Onion Budgie

The new font is too small, thin and faint! At least, it is for Chrome, and they don't seem to have applied a fix that works for it yet. I can increase the magnification, so it's not too much of a problem for me personally, although it's a little blurry, but the changes are causing eyestrain and headaches for a LOT of people.

A little bit of sunshine here in Norfolk today. It won't be a white Christmas, I can tell you that much! Actually, I can't remember the last time that we had a white Christmas here. We did have a white Boxing Day once, somewhere back in the '90s. Probably won't happen again!

I think it's a good idea. I have fond memories of our class reading J.B. Priestley's "An Inspector Calls" aloud, with members of our class taking on the various characters. I was the Inspector, and loved it! Reading a play in this way seemed to be a good method of engaging the entire class. "An Inspector Calls" was one of the more enjoyable works we were given to read as a group. (I *hated* Shakespeare! Ugh!) You don't need to dramatise a play to appreciate its worth. Any Oscar Wilde play, for example, sparkles with wit and wordplay, and can easily stand on its own merit when simply read aloud. The most important thing here, I feel, is that students are given works -- plays, literature, either, both -- that they can *connect* with, that will ignite that spark of creativity. Otherwise they won't want to read, they won't want to learn; they'll just sit at their desk like a sack of potatoes and gaze out of the window, waiting for the bell to ring.

I loved Hyperbole and a Half so much that I've bought a copy for my father as one of his Christmas presents this year. I hope he likes it.

I have two so far -- although neither of them are novels. The first is the trade paperback of Midnighter, which is a new superhero comic series. I don't usually enjoy superhero stuff, but this one appealed to me. It's coming out in March. The second is Allie Brosh's new collection of cartoons and thoughts, Solutions and Other Problems. The publication date keeps getting pushed back, so I'm not sure when it will emerge -- but hopefully at some point next year.

I feel this. In fact, it was only just this year that I finally got around to reading a few of the books on my shelf that had been sat there for over 20 years! And they were fantastic, too.

Someone I'm friends with on GoodReads has read 401 books so far this year. Yep. 401. A lot of them are poetry books, but even so!

Ooh, I do hope that you enjoy Beautiful Darkness. It's one of those books that stays with you long after you've read it. It has some astonishing (and horrifying) twists and turns.

Thanks for the clarification! I saw older threads on other topics elsewhere that had been recently bumped, but just wanted to be sure.

Hope you enjoy it! Yes, Maurice is set between 1909 and 1912.

Have you read 'My Name is N' by Robert Karjel? (It has the alternative title of 'The Swede'.) I read it earlier this year, and rather enjoyed it. It has a nice, twisty ending. It was my first ever thriller, though, so I have nothing to compare it with!

1. Mystery in White, A Christmas Crime Story, by J. Jefferson Farjeon This book would be perfect for reading by the fire. A mysterious house on Christmas Eve, hemmed in by snow, so much snow, with blazing fires that an unknown someone has lit, and a table set for tea, but with no-one at home... (I'm currently reading this, and thoroughly enjoying it.) 2. Hercule Poirot's Christmas, by Agatha Christie (Another mystery for fireside reading!) 3. A Christmas Memory, by Truman Capote (A nostalgic and bittersweet childhood story.) 4. Comfort and Joy, by Jim Grimsley (A seasonal M/M romance. I need to re-read it.) 5. The Night Before Christmas, by Walter Wick (This is a picture puzzle book that's really aimed towards kids. But I'm a big kid, and this is such a beautifully photographed book, and so fun to look at.)

Spike Milligan had a good run with retellings of classics. Among others, he retold The Hound of the Baskervilles, Wuthering Heights, and The Bible, and all with a humorous twist. I remember The Bible one in particular being laugh out loud funny!

Yes! I've also recently discovered graphic novels. I'd particularly recommend the Locke & Key series, by Joe Hill (who is Stephen King's son). It's magnificent. The sixth and final volume in particular is extremely moving. Also Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann, which is deliciously dark and thought provoking. I also enjoy Craig Thompson's work. Blankets and Good-Bye, Chunky Rice are two of my favourites by him. They are sweet and nostalgic.

I keep mine tucked inside my letter rack. They're mostly made of card, or leather. I can't abide the clip type, or anything too bulky with danging beads or tassels. I have an impressive collection of free ones from The Book Depository! They're lovely.

"The Great Snow began on the evening of December 19th." Mystery in White, A Christmas Crime Story, by J. Jefferson Farjeon There *is* a hefty amount of snow in this book, and I'm enjoying it muchly.

Hope it's ok to bump this thread, after such a long interval! Here are a few personal favourites, that have variously inspired, delighted, and amused me: Maurice by E.M. Forster Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote City of Night by John Rechy Skin Lane by Neil Bartlett Queer by William S. Burroughs The Passion by Jeanette Winterson Sucking Sherbet Lemons / Stripping Penguins Bare / Yanking up the Yoyo -- all by Michael Carson Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

The book at the top of my wishlist is The Great Forgetting by James Renner. I recently read his first novel, The Man From Primrose Lane, and thought it was just about the best thing ever, so I'm eager to read his latest. BUT, it's currently only in hardback, and I'd prefer to wait until it reaches paperback, so... Other than that, I have a few graphic novels on the list that I can't really justify forking out wads of cash for at the moment (boy, can those things be expensive), and a few other books that I'll pick up when my TBR pile begins to shrink a little. In total, no more than 7 right now.

9,000! That's surely just clicking away madly with no real intent. Either that, or they've inherited a library.

I don't game nearly as much as I used to. For many years I was hugely into point & click adventure gaming, but that interest has fallen away somewhat. The quality of the new games being released has contributed to that -- there's a lot of cack out there! I find myself returning to Journey (on the PS3), and wonderful Skyrim. I never get tired of playing either of these.

My pile is (just about) manageable. I have 72 in my TBR. The problem is, I keep adding to it! I don't believe that I will ever clear the pile, because books are too irresistible. And don't start me on the re-reads that I'd really love to get to again. There's a whole other pile of those. Aieee!

I joined Goodreads at the beginning of this year, and that has *significantly* increased my reading rate. So far this year, I've read 32 books. Before Goodreads I'd feel mightily pleased if I scraped through a dozen. I do like to take my time with books, though. I can't skim, or speed-read; somehow, to me, that seems disrespectful to the author.

I've found rail tickets, old postcards, folded Post-It notes. Nothing unique. From time to time I find scribbles from the previous owner. A secondhand Agatha Christie novel I recently bought had a page at the back showing the titles of many of her previous novels. The last owner had carefully ticked off all those they had read, and underlined others. I bought a secondhand copy of Jean Genet's 'Querelle' many years ago, where a vast number of the sentences had been underlined and asterisked. I found it to be a little distracting!