Frankie reads 2014

[Athena]

Wow 31 degrees! It was 25 here, pretty warm too. It's very beautiful outside, and today our pool warmed up to 18 degrees! It was 14 yesterday. Unfortunately the predictions are that after tomorrow we'll get lots of thunder, rain and clouds, and lower temperatures.

 

I enjoyed reading about your library, that sounds like a very nice library with friendly people . I hope you enjoy your books, they sound interesting .

[frankie]

Wow 31 degrees! It was 25 here, pretty warm too. It's very beautiful outside, and today our pool warmed up to 18 degrees! It was 14 yesterday. Unfortunately the predictions are that after tomorrow we'll get lots of thunder, rain and clouds, and lower temperatures.

A pool! You lucky thing, you Hehe, we're also supposed to have thunder this week, what a coinky dink I like thunder, so I don't mind. The rain is good for one's allergies.

[Athena]

A pool! You lucky thing, you Hehe, we're also supposed to have thunder this week, what a coinky dink I like thunder, so I don't mind. The rain is good for one's allergies.

x

I'm a bit scared of thunder, ever since it hit close to home once (everything rattled and things fell over). It's true that the rain is good, I've been having allergies too (hayfever). I like that you look on the bright side of things .

[frankie]

Well it's easier to stay optimistic when one hasn't experienced as earthquakish thunders as you  

[Athena]

That makes sense . It happened quite some years ago, I was babysitting my brother and sister and so felt responsible. I remember going around the house unplugging everything that I could easily unplug. Something broke, falling off a window ledge or table, but I can't remember if it was a vase or what it was.

[frankie]

That must've been scary, being the one in the house to look after the younger ones and being responsible! 

[Athena]

Thanks, it was .

[frankie]

Those of you who've read Northanger Abbey know about the novel Udolpho. I'm not sure how well known the book is on its own merits, at least regarding the more contemporary reader. 

 

NA was a mandatory read for a Fiction class.. 

 

(And I just got the weirdest phone call... It was an unknown number, and I answered, and somebody said "hello this is V from such and such" and I stopped listening because V is my ex's name and he sounded like my ex and I thought it was my ex, calling for goodness know what reason, and I got all cheery and exclaimed "oh hi V, how are you!". I haven't spoken to ex in a while because FB's not working, and we certainly don't call each other, so when he called I thought something's up, and as he sounded so official and businesslike I immediately thought 'good lord, he's at the office and he's making an official business call and he's asking me to come be their translator, wohoo!'. But then I listen and V's trying to get me to buy an electric toothbrush, and when I listen to him more carefully, I realize it's not ex at all! And then I'm mortified, because I was so cheery and said hello to him in such a happy manner and asked him how he was. And I wanted to burst out laughing I kept my cool though and ended the call by saying that thanks but no thanks, I already have an electric toothbrush. 

 

Man, he must've thought I was a lonely, lonely woman, just sitting on my arse all day long, hoping for someone to call so I could talk to another humanbeing )

 

Where was I. Yes. NA, mandatory read. Well I loved the book, it's probably my favorite Austen, and I was always very curious about Udolpho. And now I remember it's actually The Mysteries of Udolpho!   Anyhow... There was also another book mentioned by title, called The Monk. I grew so curious about those books that I ordered cheap copies of them years ago, probably in 2008, before I joined the forum. I think they were two of the very first books I ever ordered from an online bookstore... Those were the beginner's days

 

I've tried starting TMoU a few times but it was so descriptive and long winded that I never got very far... And so it's been on my TBR pile for ages. However! This week I was browsing the new acquired books of the Nurmes library, just for fun, and lo and behold. They'd acquired a Finnish copy of the book!! (And I didn't even know the book had been translated into Finnish!) Sweet jesus. Maybe the Finnish copy is the way to go.... Of course this might be problematic because goodness knows when I will visit Nurmes the next time (after this trip) and when I will be able to return the book... So I went to see if by any chance they had copies of the book in the Joensuu library.. And they did. 

 

I might actually get the book read some day It's a shame though that I'm leaving for Nurmes in a few hours and have no time to visit the library and the library's closed next week due to them adopting a new comp system... And I know I might not even get to starting the book by next week, but you know how it is: when you want a book in your hands, and you get the idea in your head, you want it NOW

Edited May 22, 2014 by frankie

[frankie]

So I came to Nurmes today, we had dinner and then Dad took me to the library and they went groceryshopping with Mom. I first browsed the new titles at the entry of the library and bam, the title of The Mysteries of Udolpho was there! I didn't even have to go look for it. It was a thick book   I'm not sure if I'm able to finish Vanity Fair on this trip so I left it at the library.

 

Then I went to look at the removed books section. This time all titles were the normal price, 1e (which is rather expensive, the ones in Joensuu are 20cnt). I found six titles I was interested in, but left two behind in the end. I found:

 

- Saima Harmaja: Palava elämä (Saima Harmaja was a Finnish poet who died at an early age. I've never read her poetry, but I'm into biographies/letters/diaries of Finnish female authors at the moment so I had to get the book)

- Aili Somersalo: Mestaritontun seikkailut (This is a classic Finnish children's novel I read in elementary school. It was very exciting and horrific and terrifying and great! I remembered the book maybe 5 years ago, but I couldn't remember the title or the author or any of the events, I only remembered what the cover looks like. I started looking for the book. And I've been wanting to re-read it for ages. Maybe a year or two ago I came across the book at the library, it was such a nostalgic moment to finally discover the book... And now I have my very own copy!)

- Laurie Lee: Cider with Rosie (This has been on my wishlist for a while. This copy is in Finnish and it's not illustrated, but maybe the fact that I now own a copy will make me actually get to reading it some day!)

- Robert Penn Warren: A Place To Come To (When I noticed the name Robert Penn Warren, I had to stop for a moment to remember where I'd just read about the author. It took me a while! Then I remembered that it was when I was reading through my Fiction of the 1930s notes and literature. What a coincidence! I wasn't sure if I wanted to get the book because it's in Finnish, but then I read the first paragraph. It made me laugh, and I showed it to Dad (who'd come to the library after the shopping with Mom) who also laughed and that's when I decided why the hell not. )

 

I'm on my Mom's laptop and I'm not used to typing on this, so I'm afraid I'm going to delete the whole post by accident soon so I want to post this now and continue the story in another post.

Edited May 22, 2014 by frankie

[frankie]

Those books were 4e together. Dad was still browsing through the books when I'd finished so I told him to keep at it, I'd go and see if I wanted to borrow some books in case I finish Vanity Fair and want to read something else. Sometimes the books that are really popular and always borrowed at the Joensuu library are easily found and available at the Nurmes library so I was hoping to find something I'd been wanting to get my hands on. I would love to start Udolpho, but it's such a long book that I thought I needed something quicker and shorter.

 

There were some great titles there but not anything I'd been really keen on. But then I remembered that I'd seen a copy of Alan Hollinghurst's A Stranger's Child at the Joensuu library, and I'd actually checked if they had any copies in Nurmes. They did, so now I went to find the copy. There it was, on a shelf And then I got The Jane Austen Book Club By Karen Joy Fowler, because I've been thinking about re-reading it for a while.

 

What else... So when I was packing for Nurmes, I'd gone through my bookcases to see if I had any books I wasn't interested in anymore. I found a few, and I hauled them over here. But now I have four new books from the library removed books section   Also, some weeks ago it was the Book and Rose's day or something like that, and there was this offer of a free book By a Finnish author if you purchased a book that cost more than 10e. Apparently Mom and Dad had went into the shop and looked at books! And what's more, Dad had bought one book, and he'd actually already read it Dad reads sometimes, but in the past few years he's been so tired after work that he doesn't feel like reading, and he always talks about how he's going to read a whole bunch of books when he retires (which will actually happen on 13.6., on a Friday )

 

And Mom had bought two books, not just one, and she also got the free book. So they have two copies of the same free book They said I could get the other copy, which is nice, because I'm somewhat interested in that particular authors books. I've read two of hers before, the other one I didn't much like, but the other one was great.

 

The book Dad had picked up seemed interesting, so I might have to borrow it... And now I realize that I'm going to have to haul a whole lot of books back to Joensuu

 

Oh and Dad found three books at the removed books section. So the books were 7e together, but when Dad went to pay for them, the lovely librarian told him he could get the books for 5e because he was buying so many. Awwww How nice!

[Athena]

I hope you enjoy all your new books !

 

P.S. I giggled at the story of the phone call .

[Kidsmum]

 

 I thought a little trip to the 1e secondhand shop might cheer me up... 

 

I honestly thought they would have a rather sucky selection of books. But they had a) more of them than I'd seen through the window the week before, b) a better selection than I'd hoped (feared?) and c) they even had books in English and Swedish

 

The books were on shelves but they were in no particular order, and it was rather a mess. I really wanted to stay for a few hours and get it all organized. But I thought I'd better not, I didn't even want to look at the titles too carefully, I was worried I'd end up taking dozens of books home. 

 

  

 Little Friend by Donna Tartt (I once owned a copy of this, then tried reading it, didn't get into it, or rather did but then it started dragging... After the January Reading Circle discussion on Tartt's The Secret History and her other books, I was convinced I needed to give the book another shot, because a few members told me to do so... So now I got a copy!)

The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe (I was so excited about finding this book! It's not a pretty copy, and it's in Finnish, but I read A Man in Full also in Finnish and the translation was great, so I thought I might as well get the book. Or rather, I couldn't leave it behind. I took a look at a few pages and it seemed so much alike AMiF, that I'm so, so excited to start the book soon! I hope it's good )

 

So that's five books to the TBR, but I don't know where TBR stands at the moment, because I've read a few books but I haven't crossed them off the TBR list on my reading log because I have been unable to get online. Yes, TBR goes over 400 again, but not by that much.

 

I've found that with secondhand shops it's just luck really some days i go in & there's nothing but the same old titles that turn up in all the shops like Fifty Shades Of Grey & the Twilight series & then other days i'm quickly grabbing books from the shelf before anyone can get them before me 

 

I so know what you mean about badly organised books, my pet hate is when they just dump them in a big tub on the floor i mean who's going to bother digging around in that lot 

 

I do hope you enjoy The Little Friend second time round. I really loved it but i wasn't blown away by her latest one The Goldfinch but i've kept my copy so i can reread it at another time & see if my opinion's changed. I'll be interested to hear what you think of Bonfire of The Vanities, i heard that the film wasn't very good but the book is supposed to be much better.

 

I'm totally lost as to the size of my TBR pile, i did count up all my books at the beginning of the year but like you i've read some & bought a lot since then. Maybe it's better not to know

 

  

  We went and checked the available titles and I borrowed one: Lola Rose. 

 

 

I read & enjoyed Lola Rose, all my girls loved the  Jacqueline Wilson books & my youngest boy who's only 7 likes the stories as well which i find quite funny as he's very much into Star Wars & army toys so i wouldn't have thought they'd be his sort of book but he loves them, his Dad reads them to him at bedtime & he's always full of questions about the story 

[Chrissy]

Great finds Frankie.

 

I so know what you mean about badly organised books, my pet hate is when they just dump them in a big tub on the floor i mean who's going to bother digging around in that lot 

 

I'll be interested to hear what you think of Bonfire of The Vanities, i heard that the film wasn't very good but the book is supposed to be much better.

 

Although I loathe 'tubbed' books, I will look through them, cos there are books in there that might need me to rescue them!

 

I read BOTV many years ago and thought it was great, fast paced and engaging. I saw the film and HATED it. Totally miscast, and I felt the film makers didn't 'get' the book.  I would love to know what others felt about the book and film.

[Athena]

Although I loathe 'tubbed' books, I will look through them, cos there are books in there that might need me to rescue them!

x

Well said, me too!

[Kidsmum]

 

Although I loathe 'tubbed' books, I will look through them, cos there are books in there that might need me to rescue them!

 

 

I usually just turn over the top few to see if there's any hidden gems 

[frankie]

I've found that with secondhand shops it's just luck really some days i go in & there's nothing but the same old titles that turn up in all the shops like Fifty Shades Of Grey & the Twilight series & then other days i'm quickly grabbing books from the shelf before anyone can get them before me

That's true, they can be a bit of hit and miss, you never know what you might find. I was very pleasantly surprised, I will have to go there again some time... *hehe*  And maybe I can go when I have more time on my hands and do a bit of sorting, just for fun.

 

 

I so know what you mean about badly organised books, my pet hate is when they just dump them in a big tub on the floor. i mean who's going to bother digging around in that lot 

I know! One of the secondhand bookshops in Joensuu has this very nasty system: the English titles which I'm personally most interested are in this little corner shelf, and they are packed from bottom to top, and to see all the titles on top I have to get this latter-chair sort of thing and climb on top of that. Which is a bit scary when the stairs to the basement floor is right next to the shelf And on the floor, there are packages of books and rows of books, and I can't get the latter-chair as close to the shelf as I want. As if this wasn't enough, people are always and forever going downstairs right behind me and I'm sometimes blocking their way and I have to get down and move the chair to let them pass me and it's just awful. I'm surprised I've not taken a fall to this day! =D

 

And the books on the floor? They are just stacked upon one another, but not even in a nice, tidy way, but some books' titles are facing the wall and some are facing the store, and they're just in such a big mess. If it wasn't situated in the bloody corner with the stairs next to it, I would've taken a few hours some day to sort the bloody corner out!

 

 

I'm totally lost as to the size of my TBR pile, i did count up all my books at the beginning of the year but like you i've read some & bought a lot since then. Maybe it's better not to know

Maybe it's best to not know. What you don't know, doesn't hurt you

 

 

I read & enjoyed Lola Rose, all my girls loved the Jacqueline Wilson books & my youngest boy who's only 7 likes the stories as well which i find quite funny as he's very much into Star Wars & army toys so i wouldn't have thought they'd be his sort of book but he loves them, his Dad reads them to him at bedtime & he's always full of questions about the story

I'm happy to hear more positive thoughts on the Jacqueline Wilson books! =) I did a bit of googling after reading your post and she's rather well respected in her field, and she's gotten loads of prizes, too. And it's really telling of her great gift that she's managed to capture your Star Wars -fan of a son to read her books! That's really great, bless Wilson

 

 

Although I loathe 'tubbed' books, I will look through them, cos there are books in there that might need me to rescue them!

That's very true, and very good of you! For me it really depends on how much 'tubbed' books there are. If they're all over the Place, and I don't have the time, I'll leave them be because I get frustrated If I have time and they are not as plenty, and if I'm in a jolly good move, I will go through them piles, too.

 

This time I was just too afraid of finding too many great books if I started going around them too thoroughly... I'd already found two books I wanted after going through the first shelf, and there were more shelves to go, so I thought I'd better not look too closely...

 

 

Off the topic: Mom's laptop, for some very peculiar reason, adds capital letters to some random words, when I'm on BCF. So if you find any oddities, that's the laptop, not me!

[frankie]

I do hope you enjoy The Little Friend second time round. I really loved it but i wasn't blown away by her latest one The Goldfinch but i've kept my copy so i can reread it at another time & see if my opinion's changed. I'll be interested to hear what you think of Bonfire of The Vanities, i heard that the film wasn't very good but the book is supposed to be much better.

 

 

I read BOTV many years ago and thought it was great, fast paced and engaging. I saw the film and HATED it. Totally miscast, and I felt the film makers didn't 'get' the book.  I would love to know what others felt about the book and film.

 

 

I really want to see the movie now! I mean, after I read the book. I googled it and the cast was rather interesting... (I can't picture Tom Hanks in the movie, for one thing.) I definitely have to watch it after reading.

 

Chrissy, have you read A Man in Full? I've heard that it's supposed to be like TBotV, and as good. I would definitely recommend it

 

I was going to post about TBotV again anyways so this worked as an introduction to the post...

 

As you might know, I'm currently reading Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray. I didn't expect to get into it, my mojo having given me grief lately, but I did get into it and have now about 200 pages to go. Before I started the book, I went to the euro shop and bought a copy of TBotV like I've said in an earlier post. I almost started reading that book first, but for some reason left it till later.

 

So I was talking to a friend on the phone last Friday and we talked about books and I mentioned I was reading VF and that I was really enjoying it. My friend R then mentioned the Finnish name of the book, 'Turhuuksien rovio'. And I thought, no, that's the Finnish title of The Bonfire of the Vanities, because 'rovio' is a 'bonfire'. And that 'Turhuuksien turulla' must be Vanity Fair because 'turulla' would be an old word for 'at a market/fair'. It was a bit confusing because 'turulla' is an old word and we weren't completely, 100% sure about it, but 'rovio' is a 'bonfire', that's for sure. Both Finnish titles are sort of 'household names', and when I've heard them in Finnish I've never really had to think about them like this.

 

So after the phone conversation I had to google the titles. I first googled The Bonfire of the Vanities (which I've googled once before because I couldn't understand why it was the vanities and not just _ vanities). I was reading along the wiki article on the book when I read that Vanity Fair was actually the book that inspired Wolfe to write TBotV.    

 

Of course! I mean I guess it's not all that obvious if you don't know the blurb of the book but I had an idea about it, and the titles are a giveaway....

 

And this is just one of the things I like best in literature: everything's connected. I love making these connections, finding them, talking about them...

 

And now I'm glad that I started reading Vanity Fair before The Bonfire of the Vanities

Edited May 27, 2014 by frankie

[wordsgood]

Holy Smokes! You've done some serious redecorating since last I was here! Bravo!

[frankie]

If by serious redecorating you mean I've practically stopped writing reviews, then why yes I have spruced up the place a little  

[Kylie]

[Kidsmum]

 I know! One of the secondhand bookshops in Joensuu has this very nasty system: the English titles which I'm personally most interested are in this little corner shelf, and they are packed from bottom to top, and to see all the titles on top I have to get this latter-chair sort of thing and climb on top of that. Which is a bit scary when the stairs to the basement floor is right next to the shelf And on the floor, there are packages of books and rows of books, and I can't get the latter-chair as close to the shelf as I want. As if this wasn't enough, people are always and forever going downstairs right behind me and I'm sometimes blocking their way and I have to get down and move the chair to let them pass me and it's just awful. I'm surprised I've not taken a fall to this day! =D

And the books on the floor? They are just stacked upon one another, but not even in a nice, tidy way, but some books' titles are facing the wall and some are facing the store, and they're just in such a big mess. If it wasn't situated in the bloody corner with the stairs next to it, I would've taken a few hours some day to sort the bloody corner out!

 

 

That's shocking, no book lover would treat books in such a careless fashion  I'm itching to come over there & reorganise things myself 

 

 

 . I first googled The Bonfire of the Vanities (which I've googled once before because I couldn't understand why it was the vanities and not just _ vanities). I was reading along the wiki article on the book when I read that Vanity Fair was actually the book that inspired Wolfe to write TBotV.

 

Of course! I mean I guess it's not all that obvious if you don't know the blurb of the book but I had an idea about it, and the titles are a giveaway....

 

And this is just one of the things I like best in literature: everything's connected. I love making these connections, finding them, talking about them...

 

And now I'm glad that I started reading Vanity Fair before The Bonfire of the Vanities

 

That's so interesting Frankie i had no idea there was that connection between the two books . BOTV is a definite must read for me now that i know that 

 

If by serious redecorating you mean I've practically stopped writing reviews, then why yes I have spruced up the place a little

Me too, i like the spacious feel that a lack of book reviews gives it 

[pontalba]

Interesting tie up between the two Vanities. Hmmmmm

 

Yup, ordered. . Thanks.

[Peacefield]

You'll have to let us know once you attempt to re-read The Little Friend, Frankie.  I loved Secret History but unfortunately was disappointed in TLF.  I always love Tartt's writing, but the story wasn't my favorite.

 

The Goldfinch made up for that though because it's been my favorite read of 2014 so far.  I hope you get to read that one sometime!

[frankie]

So many emoticons, I'm going to have to take some out, unfortunately!
 

 
 
 
(Look at our pretty pink faces!)
 

That's shocking, no book lover would treat books in such a careless fashion.  I'm itching to come over there & reorganise things myself. 

Well, your kids are on school holidays? Why don't you all fly over and visit =D We could order the shop keeper to go on his summer holidays during your stay and we could have the place all to ourselves to go over =D I bet we could make a huge difference. Are your kids healthy and happy and athletic, and always eager to help? I bet the owner would let us choose a few books as a reward. I mean of course we'd do it for free, because we love organizing and are noble folks, but if he insisted... We could get a few books

 

That's so interesting Frankie i had no idea there was that connection between the two books . BOTV is a definite must read for me now that i know that 

It was so odd and oddly exhilarating to find out about it. It makes total sense! I guess I can say that not having read TBotV yet myself is my excuse for not making the connection earlier myself... *blush* 

 

I hope you enjoy the book when you get to it!
 

Me too, i like the spacious feel that a lack of book reviews gives it  

Yeah I know! It doesn't get dusty so easily, when there's nothing for the dust to land on. I like the practical, ascetic no-nonsense feel of the place
 
 

Interesting tie up between the two Vanities. Hmmmmm

Yup, ordered.  Thanks.

Good stuff! You will have to let me know what you make of the book. I hope you enjoy! =)

 

You'll have to let us know once you attempt to re-read The Little Friend, Frankie.  I loved Secret History but unfortunately was disappointed in TLF.  I always love Tartt's writing, but the story wasn't my favorite.

Hey Peacefield, it's been a while!   Okay I promise that when I get to The Little Friend, I will write a review, even if it cramps the new style of my thread =D I do wish I like the novel, but I'm a bit skeptical... But I'll try and jump in with an open mind. 
 

The Goldfinch made up for that though because it's been my favorite read of 2014 so far.  I hope you get to read that one sometime! 

 
Wow, you really loved The Goldfinch, didn't you! The book's already on my wishlist so I'm definitely going to read it at some point. I have to many doorstoppers ahead of me at the moment though, so it might be a while... And I need to check if the library has an English copy. I would check now but their website's down for the week, they are setting up a whole new system. 
 
I'm really glad you enjoyed TG so much, I'm happy that Tartt redeemed herself with the novel! =)

Edited May 31, 2014 by frankie

[frankie]

Earlier I was talking about how books are connected in so many different ways by the authors. 

 

Another thing I've thought about for a long time is how all books are connected from the reader's point of view. I would make these (sometimes very odd) connections with so many books in such a long row that I used to think I should really note them down somewhere, but I never really got to it (which I regret). 

 

Sometimes the books are connected to stuff in my current life, and sometimes the books are connected to each other. I have an example of both:

 

(And this I did write down in a notebook, so that's why I remember.) In 2011 I'd just read Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Then I started Jack Kerouac's On the Road. In the former, Jake was fishing with Bill and they put wine bottles in a cold lake or river or spring to keep them cool. This scene is talked about in On the Road, and Major and Sal talk about Hemingway in general and which book is his best. 

 

Usually when books are referred to in other books, they are ones I've not read, but for once I'd read the books that were talked about, and just recently. It was so rewarding in a weird way, and exhilarating!  

 

And how do the books connect to my own life? In odd little ways. One very recent example: I was out with a friend in Nurmes, last Saturday. Right now, actually, timewise, exactly a week ago. And to fully appreciate what I'm about to tell you, you need to know that I don't like ice cream. I don't hate it, and I wouldn't say I dislike it, but I'm not a fan. I know people who love ice cream and could eat it every week. In the summer, people eat a lot of ice cream, but I'm hardly ever interested, I'd rather have a cold beverage. Ice cream usually makes me cough and I don't like it. Too cold. 

 

Anyhow. So we were out with my friend K, and because it was very hot, and because I was in a very odd (good but rare) mood, I thought why not buy an ice cream for once. It's hot outside! So I bought one. I usually take a while to select because I have no idea what the ice creams are like, because I hardly ever have them so have no reference point. But I knew Magnum was as good as there was... And I saw a white chocolate Magnum, and thought this is perfect, because I've recently developed a strong connection with white chocolate  

 

I had the white chocolate Magnum. It was good. It was so hot and I ate it so very slowly that it didn't even make me cough. Victory! 

 

So, I started reading Lola Rosa after finishing Vanity Fair. And when they go shopping after a major event in the book, and Lola Rose can buy whatever she likes, the first thing she mentions buying: white chocolate Magnum.

 

What a coincidence! I mean it's rather small in the great scheme of things, but I always get a nice kick out of these little things Don't you just love it when this kind of thing happens?