Kell
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Posts posted by Kell
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I've read The Prestige (which is EXCELLENT) and also The Separation (also very good). Both deal with a slightly alternative history to our own but within a believable context, and both use misdirection and imperfect memory to great advantage.
Priest is a brilliant writer and I keep meaning to get hold of more of his books. He can be a bit mind bending, but if you just go with it and use your brain, it's an exhilirating ride and well work giving him a try!
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Our flat is finally up for sale! It hit the market on Wednesday evening, we had four viewings yesterday (Thursday) and have 3 booked so far for today (Friday). Dead chuffed with the amount of interest so far. Fingers crossed for a good price!
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Here's one of me taken on Saturday to show my pregnant bump at 28 weeks. All was going well, but Xan decided to photo bomb me at the very last second which, in my opinion, made the pic much better! We couldn't stop laughing - he's never done anything like that before!
Loving all the new pics - it's always lovely to see everyone's faces, both new and established.
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I've not read many:
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON Daniel Keyes
FRANKENSTEIN Mary Shelley
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Douglas Adams
THE INVISIBLE MAN H.G. Wells
THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU H.G. Wells
THE PRESTIGE Christopher Priest
THE TIME MACHINE H. G. Wells
THE TIME MACHINE/THE WAR OF THE WORLDS H. G. Wells
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS H.G. Wells
What's going on with the last three here though? Two books both mentioned twice? And no John Wyndham anywhere on the list? Where's Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos? Both of those, at the very least, deserve to be on a list of best sci-fi.
Out of the ones I've read, I highly recommend The Prestige - it's brilliant. Priest's style of writing is just wonderful. And Flowers For Algernon will make you cry. For definite.
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We were very lucky in that our son's nightlight doubles as a torch, so it charges on its stand. If it hadn't been for that, we couldn't have found the candles and matches - LOL!
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It's OK for latecomers to leave posts too - the thread will stay open indefinitely (as with all the reading circle threads) so that members can comment far into the future.
My hubby is like you - we had a power cut of maybe 5 hours one evening about 2 years ago (in the winter) and he was at a complete loss as to what to do without his computer, TV and music for entertainment. Whereas I was quite happily setting up candles and settling down with a god book, thankful for the peace and quiet - LOL! I couldn't live the pioneering lifestyle permanently, but I could certainly do it for a short while, just for the experience. Or at least a pared down version of modern life, with lots of "modern conveniences" removed - I know I could handle it for a week or two without going completely mental - LOL!
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Yes, Xan always has a say in what stays ad what goes if it's his things, but he's always been very good about it - toys, books, whatever - if anything is torn or broken, it goes in the bin. if anything is a bit "young" for him, it gets donated - he always says things like "another littler boy or girl can have this now!" and it makes him happy to think of someone else enjoying it. He's such a sweet boy!
My sister and I have been donating our books to our old library for a couple of years now. Our old school got knocked down and rebuilt and the school library is now also the public library - still has the same librarian. We both spent a lot of time in there (reading and escaping from bullies) and got very friendly with the librarian, so that place was the one area of school which gave us fond memories. Between us we must have handed over about a thousand books or so over the last 2 or three years, as we regularly have clear-outs and pass books back and forwards between ourselves as well.
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Well, just had a MASSIVE clear-out of books prior to moving. We're trying to cut down on the amount of stuff we'll have to pack when we move in September, so I decided to cull both Mount TBR and my permanent collection. I have been ruthless. I still have most of my permanent collection intact, but Mount TBR has suffered greatly - it's now about a third the size it was!
Still, my "loss" is to the gain of my sister and the Portlethen Library - I pass on all my books to my sister and then when she's done with them (or if she doesn't fancy them at all) she donates them to the library which hasn't had an acquisitions budget for AGES. It's good knowing my books are going to be read and enjoyed by others if they'll not be staying with me. -
It's been a busy weekend. We're still undergoing the process of "tarting up" our flat ready for listing for sale. Appointment with our solicitor on Friday morning to get things sorted that way, so we basically have this week to get it all sorted ready for photos.
Xan and I are heading down sans Dale - we'll only preceed him by a couple of weeks - to stay at my Mam's place so we can get Xan settled into a new school and we can look at potential houses to buy. So, first week in September will be my last week of work, then 5 weeks of holiday, then maternity leave! It's all pretty terrifying, but in a good way.
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Actually, it's my OLD area - I'm originally from there and we moved to Scotland when I was nearly 11-y-o. Feels good to be moving "back home" again after all this time.
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We've set the wheels in motion and are officially moving to Northumberland ASAP. Hubby has secured a transfer and I'm speaking to my bosses tonight about getting a transfer too. We will most likely be moved by the end of the summer, meaning that Button will most likely be born a Geordie rather than a Scot!
It's going to be crazy around here while we get everything sorted and the flat on the market, but we're offski - hurrah!
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I've read almost all my Discworld novels more than once, and have kept series' by various authors that I feel I will likely read again (Stuart McBride, Simon Scarrow and Christopher Brookmyre to name just a few), but the book I've re-read most often is The Stand by Stephen King. I must have read it at least a dozen times by now and I always find something new in there. It's like visiting old friends as the character appear. I haven't read it in at least 5or 6 years now though, so it's probably due for a re-read some time soon!
I don't keep very many books these days though (if I kept everything I read or even everything I even rmotely enjoyed, I'd have ot room to move for books!). Instead, I donate them to a local library which doesn't have an acquisitions budget (and hasn't had for about 5 or 6 years now, which is shocking!). Over the years I must have donated anywhere between 600 and 1000 books to that library (mostly 2nd hand, but many have been brand new too), including some I've never even read as I changed my mind about reading them - sometimes I just go off the idea of reading a book - LOL! It makes me feel good that others can enjoy them after me and that I'm helping out a library which really helped me in my youth. (It's the public library as well as being my old school library - they rebuilt the school a few years back, but it's still "my old school" so I like to help that particular library.) -
It's actually a film, so I'm moving it to the appropriate section.
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Ooh, me too!
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With that much sex, rape and incest in her books, I'd shy away from letting my kids read them till they were all grown up, that's for sure!
I read a bunch of them in my late teens (I picked up one from the library to read and my family then decided to get me loads of others as gifts for a long tie afterwards) but I soon got sot of them because they were all pretty much the same - young girl raised by family not her own (although she doesn't know this at the time and is confused as to why she gets treated differently), meets up with her real family and goes to live with them, taking her from poor to rich overnight; she struggles to fit in and discovers that the boy she's fancied for ages/has been making advances on her is actually related to her (this doesn't put him off); he then forces himself on her and she ends up pregnant; her new family are horrified but blame HER rather than him (the rape is never reported to the police either!) and not only is she expected to live with the consequences, she is forced to put up with the disdain of her family.
I found variations on this storyline in pretty much every series written by the woman (and by her ghost writer after her death) so I got pretty bored pretty fast.
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Warm Bodies. I enjoyed it SO much more than I thought it would. To be honest, I thought it looked a bit cr@p, but it turned out to be a heartwarming zom-rom (with a touch of com at times) based on Romeo and Juliet that actually had me close to tears on several occasions. I now fully intend to get hold of the book next time I'm at the library if at all possible! (Hopefully this very weekend!)
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Had another scan yesterday afternoon, but the sonographer was brutal and I still feel sore today. I think she's actually the same one that was so rough with me when I was carrying Xan too! Still, it was lovely "visiting" Button again. We got a lovely straight-on view of Button's face and s/he really is the double of Xander - super cute! I thought I caught a glimpse of "boy bits" but then the image changed and it looked briefly like "girl bits" instead, so I'm still not sure which gender we're having - Button is very secretive - LOL!
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Thanks, Chesilbeach. Like you, I loved that Laura was such a little tomboy and a Daddy's girl (I was a Daddy's girl, but like you, was more a Mary - always trying to be good and quiet - LOL!). I also loved all the cookery this time round. I think because I love cooking so much myself, whereas when I read them as a child, I wasn't bothered about cooking at all - that was just something the grownups did so we could eat - LOL!
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Anyone else fancy jumping in? Anyone still reading the book? Anyone loved or loathed it? I'd love to know!
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I enjoy both the Brontes and Austen, but some more than others. For example, I adored The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Jane Eyre, but not so much Wuthering Heights (which I enjoyed, but didn't love). With Austen, my favourite is Nothanger Abbey closely followed by P&P then Mansfield Park, but I'm still no fan of Emma, Persuasion is rather slow and dull, and I've never managed to get through Sense and Sensibility yet. One day I'll get through all of them (both Bronte and Austen) but I know there will be some I enjoy more than others, same as with any other author I read.
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I adore cooking and often experiment in the kitchen, throwing new ideas around to come up with new recipes, as well as trying recipes by other people. I'm a dab hand at "mish-mash" cooking - taking whatever I happen to have ad making a delicious meal out of them. I'm also the Queen of batch cooking - no matter what I'm making, I always make at least one spare portion to freeze for later, and use my slow cooker to the max to make up to a dozen portions of things like bolognese, chilli, curry or stew so I can freeze loads. This comes in very handy when I get ill (because I don't have to think about cooking healthy meals for my family - they're ready just to defrost and reheat). I'm planning on filling up the freezer ready for me going into labour because once Button arrives, I won't have as much time for cooking till I get used to having a small child AND a new baby in the house!
At any given time, I have various soups, stews, chillis, pasta dishes and entire roast dinners in the freezer. It means that once or twice a week, when I'm pushed for time, I don't cook from scratch at all, and I still have plenty of choice.
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Xan's new bed has now been assembled and his room rearranged. And now our homemade pasta bolognese and garlic bread is almost ready for dinner. I think I deserve a good long soak in the bathtub this evening after such a busy day.
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Busy day. Grocery shopping, then Dale gutted Xan's room and dismantled his bed ready for the new one arriving this afternoon, while I did the dishes, put on a load of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the bathroom, tidied our bedroom and but on a batch of soap shavings to melt so they can be rebatched. Now sitting down with a well deserved cuppa and waiting for my sister to arrive with the bed so we can have a natter and a catch up. So much for a lazy Saturday - LOL!
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Like you, Willoyd, I love that the family had a "waste not, want not" attitude about everything (which, I suppose, was essential for survival back then!), and especially admired the use of every single part of the pig they raised and slaughtered. I also loved that the children got involved in it to the point tha tthey actually got an element of entertainment from it (the pig's bladder and roasting the tail). Which brings me to the next question...
8. Without any television or radio, and with no neighbours living close by, the family had to rely on themselves for their entertainment. Music, games and storytelling play a huge role in their lives. Was there any particular form of entertainment shown in the book that appealed to you, and why? How do you think you would cope having to make your own entertainment in this way? Is it something you'd like to try?Personally, I love the lack of technology and less-than-secretly hanker after a far simpler lifestyle. In my family, we sang songs together and played board games regularly (we very often had a "family games night" where we'd haul all the games out the cupboard and play all evening. Sometimes we'd even invite friends round to take part). As children, we played in the garden, the street or the park, or went to each others' houses to play indoors - dressing up, role playing, more board games, and a whole host of imaginative physical games. We never had computers and it was unheard of to sit and watch a film or TV programme with friends (you had to go to the cinema if you anted to do that!). A simple stick could provide hours of entertainment by becoming a pirate's sword or a lion tamer's whip or a fishing rod. Some old bits and bobs could be stuck or tied together to make all manner of creations, and a box large enough to sit in became a space craft or a ship or a house or whatever we wanted it to be. And books. Well, books were always a love of mine and I could while away many a happy hour visiting Narnia or the Big Woods of Wisconsin.
One of my favourite moments in the book is the sugaring off party at Grandma's house. I loved that the whole family came together to get the work done and then kick up their heels together. Such an event must have been incredibly exciting to people who hardly ever saw another soul.
I've actually been thinking of instituting an "analogue day" one day a week, where we don't have any TV or radio or computer and just get out (or stay in) and DO SOMETHING together. It would, in effect, be harking back to that simpler time. Perhaps at some point, with enough "analogue days" under our belts, I could persuade the family to have an "analogue WEEK" or even longer at some point, That would be my idea of bliss!
Philippa Gregory
in Historical Fiction
Posted
The books and series are partly accurate and partly not. The writer (Philippa Gregory) had to imagine the motives, thoughts and conversations, as well as some of the more intimate situations, obviously, but many of the salient historical facts are present and correct. Gregory's books (and the resulting series) are more a blend of fact and fiction than straight fact.