Kylie

I'm watching a few episodes of Dexter.

I love that you're so positive. I think work/hobbies are great options for meeting someone. I don't really like online dating, but when you're a hermit like me, it's really the only option.

Aw. Well 1 1/2 hours is a pretty long date, I reckon! I don't think he would've stayed that long if he wasn't having a good time. I'm glad you had a good time, anyway.

I watched Birdman again. Just as excellent the second time 'round!

This past weekend was the weekend of the Canberra book fair. This is the first year since 2009 that I haven't been to a book fair, but I had to be strong because I want to meet my goal of reading more books than I buy in a year! But I was a bit sad about it, and I'd had a bad week for other reasons, so I went to a bookshop on Friday and bought myself a new book to cheer myself up. And it didn't cost me a cent because I had a book voucher. I bought The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen. This should make a certain Finn quite happy.

It's quite rare in Australia to find a furnished place to rent! So excited for you, Sari, and I hope the date went (is going?) well!!

Yes, all of the seasons definitely have 12 episodes. I've just finished episode 7 of season 1. I've had a bit on my plate for the past few days, but I'm slowly catching up! I love the look on Dexter's face at the end of episode 7 when he realises

I'm about three-quarters of the way through Death on the Nile.

*groan* Don't remind me! And when she was left alone with her brother, even he wouldn't tell her when she was about to run out the door! How long do the adults think they can keep it from their kids?! This is so strange...literally straight after reading your post, I opened a news tab on my 'puter to check out the latest news, and what should I see but a large picture and article about the daughter! I didn't realise it until now, but apparently she's Australian. Oh, and she's also on The 100. You watch that show, don't you? Hmm, I don't know if I have that episode in my Blu-Ray box set! I'll have to double check. I did, however, get a glow-in-the-dark USB keyring.

I'm enjoying it, but there's certainly a few moments where you want to scream: 'WHY ARE YOU WALKING TOWARDS THAT THING?!' (Among other things.) Yay me!!

Probably Poppyshake, because I rarely review books (and when I do, they're nowhere near as good as hers!) But of course we only have YOU to thank, Frankie, for bringing it to our attention in the first place. Lots of great reviews as usual, Noll. A belated congrats on reaching 10,000 posts again (sorry, I'm way behind on everyone's threads).

'Out of Gas' is one of my faves, Athena! Did you enjoy it? I'm watching The Biggest Loser.

What a happy discovery for you! If you haven't already looked it up, the second Nursery Crimes book is The Fourth Bear.

Your friends are my friends, Mirandashell. It seems to be a newish theme in politics here that if a PM isn't popular with the public, then their party kicks them out in fear that they won't win the next election with that politician as PM. It's quite silly! I wonder if we'll ever have a full-term PM again.

Ooh, what a treat, Ian! I can't wait for the new season to start (21 September, by my calendar ). I haven't watched any episodes for such a long time. I might try to rewatch at least part of the last season before the new one starts. I'm currently excitedly watching our brand new PM give a speech. His party just overthrew our old PM with a vote of 54-44. This is not a party I like, and certainly not one I voted for, but this PM will be a huge improvement over the old one. A major point in his favour is that he is FOR same-sex marriage, so he represents the views of our country much more than the old PM. I'm feeling very happy right now.

Doh! You're not being much help, woman! Where'd that awesome memory of yours go? Could you perhaps have found TWO copies while you were here? Maybe I should get someone to hypnotise me and bring forth the memory. I mentioned it in a PM I sent today, but the town was Katoomba. Such a lovely town, but such a shame about the bookshops. Gosh, I don't remember buying a book for Mum at all. We went to some shops closer to Sydney...could be one of those? I forgot to mention some other book news. I sold my entire Lemony Snicket series of books online. I've been wanting to clear space in general around my house, so I've been busily putting ads online for my stuff. The couple who bought the books said that their son has some sort of disability but that he devours books, so I'm glad they went to a good home. I'd read about half the series but wasn't too keen on finishing them. I thought I'd already taken the rest off my TBR pile, but apparently I hadn't, so now I get to reduce my TBR pile by 7 books. Hooray! According to Goodreads, I'm 8 books behind on my reading goal for the year. That's partly why I've chosen to read an Agatha Christie book now, because I know I'll get through it fairly quickly. I have a couple of other short reads lined up too.

I love Frankie too. Oh wait. You're talking about a movie?

YES PLEASE! I'm the Queen of Binge Watching TV Shows, so I'm sure I'll catch up in no time at all. I'll start tonight! Keep going at your own pace though...don't wait for me! Which seasons have you never seen before? I think I missed about half of the first season the first time around (if that's the one with the ice truck killer), so I'll be glad to finally see it. I'm currently watching the first ever episode of the Australian version of The Chase. I The Governess: 'The amygdala is the part of the brain that controls emotions. I don't need one'.

Cool! I've been thinking lately of rewatching the show from the beginning. I'm glad we won something this summer.

I finished The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag the other day. I planned to read just a little of it before bed, but I wasn't really tired and I was enjoying the book so I ended up staying up most of the night to finish it. I've now started Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift and Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. I'm only a couple of pages into the former but around 80 pages into the latter. Thoroughly enjoying it, although the mystery has barely started. My ex and I were out today and he wanted to go to a bookshop so I went with him (it was truly his idea, I swear!) I ended up finding two books on my wishlist for bargain prices, so I had to buy them! (My ex didn't end up buying anything.) I bought Tune In by Mark Lewisohn (volume 1 in his definitive Beatles biography). It's a huge hardback and is usually quite pricy (over $50), which is why I hadn't already bought it, but I found it for $13! Unbelievable. I also bought The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert for a great price. Then I bought a new handbag and purse to replace my current ones, which have been looking quite tatty for a while. My current handbag is a decent size, but I bought a slightly larger one (to fit more books, obvs ). To top the day off, my ex found my glasses, which went missing several weeks ago. I've had to resort to wearing my tatty old ones all this time. Luckily, the lenses are identical (or close to) in both pairs, so I haven't had problems seeing, but my new glasses are so much nicer than my old ones that I hated losing them.

I started reading Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile today. Already flying through it. I also bought a couple of books when I was out with a friend. Details on my thread.

Thanks for your input! Great idea to do a mix of known and lesser-known episodes. I think the intro should be in the show as well (but just for the first 'episode'). I'd probably just get one of the guys at the theatre group to do the intro. We have some great 'voices' there, including my ex. Considering I've only watched half a dozen or so episodes so far, it looks like I need to do some homework! Tough job...

Very glad to hear this! Doh! I hate it when the wrong book arrives. But I'm glad the day got a bit better with the arrival of the second book. I've been trying to go to bed a bit earlier so I can have more time to read. Between that and hanging around a cash wash for nearly an hour today, I managed to get through a few more chapters of The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag, which I'm really enjoying.

Thanks for researching my books bought in November 2010. Nowadays I make a note of the books I buy in the order I buy them, but back then I just wrote them in alphabetical order, so it makes it difficult to remember (I mean, if I had bought other books on the same day and listed them together, like I do now, then seeing what other books I bought on the exact same day might trigger a memory). I know I bought the Wordsworth Book of Horror Stories from the secondhand bookshop in Penrith, but I'm sure I didn't buy HoL from there. The more I think about it, the more I think that perhaps you bought it (probably at the book fair) and then left it behind with me when you left. I wonder if I made a note of the books you gave me when you left. It would explain the November date of acquisition, and why I can't remember picking it up somewhere. Also, you've always had a better memory regarding the books on the 1001 list, and I think back then that I had no idea what this book was. I have a feeling that the first I heard of it was when you were here and showing it to me. Does that ring a bell for you? Oh, are you talking about the antique shop? That had books downstairs. And they were playing a German opera record and I was in awe because you could translate what they were singing. That town sucks now. ALL of the bookshops have closed down, but the antique store still has some books downstairs. I don't bother going there though. I never really liked their selection of books. Those were the good ol' days! (And I'm sorry I read HoL without you. I know we talked about a group read at some point. It just kind of happened. )

I haven't been posting in here much...probably because I haven't been reading much! I lost my mojo for a while, but I'm happy to report that it's back now. Usually I have to pick really short and/or light reads to entice my mojo back, but one day I woke up with a sudden hankering to read The House of Leaves, which was by far one of the more intimidating books on my TBR pile, and whaddaya know? My mojo came back! The House of Leaves is a tricky book to review, and not one that I would have any confidence in recommending to anyone. I absolutely loved it (9/10), but I can see why many wouldn't, or why they would at least think it was pretentious. Some parts were absolutely gripping, while others were very dull. I was tempted to skim a few sections, but usually something important was buried in the dullness, so I kept ploughing on. I don't want to say anything about the plot because I think it's best discovered by reading the book. I knew next to nothing about it before I started reading it, and I'm glad of that. Some people think the author, Mark Z Danielewski, is pretentious, but I can't fathom how anyone could doubt that he's at least some sort of genius. The sheer scope of this book is incredible. He comes across as being knowledgable in many areas. The book reads like a thesis at times, with all statements and quotes backed up by detailed references; where it gets tricky is that many of the references are fake, and he sometimes quotes real people on things that they couldn't possibly have commented on (I assume he received permission to do so), and quotes others on things that must be real, so sometimes you're left wondering what's real and what's made up. It's a bit of mindf---, to be honest! He writes so convincingly that I had to keep reminding myself that it was a fictional story. The layout of the book is what makes it stand out. Some pages are densely packed with writing, while some have only a few sentences or even just a few letters. On some pages the text is formatted in columns, and on other pages the text is in boxes or written back to front or upside down, diagonally etc. It could certainly be said that it's a gimmick, but it also works in the context of the story. There is a reason why things are the way they are, which is important. And if you think that would be off-putting, then I can assure you that most of the book is written 'normally'. The House of Leaves is the type of book that you want to discuss with people. A tick (or check mark) might appear on a page, and you know there must be some significance to it...but what is it? You want to jump online and dissect the meaning of every strange thing with others who have gone before you. At one point I found an acronym and I wasn't sure what it meant. I figured it was a common acronym, but upon Googling it, the first search result led me straight to a House of Leaves forum where others had discussed the same meaning. I'm sure there are many puzzles I never unravelled or found the meaning to. I often forget the details of books soon after I read them, even if I've loved them very, very much. The House of Leaves is a book that I will not be forgetting any time soon. I'm positive that it will stay with me. If you want to read an absolutely unique and challenging book, then I would perhaps recommend this to you. If you're a fan of Oulipo (unconventionally written stories), then you'll probably appreciate The House of Leaves. And yes, I've made the word 'house' blue for a reason. In one of the book's many quirks, every time the word house appears (even if it's in a different language), it appears in blue. Why? Perhaps because the house is a character in the story. That's all I'll tell you. Oh, and Mark Z Danielewski has a musician sister who goes by the name of Poe. She released a companion album for the book entitled Haunted. It's a pretty awesome album.