Busy_Bee

Hi, thank you

I'm curently reading Susanna Clarke "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell" (on p.65 out of 1006) and I really like it.

4th - The girl who read on the metro (???)Christin Feret -Fleury This is a French book so I'm not sure if the title is correct (I found this one on Amazon). It's funny in an akward sort of way. I blame the translation as the logic was totally missing in some places and I had to read one paragraph three times in a row to understand why were the characters laughing so hard (with tears rolling down their faces) and I didn't succeed. Some expressions and phrases were odd and the translator made a peculiar choice of words. I think it was meant to be "Amelie"-ish and some parts (though short) were really good, but all in all, everything seemed to me a bit unrealistic and far-fetched. But as this book is about the young woman who liked books there was a long list of literature in it that might be useful for me one day.

"A wizard is never late , nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to"

How to find time to re-read all these brilliant books I've discovered through the years when there're so many treasures that are waiting for me

Indeed, he is! I was glad to discover more of his books as I tend to read those that appear in different list (especially when I'm in a reading slump) and only Three Men in a Boat was seen everywhere, but I stumbled upon a publishing house with entirely unknown works (his and other author's) and finally was "forced" to enjoy some more of witticisms

3d - Diary of piligrimage by Jerome K. Jerome. Again travelling and hilarious adventures, I liked the satire on travellers and their habits.

2nd The end of the sky by Sandi Toksvig The book is amazing! Now I want to be an adventurer riding a horse through the great prairies or at least to be a humble cowboy (or cowgirl) For me, it is like The grapes of wrath but kind of a much lighter version despite of the equally hard, sorrowful and desperate times for the heroes. In this book I aslo see so much hope and joy and life and kindness that I'd advise it to anyone who is feeling a bit down. And now I know that I definitely like adventure stories (and should read more of them) even with the deus ex machina from time to time because it's the way it should be, a legend that inspires people, so a bit of drama with a miraculous end wouldn't hurt The Hannigans were pictured so vividly in my imagination that now I find it hard not to refer to them as real people, they are all so warm, kind and compassionate, they show such will to live and to protect each other, in many ways they are an example to follow. I have been to the end of the earth, I have been to the end of the waters, I have been to the end of the sky. I have been to the end of the mountains, I have found none that are not my friends. Navajo proverb

It's so pleasant sometimes to read something that reminds you about a particular period in your life, plus a great opportunity to revalue the story and open up so many nuances that weren't noticed. I experienced the benefit of it when I re-read the Lermontov's A hero of our time I have finally understood the hero and the motives, something I wasn't able to do when I was 13.

Thank you!

Happy new reading year to everyone! 1st - Wind in the willows I wish we all were and had such amazing friends as the Badger, Mole and Water Rat were to blithe Mr Toad. Admired introduction by Alan Milne.

40th - Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Occasionally I switch to the children's books, they allow me to bring some magic into my life, see the world from the child's perspective. In these books I find so many peculiar ideas and images that my logic-centered mind cannot produce anymore. I knew Peter Pan by the cartoon I watched a thousand times when I was a kid and I am so glad to finally get acquainted with the book version of the little boy's story. It was beautiful but sad. This fairy tale definitely became one of my favourite ones.

39th - A tale of two cities. I enjoyed reading this one like nothing else. It's been a long time since any book made me cry (was it A tree that grows in Brooklyn or Gone with the wind the last?). It also reminded me The gadfly and some of Balzac. The first part of the book was all tenderness and sorrow as ode to the lost hopes, but the second one was all fire, hatred and revenge, true depiction of the complexity of human nature. Sydney Carton has his own place in my reader's heart from now on.

Well, I only hope that I'll be able to improve my English, reading in it influences the way I speak, think or write a lot, I suppose now it's a mixture of the Jane Austen novels and QI . Oh, I've had my eyes on this one for many moonsI've read a substantial amount of French literature and it always makes me feel every part of the character's soul so vividly (as if his/her life experienced myself), that I even fear it

Not late at all, I am eager to hear all the recommendations about these series I can and I am already trying to find Mort in online bookshops.

You're right, I'm not a native English speaker, so apologies for my clumsy way of expressing myself if that betrayed me (I really try) All the books that were originally written in English I read in English as I find the translations to be the work of two minds (the author's and the translator's) whereas I want to read the original text and feel exactly what the author wanted to picture in my imagination. And it (my non-English background) may be one of the reasons why Middlemarch went slowly, hope that in some period of time I'll be able to reread and like it better.

The 38th - Middlemarch by G. Eliot. The book was advertised to me, thrown at mу feet (eyes to be exact) in many other books, it was refered to as being one of the true literary masterpieces. So I followed the lead. To say it was a hard read - to say nothing. But I don't blame the book, it's great, just not exactly what I needed those cold and joyless November evenings after hard days of work. The first half of it I've been reading for about 2 weeks, but the second half was absorbed for two days (magic of my determination). It's been quite a long time since I've read classics, so it was hard for me to go through the paragraphless, dialogueless passages and musings pages and pages long. But then again, I was really into every detail when my mood was up to the fully immersed reading. To my enjoyment, the book was the revelation of the complex characters (I really liked their true-to-life description, when even the most virtuous and pleasant characters had real annoying shortcomings and the most hideous and unpleasant ones had a conscious (or something like it)), and to my amusement, I don't think I've ever read something quite like it, though I'm well-acquainted with the majority of 19th century writers (well-known at least). Nevertheless, the experience was a controversial one. I wonder, would have I enjoyed it more in case the reading had taken place during sunny June or July rather than in gloomy November.

Same thing for me, always find it quite hard to convince myself to start reading something epically huge, but once I start - I won't stop, sheer stubborness will make me finish the book even if I don't really like it (though I'm not sure this is a wise attitude). I guess, that's because I like reading fast and 400-500 pages is a very comfortable amount of pages, the longest book I've read consciously (not because of the school programm withTolstoy and Dostoyevsky) is It by King and Gone with the wind.

I was going for the Mort (funny, how enigmatic and alluring Death-centered books are) at first, but then I discovered that it's a part of the series of books, so I decided to read them in case some details in other books are important for further understanding) But I'm looking forward to reading it! That's exactly what put me off reading the Discworld at first, I like characters that have to face unusual and crazy worlds with no skills or powers (because if you happen to be in the made-up universe, you want it to be exciting and challenging for the heroes). So I had doubts about these series, but in the Colour of Magic I found such a great humour and plot twists that are almost as insane as in the Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, so I was into it from the very first page (well, not from the first exactly, but from 20th for sure).

I'm glad you feel the same, alas, I didn't even know about these series when I was a teenager, otherwise I would have devoured them. But any age is a good time for them, a good injection from the daily routine)

37 so far (looking at some figures here and thinking I'm not an intensively reading person at all), but already glad that it's more than the last year's number

37th - The Colour of Magic Well, despite the slow reading in the begining I finished it quite easily. And it was the book I completeley adored. First of all, it reminded me one of my most (MOST) favourite book series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that I think to be a true masterpiece and celebration of Adams' imagination and wit. The Colour too created an entire Universe inside my fertile and greatful mind, I do so love this and what seems to be even more spectacular is that there are so many books in the Discworld series. For now I think I'll let the concept float in my head, but whenever I'll feel the urge for the made-up worlds, I'll come to Pratchett.

Thanks for recommendations! I haven't read any of them, so I am writing them down into my list

Thank you for being so welcoming!)

36th this year is the re-reading of "The Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society". It's not every day (or better say every book) that I want to read something again. On the top of my most read books is"Pride and prejudice". And it was lonely there before "The ... society". Of course I was reminded of this epistolar novel by the film, which I loved by the way. There is something peculiar about reading books in forms of letters,I find myself even closer to the character than with the 1st-face naration, don't know why. Same admiration was for the "84, Charing Cross Road". And I liked to see the differences and a particular choice of topics even with the closest friends in he letters - love-matters to a feemale friend, troubles and worries to a male-friend. And the whole business of writing letters seems to be so intimate, so uniting even for the people countries apart that I can't help admiring the genre. Perhaps it's just that I live in the days when people around think letters (even email) to be obsolete and unnecessary. All in all, I loved the topic, the characters I believed them and in them.