alicedrinkwater

Although I do like What Maisie Knew, I abandoned it for now, as my mind is too preoccupied with other things to fully focus on it, and it needs my full attention. It really was! Sometimes I like really bad books, but they have to at least keep me entertained. This one didn't. I will be getting to some more Philippa Gregory soon! My next read (which I will finish, dammit!) is The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey, a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. It's the perfect read for my current love life.

Well, I've abandoned the last two books I tried, The Redemption of Althalus, which I will not pick up again and What Maisie Knew, which I will try again. It's a good book, I'm just not in the mindset for it right now. I did finish The Doll, a book of very early short stories by Daphne Du Maurier but have yet to leave my thoughts. I will some time soon. The stories were mostly surprisingly good.

Me, too! In fact, here is what I am listening to right now: My favorite band. You have great taste, frankie!

Thank you, poppy! Thank you, Nollaig. It is very unpleasant. I know what you mean about being very quiet. In my own way, I'm not an outgoing person. I can talk to people, and I have opinions, but I prefer to keep to myself and many don't understand that. The ones that do end up being my closest friends. That is true, frankie. That's one of the reasons I would never want to be a supervisor. Some part of me would always feel guilty when I had to delegate crappy jobs or fire someone. At least she doesn't have the power to fire me. Timstar, it truly is a great novel, so different. Yes, it's fantasy, but it's not like any other fantasy I have read. The fantasy is implied, rather than overt, which created such an overwhelming feeling of being not quite asleep, not quite awake. That's the best I can describe it. It just filled me with such an awesome sense of wonder, longing, and sadness. I won't let her get to me too much. I'll just ignore her. I do my job, so what is she going to do to me?

Actually, I'm surprised. I'm almost half way through, and it's not as difficult as I thought it would be. It's a disturbing read, and a book I do have to concentrate on, but it is a good read. Maisie is a tragic character. My heart breaks for her. The saddest part is she doesn't know how awful her childhood is.

Oh, I work in a very crappy retail environment. I've only been there a little over a year and have no loyalty to the company. I could do the same job somewhere else. I was so shocked when this girl was promoted. Multiple employees have major issues with her. I guess her nasty attitude and aggressiveness is what they look for in managers, though. Thanks! I'll deal with it, just not happy about it.

I gave up on The Redemption of Althalus. Too much telling and not showing, too many characters that were cute in the beginning became annoying with the constant silly bantering back and forth, and too many plot holes. Oh, well. I'm going to try the difficult The Ambassadors by Henry James. Wish me luck! Actually, changed my mind. I'm going with What Maisie Knew instead of The Ambassadors. It's shorter and I find the theme more intriguing.

It's frustrating and maddening when life keeps you from reading a book as much as you would like to. They just promoted a girl at work who has not liked me from day one to a supervisor, so it's time for me to look for another job. I've never let her use me for her own purposes, so she has held that against me. I hate politics in the workplace.

I didn't care that much for The Road, either. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I must admit, that book had me blubbering like an idiot in the last chapter, and while I love all animals, I'm not specifically a dog lover.

I'm halfway through it and still enjoying it, although sometimes my eyes glaze over when an author goes into detail about battle tactics. I guess war is really not my thing.

Mr. Wolfe is supposed to be working on a sequel to that one, called Interlibrary Loan. If A Borrowed Man is as good as it sounds, I'll be biting my nails for the sequel as well. Here is another one I am looking forward to. The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons.

I can tell you that most people that read David Eddings and like his work prefer The Belgariad and The Malleorian series. I didn't like them at all. But I did like The Elenium and The Tamuli series with Sparhawk and Aphrael, two very lovable characters. So far I am enjoying The Redemption of Althalus. Typical Eddings. Light, fun, and engaging.

Ooooh, that is a nice cover. Yes, definitely! Get a copy if you can. It's by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It's an old book, written in the early 70s, but one of the best books about first contact I've read. The most difficult part of the book for me was the scientific terminology and it dragged a little in the beginning, but it wasn't that bad. The "Moties" were fascinating.

1. The Tree of Life 2. The Shawshank Redemption 3. Rebecca 4. 2001: A Space Odyssey 5. A.I. 6. Pursuit of Happyness 7. You've Got Mail 8. Planet of the Apes 9. It Happened One Night 10. West Side Story I haven't seen 12 Monkeys, but I have heard great things about it, so I need to see it.

I will definitely pick up one or the other when I am ready for my next sci--fi read. I have both! I love stories with weird and wonderful aliens. I read The Mote in God's Eye years ago and that was a great read. I will have to read that one again some day! In other news, I finished The Doll: The Lost Short Stories by Daphne Du Maurier and it was better than I expected. I have just started on The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings.

Thank you! Oh, I meant that I found using stars annoying, that's why I switched. It was a great read, as was Kafka on the Shore and After Dark. I haven't read The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, but I have heard great things about it, so I will some day.

I really need to start this series, or at least the first book. I have loved everything else I have read by her. You should read Kafka on the Shore. I haven't read IQ84 yet. I think I did read The Elephant Vanishes, but Murakami's short stories don't leave an impression on me like his novels do. I have no problem if the three of us read Nineteen Minutes together. It should be fun! Hmmm, quite a bit, actually. I think I might have most of his books. I did try reading The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge but I don't remember much about it, as none of his short stories drew me in. Maybe you could tell me which novel of his you think is the best to start with. I probably have it. Which reminds me, I am sure there are many good reads that people on this forum could recommend to me, but I already have so many unread books on my shelves, I can't take a chance at being influenced to BUY anything more.

I have a few coming out this year that I am looking forward to. Well, some of them are already released in hardback, but I normally wait for the paperback. The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb (I still need to read the last four that came out before this one, though.) The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donohue A Borrowed Man by Gene Wolfe Here is a synopsis of the last one! Cannot wait! It is perhaps a hundred years in the future, our civilization is gone, and another is in place in North America, but it retains many familiar things and structures. Although the population is now small, there is advanced technology, there are robots, and there are clones. E. A. Smithe is a borrowed person. He is a clone who lives on a third-tier shelf in a public library, and his personality is an uploaded recording of a deceased mystery writer. Smithe is a piece of property, not a legal human. A wealthy patron, Colette Coldbrook, takes him from the library because he is the surviving personality of the author of "Murder on Mars." A physical copy of that book was in the possession of her murdered father, and it contains an important secret, the key to immense family wealth. It is lost, and Colette is afraid of the police. She borrows Smithe to help her find the book and to find out what the secret is. And then the plot gets complicated.

I have this one, and a few other Vernor Vinge novels, but I keep not picking any of them up. I would love hear your thoughts when finished. I finished Godbody by Theodore Sturgeon and plan on starting The Doll by Daphne Du Maurier.

Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami My rating: 4/5 My thoughts: In typical Murakami fashion, he tells a story about ordinary people that have extraordinary events happen to them. Stepping into a Murakami novel is like stepping into an abstract painting, one in which there are solid shapes, but no right angles or completeness. Imagine your most bizarre dreams written as if they are reality, as if they are not bizarre but blase or commonplace. That's what a Murakami novel is like, although this one was almost "normal". The story is told in the first person by an unnamed narrator, who believes he is being contacted with a message from a past lover named Kiki. While he searches for her, he meets some colorful characters along the way; a shy hotel clerk, a psychic 13 year old with absentee parents, and he also reunites with a long lost friend from high school, who is now a struggling actor. This book feels like a dance, one in which you are not sure where the next reeling turn will take you. In the end, things seem to come full circle. But did the dance end? An excellent read, and my favorite thus far by Murakami. Godbody by Theodore Sturgeon My rating: 4/5 My thoughts: Sturgeon is more of a short story master than a novelist, so I kept that in mind when I read this short, but sweet, novel. This is a re-telling of the Christ story, one that would probably offend puritan Christians. A naked man shows up in a small American town who calls himself "Godbody". He touches some people's lives and bodies while he is there, and they will never be the same. Each chapter is told from a different character's point of view, and Sturgeon excels at this. There is quite a lot of explicit sex in this book, but I wouldn't call it pornography. Sex, or physical intimacy, in it's highest form, is Love. That is what this book illustrates, in Sturgeon's always poetic voice. I loved it, but my ideas of "God" and "Jesus" are similar to Sturgeons'. It's not what I think of as a "religious" book, although I would call it preachy. It's just my type of preaching. My next read is The Doll, a book of short stories by Daphne Du Maurier. Obviously, I can't keep to my projected reading order. Also, I'm no longer using stars for my ratings. It's too annoying.

Hi and welcome! The only John Connolly I have read is The Book of Lost Things, which I loved. I hope you find some more authors and books to enjoy here.

I'm sure I'll enjoy it! It is on my bookshelf.

I have never read a Western before, but I do have Doc my Mary Doria Russell on my bookshelf and I think I might enjoy it. I have read The Sparrow and Children of God by her, which were excellent books, so I'm willing to give her novel about Doc Holiday a try. She is also coming out with a follow up to Doc next year called Epitaph.

House Rules was truly excellent! I finished Dance Dance Dance today by Haruki Murakami, but I'm not ready to review it yet. I loved it, like the other two I read by him, but I have difficulty explaining why I love his books. They are surreal, although this one was actually more "normal" than the other two I read. I'm starting on Godbody by Theodore Sturgeon today. Maybe when I finish that one (it's short) I'll write a review of both books.