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Poppyshake's Reading Year 2015


poppyshake

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Wonderful review! I'm so pleased that it rated a 'Loved it!' from you. :) I dearly hope that Moers will write about Captain Bluebear's other 13 1/2 lives one day!

Yes .. I wish he would. I thought he might have done actually .. I wasn't sure what his other books were about. Do any of them take place in Zamonia? I thought I noticed one called Rumo and there was a Rumo in the 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear .. wondered if it was the same one or something different altogether?

Great review! I would like to read this book some time, maybe my library has a Dutch translation (if it exists). It sounds like a nice read :).

Thanks Gaia. Hope you can find a copy :)

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The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear is one of those books I've seen in the bookshops, and knowing someone here had read and loved it, I've picked it up, and then put it back again, as it's so big, it intimidates me.  Of course, now you make it sound so good, how could I not want to read it?! I'm going to have to stop coming in this thread (again!) as you just make too many books too tempting to say no to.  :doh: 

Just say the word Claire and I will hire a sack barrow and bring it to one of our coffee meet-ups :DIt is large .. but then there are plenty of illustrations and the writing is also fairly large so I would say it's no bigger really than a 300/400 pager. 

Don't stop coming here :( I promise to read only hateful books in future :D

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Thanks Kay, but don't worry, I don't want you putting your back out! :lol:

 

As if I could stay away from this thread … it's too funny to miss :giggle2:

:D Phew! .. that's a relief. When you're short of something to read (if ever that should happen :D) .. and you fancy giving old Bluebear a go .. just let me know. He'll be happy to escape from the book cabinet again :D

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Next book jar pick ..

 

Gatsby's Girl by Caroline Preston

 

I know I've had this for a while but I can't remember buying it. Perhaps it was a gift from someone in the family. I have no idea what it's about other than Gatsby .. hopefully it'll be good. It's the sort of read I'm in the mood for (fiction, reasonable length, vintage etc) so that bodes well.

post-5612-0-27267500-1424730948_thumb.jpg

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I love the cover, but I've never heard of the book, the author or even the publisher.  It's strange when you come across books that you have no idea where they came from, isn't it?  I've got a few of those on the shelves that both of us are convinced we didn't buy and weren't given to us. :lol:

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Athena, I don't know if this would make any difference, but the book was originally written in German and translated into English. Whenever Moers publishes a new book, there's a long wait for us English readers to get a translated version. :( Hopefully that means there's a better chance that it has been translated into Dutch?

Oh I didn't know that, yes, that might be so :)! It looks like the library in Deurne has it, in Dutch, but not my local library. So it has been translated! I'm not sure how it works requesting a book from a different library, I think you might be able to if you're willing to pay for it. I'll have to look that up some time. It's currently loaned out though.

 

Kay, I hope you enjoy Gatsby's Girl.

 

EDIT: It looks like you can reserve a book from another local library, but you will have to pay. The site doesn't say how much, though, but I could look into doing that, some time, if the costs aren't too high.

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Even more evidence to back up my own theory that this book is not for me! :lol:

:yes:  :giggle2:

 

I'm quite capable of keeping myself awake at night without any help from outsiders  :blush2: 

Exactly!  :o  :giggle2:

 

Loved the review of The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers  :D 

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Thanks bobbs :) If you like the subject matter then I'm sure you'll love it as it's very interesting and thought provoking. Also, thanks to Jon's chatty style, it's an easy book to read and not as alarming as it might be in other hands.  

Thanks Hayley :) Haha .. yes .. I always thought that .. why did the patients never cotton on to it? :D

They've got it under control now hopefully .. I think the last break out was early nineties.

It was a woman who broke out mid seventies .. we didn't know that at the time of course. Might have made me less nervous but then .. she was a Broadmoor patient .. best not to be too trusting :blush2: I think it was about five/six hours before they found her but I don't think she'd got far in that time .. was hiding most probably (in my back garden :D

They had a couple of very alarming break outs at the beginning of the eighties .. both within a month of each other and one of them (a double murderer) wasn't recaptured for years and years  :hide:  

It's nice, in this changing world, to know that some things have stayed the same. I'm glad the siren is still sounded and that they don't just send local residents text alerts or something  :blush2: 

Probably the local vicinity is the safest place to be .. escapees probably want to get as far away as poss. You don't think of that as a child though.

 I don't know, they probably can't get very far unless it is a planned break out and they have a taxi booked. :D  It is a scary thought, and I'm very glad security has improved over the years.. I used to worry when the children were at three different schools, did I have to pick up in the order of age, locality, or maybe favouritism?  :P

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I love the cover, but I've never heard of the book, the author or even the publisher.  It's strange when you come across books that you have no idea where they came from, isn't it?  I've got a few of those on the shelves that both of us are convinced we didn't buy and weren't given to us. :lol:

I'm forever taking pics of book piles/hauls .. but I've been through my archives and can't see it pictured anywhere so still don't know how it came to be on the shelves (or in the cave .. as I told you  :blush2:  :D ) .. it must have blown in on the wind :DAnyway, it's going well so far  :smile:

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Oh I didn't know that, yes, that might be so :)! It looks like the library in Deurne has it, in Dutch, but not my local library. So it has been translated! I'm not sure how it works requesting a book from a different library, I think you might be able to if you're willing to pay for it. I'll have to look that up some time. It's currently loaned out though.

 

Kay, I hope you enjoy Gatsby's Girl.

 

EDIT: It looks like you can reserve a book from another local library, but you will have to pay. The site doesn't say how much, though, but I could look into doing that, some time, if the costs aren't too high.

Hopefully it will just be a nominal fee :) It's worth looking into anyway.

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 I don't know, they probably can't get very far unless it is a planned break out and they have a taxi booked. :D  It is a scary thought, and I'm very glad security has improved over the years.. I used to worry when the children were at three different schools, did I have to pick up in the order of age, locality, or maybe favouritism?  :P

:DYou wicked woman :D

I think they keep the prisoners pretty heavily sedated so it's probably all they can do to shuffle to the dining room. Actually Jon mentioned how overweight they were .. and I was shocked to hear that Peter Sutcliffe is now 20 stone  :o He snacks all the time on chocolate apparently and I guess that and the medication piles on the pounds. He won't be climbing over any walls anyway but I don't know .. I'm not vindictive or anything but should he be allowed chocolate? I'm not saying just give him bread and water .. well .. actually .. I am saying that  :blush2: 

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Met with the lovely Claire today and she lent me a couple of books .. Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens and The Apple Tart of Hope by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald :) I'm sure I will love them because books with titles like that can never be disappointing :D In any case Claire said they were good so it's guaranteed.

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Yes .. I wish he would. I thought he might have done actually .. I wasn't sure what his other books were about. Do any of them take place in Zamonia? I thought I noticed one called Rumo and there was a Rumo in the 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear .. wondered if it was the same one or something different altogether?

Thanks Gaia. Hope you can find a copy :)

 

Yes, most of his books take place in Zamonia. I read Rumo last year (and yes, it's the same Rumo). It was good, but nowhere near as good as Bluebear, I thought. I don't believe the books have to be read in any particular order. The second book in the Zamonia series, Hansel and Gretel, hasn't even been translated into English for some reason. :( I'm particularly looking forward to the next one in the series, which is called The City of Dreaming Books. Moers has since published another book directly related to TCoDB, called The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books, and a third one will be published in Germany late this year, The Castle of Dreaming Books. :)

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:DYou wicked woman :D

I think they keep the prisoners pretty heavily sedated so it's probably all they can do to shuffle to the dining room. Actually Jon mentioned how overweight they were .. and I was shocked to hear that Peter Sutcliffe is now 20 stone  :o He snacks all the time on chocolate apparently and I guess that and the medication piles on the pounds. He won't be climbing over any walls anyway but I don't know .. I'm not vindictive or anything but should he be allowed chocolate? I'm not saying just give him bread and water .. well .. actually .. I am saying that  :blush2: 

 

In an odd coincidence, talking about Broadmoor, I listened to A Good Read on the drive home yesterday, and Harriet was talking about English bull terriers after reading The Incredible Journey and said that there had a been a child murderer escape from Broadmoor and rather than not let the children out to play, her mother had bought a English bull terrier as they are ferociously protective of the children in their home.

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Why, thank you Marie :D

I'm on the reserve list from the library now, so I'll have a chortle at The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear soon  :smile: . Good old libraries :cool:  

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Yes, most of his books take place in Zamonia. I read Rumo last year (and yes, it's the same Rumo). It was good, but nowhere near as good as Bluebear, I thought. I don't believe the books have to be read in any particular order. The second book in the Zamonia series, Hansel and Gretel, hasn't even been translated into English for some reason. :( I'm particularly looking forward to the next one in the series, which is called The City of Dreaming Books. Moers has since published another book directly related to TCoDB, called The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books, and a third one will be published in Germany late this year, The Castle of Dreaming Books. :)

Ah that's interesting. I love the Dreaming Books titles .. they're going to be great surely :D Pity Hansel and Gretel hasn't been translated .. perhaps it will be. Thanks for the info Kylie :hug:

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In an odd coincidence, talking about Broadmoor, I listened to A Good Read on the drive home yesterday, and Harriet was talking about English bull terriers after reading The Incredible Journey and said that there had a been a child murderer escape from Broadmoor and rather than not let the children out to play, her mother had bought a English bull terrier as they are ferociously protective of the children in their home.

:D Good excuse to get a dog number 142 :D (companion book to good excuse to buy a book :D) I had dogs as a child but they would have run behind me for cover if a psychopath had come along  :D

Coincidences pop up everywhere don't they? There was a programme on last night just before Wolf Hall talking about suffragettes and they were profiling Mary Wollstonecraft (Mary Shelley's mum and leading advocate of women's rights) and she was in the book I've just read .. a fictional re-imagining of her anyway. All these little things make the cogs go round and stop one from thinking about cake .. for five mins :D

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Lovely prezzies from Claire. Look at the lovely paper!!!!! I didn't want to open them  :blush2: (blatant lie .. there were prezzies inside but I peeled the paper off very carefully .. I think I can put the bits I've salvaged in frames :)

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Very exciting booky and choccy contents :wub:

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Doll Bones has been on my wishlist for a while. I am both scared of it and incredibly drawn to it :DAs it's written for children I think I'll cope :blush2: .. I do love to be deliciously frightened in a twelve year old type way. I'm looking forward to The Norfolk Mystery .. it says all sorts of things on the blurb about Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle which tells me I'll love it. 

And look .. three bars of delicious choccy :wub: Eton Mess, Rocky Road and Brulee ... OMG!! The bad news is that I didn't have the foresight to open these prezzies in private. Him indoors has seen the chocolate and will be expecting sharesies. Lion's sharesies!! Will need to be stealthy about it :blush2: Actually, we always watch Wolf Hall with choccy and I did let him pick which bar to open so we have sampled the Rocky Road already .. or I should say .. we have eaten it  :blush2: It was delish!

 

Lovely presents Claire :hug: Thank you so much xx  :flowers2: 

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