Kobo but I've been hearing good things about them in recent years. Has anyone read from one? Is a Kobo a viable alternative to the Kindle? I understand you. I kept my old Kindle until it died before I bought my PaperWhite. I like to think that I bought the best device on the market at the time, especially since I am reading from it on a daily basis, but I see Kobo being praised and popping up again and again.

There is no real alternative for a Kindle anyway. I am loving mine but sometimes I still miss my old one with its keyboard.

I understand why people are not liking LOTR. It's not really that great compared to newer fantasy, not to mention that today we re really familiar with fantasy notions from movies, books and games. I love how it is written and the endless descriptions. The movies were good too, though sadly they missed so much from the book. I rate Tolkien as a classic, at least as far as the fantasy genre is considered but like all classics, there's nothing wrong in not liking it. I didn't like Les Miserables.

Damn... 13 inches? I think that a product that big defeats one of the purposes of having an e-book reader in the first place.

I think Austen has been popular in recent years because of many TV adaptations. Indeed she is also really easy to get into though I would not say British classics are hard to get into regardless of the author.

I saw Nightmare Before Christmas last night. It's been my favourite Halloween movie for the past 20 years. I usually stay up all night during Halloween and look at horror movies, Poltergeist, Nightmare on Elm Street and Nosferatu being must sees, but this year I wen to bed early instead.

I have started reading The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass. I'm very early in the books so I can't make a clear impression yet but the person that gave me the book praised it very much.

Do you happen to know why the 1 week difference between the rest of the world?

I usually read on the sofa or in bed if it's before sleeping. I've been dreaming of a reading nook for ages now but the space is always very limited so I can't bring in an armchair or a rocking chair. In the summer I sometimes go to the countryside and read in my hammock under a big tree. That's definitely the best spot.

I have finished reading The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy. A very short book about... well...death. With excellent writing Tolstoy and managed to write a short philosophical book about death, suffering and introspection. I honestly was not expecting much from this but boy oh boy was it great.

Finally went to the theater this week. I haven't seen a play in ages so I took the opportunity and went to see a play by Chekhov. It was p. cool though some people started yawning and buttoning their mobile phones next to me...

Hello and welcome to the forum. True Blood was a great show, well mostly the first seasons. I had a giant man-crush on Eric.