Kylie
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Posts posted by Kylie
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If I already had it I would have joined in the group read!
I know that awesome feeling you get when you find a book you've wanted for ages.
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Ah, yep, that'll get me in! It's going on my wish list now, but I probably won't get it any time soon. I'm back to being very strict with myself about buying books.
I'm still jealous of your Doris Day find. I always look out for it at that book shop (I don't know why - what's the likelihood that they'll get in a second copy?)
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Speaking of Henry Sugar, I noticed during my recent organising that I have a copy of the book, but I didn't have it listed on my TBR pile for some reason (maybe I'm that scared of reading it that I'm subconsciously ignoring its existence
).I think a random reading order is the best way to go. I think the only reason one would read them in publication order is if the books were part of a series (which they're obviously not) or if one wanted to track the author's change in writing style over time (which is good for someone like Jack Kerouac, but not really applicable to Roald Dahl!)
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Great haul, Devi! How nice of your boyfriend to buy you all those books!
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Hi Paula! I'm well, thanks.
Actually that's my list of books that I'm going to get rid of (
). I have had Cat's Eye for quite a while, and I don't particularly like the edition (the binding is not good). I already have several other books by Atwood on my TBR pile, including The Year of the Flood (no, I still have not read it!), The Robber Bride and Alias Grace, so I thought I'd give up Cat's Eye for now and maybe try to read it sometime in the distant future. I assume you enjoyed it? -
Cherry Coke! Yay! Thanks Frankie.
I have some pre-mixed drinks at home (vodka, of course, with midori and juice). Maybe I'll crack one open and treat myself tonight.
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I only started drinking a little recently, and I went out last Friday with workmates and enjoyed a vodka and pineapple juice, and two vodka sunrises (vodka, orange and grenadine). I don't even know what grenadine is. Is it alcoholic? Not sure if there was one or two shots of alcohol in those drinks...
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Apparently it was the weekend of 6-7 November 2010. I can't remember the name of the shop, but it was in the arcade in Penrith. We also bought me a bookcase from IKEA that weekend. Happy days.
Oh, I never noticed Marshall reading that book! I remember I was very excited to find Sybil because you had already hyped it up.
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You probably just liked watching me buy books. Hehe. Had you perhaps heard good reviews of the book and/or movie? You did point out a lot of GG books to me while you were here, so I think it's more to do with that. I just found where I posted my book haul for that day, but unfortunately I neither blamed nor credited you with any of the purchases.
I bought Sybil on the same day, though! Is that a Rory book? -
Actually, I don't think it was from the book fair after all. I'm nearly absolutely certain it was from the local secondhand bookshop.
I know my memory isn't crash hot all the time, but I know you picked it out and showed it to me. I can actually picture exactly where we were in the shop! But yes, I'll take responsibility for buying it, and I'm glad I did. Thank you. 
(See? Not blaming. Giving credit. 
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I've merged your thread with an existing thread, Andy, and renamed the entire thread as it turned into a general discussion of Bradbury and his books. There's a separate thread for Fahrenheit 451 though.
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I'm certain you did encourage me! It's definitely not a book I would have bought for myself. I think you must have recognised it as a Rory book at the time. I bet there's evidence around here somewhere...
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Hahaha! I haven't actually heard that one. Very funny.
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Yep, I figured as much. I have it on my TBR pile. I think you made me buy it from the book fair?
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They are on all of the bestseller lists that I see as well. I follow a local online bookstore on Facebook, and whenever they ask questions about what people are reading etc, everyone seems to mention these books.
I don't want to generalise or stereotype in any way, but I wonder if many of the people buying these books are more casual readers who aren't quite the serious book addicts that we are (thus, less likely to be on forums such as this). I mean, the type of person who might only read a few books per year and tend to go for bestsellers.
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I'm nervous about the adaptation of The Great Gatsby. I mean, I have a lot of faith in Leo as Gatsby (I can see how that works), but I'm not so sure about Tobey Maguire for Nick. I think I'm perhaps most sceptical only because the book is one of my favourites and thus I'm not entirely confident about whether they can pull it off. I did think though, that aside from the awful use of the Kanye West/Jay-Z song at the start (which I'm hoping won't be in the film and was just for trailer purposes), that the trailer showed great promise.
I'm a bit nervous for it, too, but I'll try not to have high expectations. Given that Baz Luhrman's directing, I'd say there's a good chance some more modern music will be in it. I like his unorthodox style.
I've just given up on Catch-22 for the third time - I really can't get into it (and I'm completely mystified as to what is funny - completely passes me by!). Having read your review, though, I'll give it one more shot come the summer holidays, when I can give it much more concentrated attention.
How much have you read of Catch-22? I have to say, I'm mystified as to why you don't find it funny! I mean, it's not laugh-out-loud hilarious, but the black humour is terrific and I'm sure I guffawed more than once while reading it. I could give endless examples, but maybe it only suits a certain type of humour, which I think is why some people hate it whereas others can't get enough.
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We'll get a nice .. out of commission .. red double decker and give it a makeover. I don't know about drugs .. I might need a sedative
Do you mean you might need a sedative to deal with us?
Frankie, did you know that there's a stereotype about the English and bathing?Is there?? ... isn't that the French? I'm always the last to know
I've heard the English say that about the French, but we Aussies say it about you English folk.
I think we also say it about the French, but we enjoy picking on English people more. If you really want to stay the night there Kylie it's worth chancing your arm .. they can only say no and they might very well say yes
It looks like there are a lot of nooks and crannies there, so maybe I could just hide when closing time rolls around.
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You think it took you a long time to read Catch-22, Ben? I started my re-read at the beginning of the year and only finished it last week.
I was obviously reading it in dribs and drabs, though, and my edition had a stack of essays at the end, which I managed to drag out for a couple of months. -
You assume correctly.
It's another of my favourite reads, perhaps outside of my top 5, but right up there.The Great Gatsby is right up there for me too. I can't wait to see the movie when it comes out.
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I recently bought a Judy Garland biography by Gerald Clarke called Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland. I can't vouch for it because I haven't read it yet, but I chose it because it had quite good reviews on Goodreads. I noticed on my friends list their that our own Poppyshake has read it and rated it 4 stars, so she might be of more help.
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Woohoo! I have a lot of favourites and am usually hard pressed to put them in any sort of order, but Catch-22 would always make it into my top five, along with To Kill a Mockingbird and Pride and Prejudice. It gets hazier after that.
Have you ever reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson?
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building a replica of the Taj Mahal out of pickled onions
Hahaha! How on earth do you come up with these things? 
I saw a lovely hardback copy of Madame Bovary in a bookshop recently. I really wanted to buy it for you, but it would have been a rather expensive practical joke (and a rather expensive table-propper-upper by the sounds of it).
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Phew, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Brilliant review.
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I love stories like that.
I had a similar thing happen yesterday, when I read in my book of literary trivia that Jonathan Swift was a dean at St Pat's church in Dublin. Later that day, I saw Timstar's post about visiting that church, and he made the same connection. I have Aphra Behn's Oroonoko on my TBR pile (it's on the 1001 list). I must confess that I thought Aphra was a man until you just mentioned otherwise.
I know Ben has read Oroonoko, and I think he enjoyed it. It's a very slim book but I have found it daunting because of the time it was written in. I may be wrong, but I think/expect the writing style might make it difficult to read.
Janet's Reading 2012
in Past Book Logs
Posted
Great review, Janet. Down Under has long been my favourite too. I wondered if it was because I was biased, but now I feel more justified, thank you.
As I recall, he mentions my home town of Penrith in the book, but unfortunately I think it's only to discuss our big club full of poker machines, which has the dubious honour of being the largest non-casino gambling whatsit in the southern hemisphere...or something. I watched a documentary recently about two Aussie guys travelling up the east coast, following the Great Australian Divide (a mountain range); they visited Penrith too and only focused on the club! You'd think we are a town full of gamblers, but we have lots of lovely natural features and whatnot. 
*makes a mental to note to bring a Janet-sized suitcase and some tranquillisers when I visit next year* That takes care of those two problems!
Another favourite Bill Bryson of mine is A Walk in the Woods, which is about Bryson's treks along the Appalachian Trail in America. I thoroughly enjoyed A Short History of Nearly Everything. As you know, Bryson has a knack for making everything interesting, so it's very readable and fun(ny). Although I will admit there were a couple of sections nearer the end that I was having a hard time following. I think I'll have to read At Home next. It has been far too long since I last read Bryson.