Ooshie
-
Posts
1,350 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Books
Posts posted by Ooshie
-
-
I only give books away (to charity shops usually) if I haven't really enjoyed them. If I have enjoyed a book, I need to keep it. About ten years ago, when I was moving house, I gave away some books I had enjoyed - and have been buying them back over the years ever since!
I do have some disorganised piles of books around the place, but mostly I have them on shelves, organised into series, authors, and/or genre. I also have a couple of bookcases of Folio Society books collected over the last 28 years or so (gulp, is it really that long?) which are my pride and joy.
My partner is quite used to me saying, "Do you think you would be able to make a bookcase in that space there?", and is very good at building custom shelves for me!
-
I love a good series!
Started with all the Enid Blyton series when young, then Narnia, My Friend Flicka/Thunderhead/Green Grass of Wyoming, then on to Poldark, the Saga of the Exiles, the Galactic Milieu, Foundation, Thomas Covenant, the Gap series, the Belgariad, the Morland Dynasty, Aurelio Zen, Guido Brunetti, Simon Serailler, Scarpetta, Temperance Brennan, Alexandra Cooper, Rebus, Isabel Dalhousie, Mma Ramotswe, The Raj Quartet, the Forsyte Saga/A Modern Comedy, Dexter, Myron Bolitar...
...apologies to all the other much loved series that I can't call to mind just now!
I'm currently thinking of ordering the Sookie Stackhouse set from The Book People, as I am enjoying True Blood on TV. -
Hi Emily, hope you really enjoy the forum, welcome!
-
My son and I both very much enjoyed Duma Key by Stephen King, which has some nicely scary supernatural bits!
-
When I was younger (or was it before I became a mother?!) I most often had three or four books on the go at the one time, and which one I picked up would just depend on what mood I was in. Now it is usually just one or two at a time - for example, at the moment I am reading A Thousand Splendid Suns for the reading group, and The Comfort of Saturdays (the latest Isabel Dalhousie novel by Alexander McCall Smith). A Thousand Splendid Suns is too heavy to read in the bath, while The Comfort of Saturdays is just the perfect size and weight!
-
I have read The Great Gatsby, The Scarlet Letter, A Clockwork Orange, and The Time Traveller's Wife. They are very different in style, but I enjoyed them all.
-
I'm pleased to see that it isn't just me who hasn't enjoyed the more recent Scarpetta books. From being a series which I really looked forward to the next book coming out, I have been very much disappointed by the last few; everything that I liked about the main characters seems to have gone.
I had moved on to Kathy Reichs but, again, her last couple of books haven't seemed so enjoyable to me. I'm trying Linda Fairstein now and enjoying her Alexandra Cooper series so far...
-
Thanks for the link to that site, Vladd. As well as looking like a good source of second hand Folio books, there was a link to an interesting article about the Folio Society which I hadn't read.
-
I had originally bought this book because I was looking forward to The TV Book Club on Channel 4; unfortunately, I thoroughly disliked the programme and only watched about 10 minutes of the first episode, but I have to be grateful to them for bringing this book to my attention!
The blurb on the back of the book describes it so:
"1570 in the Italian city of Ferrara. Sixteen-year-old Serafina is ripped by her family from an illicit love affair and forced into the convent of Santa Caterina, renowned for its superb music. Serafina's one weapon is her glorious voice, but she refuses to sing. Madonna Chiara, an abbess as fluent in politics as she is in prayer, finds her new charge has unleashed a power play - rebellion, ecstasies and hysterias - within the convent. However, watching over Serafina is Zuana, the sister in charge of the infirmary, who understands and might even challenge her incarceration.
I have enjoyed everything about the book - the writing style, the way the characters were brought to life, the storyline, and the descriptions of life in a 16th century convent. There is a reasonably long bibliography at the back, so I like to think that the historical details will be fairly accurate.
I would recommend "Sacred Hearts" to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, and I will be going on to buy more of Sarah Dunant's books. I hope you enjoy it too if you try it!
-
I read "Fast Track to Happiness" by Lynda Field while being treated for clinical depression, and I did feel a lot better within a couple of days. Might just have been coincidence, but I do think it did help.
-
They are a bit expensive, and my guilty pleasure
. I do mostly read paperbacks (hundreds a year), but find the tactile pleasure of a Folio Book adds an extra layer of enjoyment to my reading. And they do look so lovely on my shelf...You do have to buy four books a year, but there are usually a couple that friends/relatives would love and so I buy them to keep as gifts, and a couple for myself. They also have one or two sales a year that you can sometimes find real bargains in. You also get a presentation volume (sometimes more than one) free each year when you rejoin.
-
One of my favourite books is Clive Barker's "Weaveworld", which I would describe as a mixture of horror and fantasy.
For more straightforward horror, the early Stephen King novels (like "Carrie", "Salem's Lot", or "The Shining" are some of my favourites, and I recently finished "Duma Key", one of his most recent books - both my son and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I hope you tell us what you finally choose, and how you enjoyed it!
-
Does anyone else collect Folio Society books? If so, I would love to hear which ones you have bought, which genres you prefer, which you have read and how you have enjoyed them.
I particularly enjoy the modern classics, and my last two purchases were "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguru, and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" by John Le Carre. I have already read both books several times in paperback and enjoy them thoroughly, but was really pleased that I could buy them in Folio editions to appreciate too.
-
I can remember reading horror short story collections at primary school, where you could buy them through the book club magazine, but I don't remember the series - the first horror novel I read was Carrie by Stephen King, aged about 14.
The first fantasy book I read was "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" by C S Lewis, aged around 7.
I am really struggling to remember the first sci-fi book I read. Again, I think I probably started with short story collections (from the library this time). The first sci-fi novel I can definitely remember reading was "Foundation" by Isaac Asimov aged around 17, but this seems quite late so I feel I am forgetting some from before then!
-
I do enjoy reading magazines, and would read more if they weren't so expensive! I like the New Scientist, The Economist, National Geographic (although more for the photography than the articles, although they too are usually very good), In Style, Period Home, and Grazia. I tend to take out subscriptions just to try and keep the cost down.
-
Hi, I have only just joined myself, hope to see you around!
-
Thanks very much for the welcome, everyone - I have been having a look around, and the site seems very accessible and the forum very friendly. There are threads about so many books/authors I am interested in, it is going to take me a while to read through them all! I already have "A Thousand Splendid Suns", so I am sorted for the March Reading Group...
-
Hi
There are no Reading Groups where I live, and I have been too shy to try and start one, so I was delighted to come across The Book Club Forum. It looks just what I need!
I don't read much non-fiction, but I read all types of fiction so I have a some very varied bookcases. I like to collect Folio Society books, but, as I like to read in the bath (with bubbles and candles, of course
) I am more likely to be found with a paperback. I have hundreds of books, as I keep every book I have enjoyed - my poor memory means I can enjoy them again another time!I am looking forward to joining in with the discussions.
Best wishes, Susan
The Last DVD you watched?
in Music / TV / Films
Posted
Croupier, with Clive Owen and Alex Kingston. Think it came free with the Daily Mail!