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On 20/11/2020 at 2:06 PM, Chrissy said:

 

When you responded to my post in the reading thread, I wondered how I had missed your review - but my forum negligence knows no bounds this year, so there we go. 

 

 

Pff...

 

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I read your review, and all I can say is that I was clearly not critical enough in even my thinking. I had been waiting for, and very much looking forward to the Ace and Yaz conversation that the story seemed to be heading toward, and it did not happen! How did I manage to miss that? Upon proper reflection I am additionally miffed at the skimming over of the Ace/Dorothy and the Doctor relationship, only touched upon by a couple of exchanges. 

 

 

It's faded from my memory, but did they even talk over why Ace left? (after the events in the book, so there was some context given everything that happened?)  I don't remember them doing so...

 

I would say that School Reunion (the David Tennant story with Sarah-Jane Smith) is a good example of how to do a "companion meets the Doctor again" story, this, less so.  Just having an ex-companion in a story isn't enough, there needs to be some examination of their previous relationship and how they have changed since they parted, and the wider story needs to support that.  I don't think this book did either of the two very well. 

 

I can see why Moffat and Co. have continually said they will only bring old characters back if the story supports it.

 

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Yep, I was fangirling...

 

 

Sitting there, wearing a jacket covered in badges...

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They didn't properly talked about things at all. There are two moments, one between the Doctor and Yaz, then later between the Doctor and Ace, but these nudge the subject, but don't properly address it. 

 

Dammit Raven, you mentioned School Reunion. I LOVED that episode! You are completely correct about it being a really good example (although I found Rose bloody annoying in it at times!). 

 

A badge jacket! Mmmmm, perhaps if I google it, maybe I could get hold of a........................:D

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Given up on Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O'Keefe. 

 

It's rare for me to admit defeat but I feel like I've been reading this forever and I'm still only 60% in.  The story is going nowhere, it's poorly written and knowing this is the first book of a trilogy I can think of better ways to pass the time (staring at a blank wall, for instance).

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I started reading Mike Gayle's latest novel, but couldn't get into it, so I've resorted to an old favourite, 500 Mile Walkies, by Mark Wallington

 

I thought I had read this relatively recently, but scrolling through my reading history I see I last read it in 2014!

 

Still, seems to be working; nearly half read in two days, which is lightening fast for me at the moment..

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On 09/12/2020 at 8:18 PM, Raven said:

I thought I had read this relatively recently, but scrolling through my reading history I see I last read it in 2014!

 

It never ceases to amaze me how long ago I seem to have read a book. Looked up one the other day that I thought I had read the year before last, and it was 2015. Got back into the Donna Leons a month or so ago, thinking I'd had 3 or 4 years off, only to find out that it's 9 years!

 

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On 09/12/2020 at 8:18 PM, Raven said:

I started reading Mike Gayle's latest novel, but couldn't get into it, so I've resorted to an old favourite, 500 Mile Walkies, by Mark Wallington

500 Mile Walkies is one of my very favourites :). Always a good book to read when you need something to cheer you up.

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4 hours ago, Marie H said:

500 Mile Walkies is one of my very favourites :). Always a good book to read when you need something to cheer you up.

 

It is very much comfort reading for me.

 

I first read the book as a teenager in the mid/late 80s, and have re-read it every few years ever since.  I grew up in the West Country so know the Devon and Cornwall coast quite well, and this book brings back a heavy hit of nostalgia (especially now) for places I haven't seen for many years.  Wallington also has a knack for seamlessly blending the imparting of information with humour that makes the book an enjoyable read.

 

Have you read any of his other books? 

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Boogie Up The River: One Man and His Dog to the Source of the Thames was good too, and the same vein as 500 walkies. It’s a long time since I read these books, 1987ish. I think I have read the Destination Lapland book, but I’m not sure; but it isn’t as memorable as 500 walkies/Boogie up the river.

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7 hours ago, Marie H said:

Boogie Up The River: One Man and His Dog to the Source of the Thames was good too, and the same vein as 500 walkies. It’s a long time since I read these books, 1987ish. I think I have read the Destination Lapland book, but I’m not sure; but it isn’t as memorable as 500 walkies/Boogie up the river.

 

I like Destination Lapland, and actually prefer it to Boogie up the River, which will good seems to run out of steam towards the end (and the sub-plot with his girlfriend is a bit of a distraction).

 

If you haven't read it, The Uke of Wallington is pretty good.

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On 12/10/2020 at 9:18 AM, Raven said:

I started reading Mike Gayle's latest novel, but couldn't get into it, so I've resorted to an old favourite, 500 Mile Walkies, by Mark Wallington

 

I thought I had read this relatively recently, but scrolling through my reading history I see I last read it in 2014!

 

Still, seems to be working; nearly half read in two days, which is lightening fast for me at the moment..

 

On 12/13/2020 at 4:50 AM, Marie H said:

500 Mile Walkies is one of my very favourites :). Always a good book to read when you need something to cheer you up.

 

I really like the look of this and have bookmarked it in my library list. It's probably nothing like it, but loved Laurie Lee's As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning.

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4 minutes ago, poppy said:

 

I really like the look of this and have bookmarked it in my library list. It's probably nothing like it, but loved Laurie Lee's As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning.

 

 

It's very good, I hope you enjoy it! (I'll have to look up the Laurie Lee book!)

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16 hours ago, Raven said:

 

I like Destination Lapland, and actually prefer it to Boogie up the River, which will good seems to run out of steam towards the end (and the sub-plot with his girlfriend is a bit of a distraction).

I’d forgotten about the girlfriend, and don’t remember if she actually arrived in the end.

I think Wallington had a better “relationship” with Delia Smith and her One is Fun cookbook really. Most memorable disaster when he didn’t have anything to eat, as Boogie had peed on the box of matches. I think Boogie had some lovely raw bacon for supper :lol:.

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9 hours ago, Marie H said:

 

I’d forgotten about the girlfriend, and don’t remember if she actually arrived in the end.

 

 

She did, but not for long.

 

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I think Wallington had a better “relationship” with Delia Smith and her One is Fun cookbook really. Most memorable disaster when he didn’t have anything to eat, as Boogie had peed on the box of matches. I think Boogie had some lovely raw bacon for supper :lol:.

 


I think you have things turned around a bit there. The book Wallington is carrying around with him is Food for Free, by Richard Mabey, and he has a very poor meal off the back of it (nettles and limpets - yum!) 

 

He also tries to cook spaghetti carbonara at one point, only to find his matches have been peed on by a dog - not Boogie - but Boogie does end up with the bacon!

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9 hours ago, Marie H said:

 

Oh, now I remember Wallington picking limpets from the shore, but after cooking, they were disgusting and rubbery.

 

 

Read this section this evening. 

 

Spaghetti carbonara isn't far off, either, I know that is just after Plymouth.

 

I think the funniest part of the book is in Padstow, when Mark starts stuttering when asking for directions from someone else who stutters.

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Well, I managed to squeeze in a new Rivers of London graphic novel at the end of the year to get my total to 14 for the year, but that still feels like failure given the way things have spun out this year...

 

I don't really do New Year's resolutions, but I will make some book related ones now for 2021:

 

- I will read more than I did in 2020

- All of the books I read in 2021 will be new to me

- One of the new books I read in 2021 will be a classic novel

 

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7 hours ago, Chrissy said:

 

Any idea what classic novel you might read?

 

 

Not sure. 

 

I was looking at The Pickwick Papers recently, but I've noticed that Penguin seem to be rebranding their classics range again so I've held off buying a copy. 

 

I have a copy of Great Expectations, and I have also tried reading Moby Dick a couple of times, perhaps this might be the year I finally finish it!

 

I've also been meaning to read Dracula and Frankenstein as well, so who knows!

 

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On 03/01/2021 at 5:36 PM, Raven said:

 

Not sure. 

 

I was looking at The Pickwick Papers recently, but I've noticed that Penguin seem to be rebranding their classics range again so I've held off buying a copy. 

Oooooh I hadn’t seen this! Do we know what they’re going to look like yet? 

 

I love Great Expectations, Frankenstein and Dracula. If I was going to re-read one right now I think I’d pick Dracula. I hated Moby Dick though. Such a promising start and then you reach the chapters about whaling... 

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