Kylie
-
Posts
12,677 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Books
Posts posted by Kylie
-
-
I've read a few more pages of Wheelmen, and I received Patricia Highsmith's This Sweet Sickness in the mail.
-
Sorry to hear you've been having a stressful time, Andrea. I hope things get better for you.
-
Germany, Memories of a Nation by Neil Macgregor ******
This sounds like an interesting read. I've added it to my wishlist, thanks.
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend **
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who didn't enjoy this. I felt like I must have missed something, as so many people seem to love it. Like you, I thought it was dated and not funny at all (although I do love Ricky Gervais and Diary of a Nobody).
As I've said before on these pages, I don't get much of my humour from books - very little in fact - or indeed TV or cinema (with a few exceptions: Victoria Wood, Dad's Army and Big Bang Theory for three!)
Now this surprises me! I never would have pegged you for a fan of Big Bang Theory!
I've, unusually, been reading another book in the background to the others recently listed: Stephen Fry in America, the tie-in book to the TV series he presented a few years ago, and one I've been meaning to read for a while.
I love everything Stephen Fry does, and I enjoyed this show when I saw it a few years ago. I'd be keen to read the book one day.
-
All is going fine here, I just don't get to the computer as much as I used to. God help us, we have Netflix!
TV is the main reason why I don't read enough.
There's always another series I want to watch (or rewatch).I've again picked up The Joy of Leaving Your Sh*t All Over the Place (the art of being messy) by Jennifer McCartney. It's a teeny book, but really funny if you can ignore the language. Hah.
I love the excerpt! -
Maybe we could learn a few things from him, if we're not enjoying a party...
I'm quite jealous of his ability to think so quickly on his feet and just make stuff up as he goes along.
I also love how he talks about Augusten and their interaction. It's so interesting, let alone unusual, to be able to read about it from someone else's point-of-view! Precious!!
I know, right?! There's another part related to this that I'll point out when you've finished.
Remember the youtube clip where Augusten introduced his brother and his book to the viewers, and John Elder said 'Woof.' Well, I don't remember what page it was on, but he was psyched about something and wrote 'Woof.'
I thought it was hilarious, I totally cracked up Yes, I remember! I went back and watched it again while reading the book to remind myself about it.
Edit: okay, I have the woof quote. Page 72: "I wiggled my ears. All these thousands of cars around me, and my great-great-grandfather had the first one in town. Of course, Chickamauga was a smaller town than Lawrenceville, but even so . . . Woof. I was impressed. I had a real motorcar pedigree."
Woof
I love the woof quotes too! He explains a bit more about it later on. It's so cute when he says/writes it.
I checked out his blog yesterday and he even signed off one of his blog posts (see link below) with 'woof'. Speaking of his blog, I was looking up information about his guitar work with KISS, and I found this great blog entry that shows photos taken around the time that he was writing about.
Oh and I also loved how, as a Sanitary Engineer, he told the people
that they get tips and that if you don't want your trash possibly tipped over on your lawn, by accident, you must tip your Sanitary Engineer.
Priceless!!!
Haha, yes! I wonder if any of them started doing what he suggested.
-
I finished reading John Elder Robison's Look Me in the Eye. It was an excellent memoir. Thanks for giving me the nudge to read it, Frankie!
I also received Paul Clifford by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in the mail. This is the book that starts with the infamous opening line 'It was a dark and stormy night'. I've always been curious about this book.
-
I can't believe it's been so long since I posted in this thread!
Did you hear that Alexis Bledel had a baby last year with her husband? They kept that secret very well!
I can't wait for the new show. I think it's supposed to be airing near the end of the year.
-
Cool, thanks. I just wondered because of the teenagers. I wouldn't have a problem with it being YA, but I'm even more interested in it knowing it's for adults (and therefore hopefully spookier
). -
Great review, Michelle.
I like the sound of this. Would you say it's a YA horror book, or is it aimed more towards adults? -
City by Clifford D. Simak 5/5
Man ceasing to be the dominate species on Earth. That can't be a bad thing.
Simak covers so much ground in what is actually a collection of 8 short stories, each with it's own Notes section. The rise and fall of civilizations, the reach out to the stars, the travelling from one dimension to the other. The definition of God. A robot that lives 12,000 years and sees almost all of it. We see what can happen when our desires are thought to be known, but are not. Loyalty, love, the shedding of our humanness. All shown through the lens of one family.
This author puts Life into perspective in the simplest of manners. This is the long view. Good stuff.
Just catching up on your blog. I'm intrigued by this review and have added it to my wishlist, thanks!
I hope all is going well with you.
-
I'm loving John Elder Robison's book!
I'm up to chapter 13 (p. 125). My favourite parts so far:
Chapter 10:The story he told at his parents' friends' party about being a Sanitary Engineer (especially the dead babies joke).
Chapter 11:
The flaming washtub, which was made worse by the fire department.
Chapter 12:
The Morris Moke in the ocean.
I've really enjoyed everything up to chapter 10 too, of course. The above stories just struck me as particularly funny. I also really like the parts about his relationship with Augusten when Augusten was very small....the hijinks they got up to! Poor little Augusten just went along with his big brother.
It's also interesting to read about Dr Finch and John's parents from his perspective. Those poor kids had a rough childhood.
-
There are many Geronimo Stilton books out there. Geronimo Stilton is the main character in most of the books, and in the books he writes those books (if that makes sense?). The books are actually written by a team of people in Italy (as far as I know). There are other 70 books in the main series (generally called the Geronimo Stilton series), then there are many other series too. There are currently 10 books in the Fantasia series, 6 in the Kronieken van Fantasia, 4 in Ridders van Fantasia, 6 in the Groene Reeks (these are all the Dutch names for the series), there are quite a few literary retellings, etc. I think in total there are over 100 Stilton books (here is a list on the Dutch Wikipedia of the Dutch books currently published).
Thanks for that info.
You must have read nearly all of the books by now? I once turned on the TV in the morning and saw a Geronimo Stilton cartoon. I immediately thought of you. I never put the new books away until I've finished cataloguing and posted about them on the forum (when I finish reading a book, I don't put it away until after I've posted about it on the forum, seeing it on my desk helps me remind myself that I still need to post about it). After I've posted about the new books on the forum, I sort them into books I'm putting in my library and books I want to or will be able to read soon. Those I want to read soon go on the book shelves next to my desk (and on occasion I put a short read on my read-a-thon shelves, next to the TV). It's tempting to leave them around as piles as I love looking at the books, but I also love putting them on their shelves (and my boyfriend doesn't like it if I clutter too much, which I tend to do
. I usually have a bag with library books sitting near my desk). And I can still look at the ones I plan to read soon, near my desk (I do that quite a bit, it cheers me up, looking at some of the books I plan to read). It's nice to know you leave them in piles around. I never thought about asking anyone what they do with their books once they've bought them.Wow, you have a very organised system.
-
I hope you enjoy The Shepherd's Crown
. I just looked it up, the paperback edition is out here, so thanks for that . I've added it to my wishlist and might buy it the next time I order some books. No worries. Yes, it recently came out in the edition I wanted to (which I guess is the same one you want). I've started reading Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison. I'm on page 64 and really liking it so far
I've started reading this too....because you made me.
I'm up to page 44. It's going very well so far. He's a good storyteller, isn't he? -
Bought two Kindle eBooks this morning; Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and
The Secrets of Gaslight Lane (The Gower Street Detective Series 4) by M.R.C. Kasasian (Damn, I still have only read the first book of the series so far
)Good choices! (Well, I haven't read the new Kasasian yet, but hopefully it was a good choice!
)I've read around 40 pages of Wheelmen. I received a new book in the mail on Thursday: The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett.
-
Very well said, Noll. I agree with all of it.
-
I love this! Thanks for sharing.
The cat with thong video is possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen. I never get sick of it. I just watched it about 20 times in a row and laughed until I cried.
-
I've been way behind on your thread, but I've just caught up. I hope you enjoy all of your new purchases. How many Geronimo Stilton books are there? I keep seeing that name pop up.
Also, I'm not sure if you've mentioned this before, but do you shelve all of your new purchases straight away (well, after cataloguing them)? Or are you like me, and leave them in piles around the place and then shelve them when the piles get too big/messy?
-
Hello my dear! Sorry I've been neglecting you lately. I've just had a lot on.
I hope you're enjoying your summer holiday.Your comment about the JT Leroy book intrigued me so I went and looked it up. Doesn't sound like my cup of tea either. Did you know about the scandal involving the author?
-
I've read 26 books so far (bang on track to my target of 52 for the year). I've only rated one book a perfect 10/10: Dead Wake by Erik Larson, which is a non-fiction book about the WWII sinking of the passenger ship, Lusitania.
I've rated nine other books 9/10, including four non-fiction books:
Bill Bryson The Road to Little Dribbling
John Hersey Hiroshima
Sarah Murgatroyd The Dig Tree
Jon Ronson So You've Been Publicly Shamed
and five fiction books:
Matt Haig The Boy Called Christmas
Patricia Highsmith Strangers on a Train
David Mitchell Slade House
Emily St John Mandel Station Eleven
PG Wodehouse Jeeves in the OffingI haven't had any clunkers at all. Yay me!
Also, I've read 11 books from my priority reading list, which I'm pleased with, as it's on a par with how many I'd read at this time last year. I'm not actively participating in any challenges.
-
Saki's one of my newest favorite authors. Genuinely hilarious. I have the The Complete Saki, but I haven't quite finished all of it yet. My general opinion so far is that Reginald is his worst collection, Reginald in Russia is an improvement but still not amazing, and everything else is incredible. I've tried getting the guys at my neighborhood theater to do a production of one of his plays but they're not having it, lol.
Ooh, I didn't know he did plays. I haven't read anything by Saki yet, but the others above said that his humour is Wodehouse-esque. Are his plays the same? I'd love to put on a Wodehouse play with my local theatre group, but it doesn't seem possible. Could Saki be a good alternative?
ETA: Oh, I just saw Marie's response:
I love Saki's short stories, especially Beasts and Super-Beasts. I bought The Complete Saki nearly 30 years ago, and loved the short stories, but the novels and plays were dry and dull, after the sparkling, wickedly good ones.
I guess that's a no to humorous plays then?
-
Wow, great progress, Gaia and Noll!
I've been working all weekend on a job so haven't been able to join in. However, I've been snatching all possible moments to read some of my current book, Death Descends on Saturn Villa. In a way, I've read more this weekend than I usually would! I expect to finish the book tonight, which means I will have read around 200 pages this weekend.
-
Egads!
It seems like just yesterday that we were excitedly setting up our new reading logs for 2016, but now we're already halfway through the year! Seriously...did someone wind the clocks forward? Where did the past six months go, and what I have been doing all that time?! (Not reading enough, that's for sure. 
)Anyway...it's time for the annual 'best/worst so far' thread!
What are the best books you've read so far in 2016? Have there been any clunkers?
And let's take it one step further...how are your personal reading challenges going? Have they fallen by the wayside, or are you making good progress?
-
The first one that springs to mind for me is Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. I'm not sure that 'comfort zone' is the correct term for it, but I really wasn't interested in reading it. I only really bought it because I'd heard so many great reviews. All I knew was that it was about a hermaphrodite. The subject itself didn't bother me, but I guess I tend to avoid more 'real life' type stories (I have no interest in reading about more recent wars or other topical issues). I guess I like my fiction to make me 'escape' more. Anyway, I couldn't have been more wrong. Middlesex totally blew me away. It was a gripping story of a family spanning multiple generations. I underestimated it so much.
-
I just found North by Northwest on TV, so I'm watching the last hour of that. Then I'll switch to the election coverage (we voted in our federal election today) and later I'll be watching the start of the Tour de France.
Ian's reading log 2016
in Past Book Logs
Posted
Great review! I've seen Reynolds' books around quite often but never stopped to look at them for some reason. I'll be adding this to my wishlist.