Kylie
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Posts posted by Kylie
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If the books have an atheist message the Catholic church is bound to have an opinion. What's wrong with them expressing it?
Nothing's wrong with them expressing their opinion, but what gets me is when they try to force their opinions on others by telling them to boycott the movie (I was raised Catholic by the way, and my comments apply to various religions, not just Catholicism). People should be able to make up their own minds by reading the books and/or watching the movie. I think that's the only real way they can have an informed opinion. I also think kids should be able to make up their own mind.
People give entirely too much credit to the influence of books on kids sometimes. With the Harry Potter series, people were anxious that their kids would turn to witchcraft (which goes to show their ignorance of that religion), and now with His Dark Materials they're worried that their kids will become atheists!
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Hi Deidre and welcome! Looking forward to discussing books with you!
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I think I might start with the first two. For one, there's a part of me that would feel very weird starting a series in the middle, even if they are in little 'branches' of their own.
And secondly, if the first couple of books are weaker than the rest, then I would rather start with those so I can 'build up' to the better ones, rather than start off great and be disappointed later. Does that make sense? If I don't particularly enjoy the first two (which I'm sure won't be the case!) at least I know that it will only get better!I intend reading my first Pratchett early in the new year. I can't wait! I've been wanting to read these books for sooo long.
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Good for you V! It must be wonderful to be inspiring people to read books that they wouldn't otherwise read. Keep up the good work!
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I think I prefer The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings, but it's been a while since I've read it.
There's Harry Potter of course, and I love a trilogy by Jonathan Wylie called The Unbalanced Earth and another standalone book called Dreamweaver.
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I would have to agree with Dracula, although I don't have a great deal of experience in horror. For such an old book, Dracula freaked me out a little.
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it is good to know that there is at least one person on here who understands where I am coming from and can get their point across without throwing their toys out of their pram, just because they are challenged a bit.
I think that's a bit unfair Talisman. I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of us have said that we understand where you're coming from, and have then proceeded to put our own points across courteously. Just because we don't agree with everything you say doesn't mean that we are acting like children. For someone who said they didn't want to make a big deal out of this, you are certainly making a big deal out of it! I suggest we drop the argument now and all agree to disagree.
I think we're all agreed that there are good and bad points to buying second-hand, both from the author's and publishers point of view and the point of view of the reader. And if we're not all agreed on that, at least we all have our love of books in common don't we? Good, let's be friends
What a lot of fun it is to search through them to see if there is an author you like or one that has been mentioned on BCF whom you would like to try out.Most of the well known authors have had their years of struggle, Maeve Binchy and Mary Wesley to name 2.
You're right Supergran. I frequently find myself in bookshops these days thinking 'oh, that's what <insert BCF member name> has been reading'.From what I understand, John Kennedy Toole became depressed and later committed suicide after his book was continually rejected by publishers. Then his mother finally got it published 11 years after he died.
My local Goodwill shop has hundreds of great books, and all the money they earn helps fund their charity.There are a couple of universities here that hold annual book fairs. They're very popular as the books are dirt cheap and all the money raised goes back into facilities for the students and the university. It's nice to think that my love of reading is helping someone get an education (in some remote, indirect kind of way!
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Some more books I've bought in the last week or two:
Jean M Auel: The Mammoth Hunters
Jean M Auel: The Valley of Horses
William Goldman: The Princess Bride
Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Antique Doll #36
Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife
Terry Pratchett: Going Postal(Discworld #33)
Terry Pratchett: The Last Continent (Discworld #22)
Terry Pratchett: Thief of Time (Discworld #26)
Terry Pratchett: Thud! (Discworld #34)
Paullina Simons: Eleven Hours (this was a freebie!)
EB White: Charlotte's Web/Stuart Little/The Trumpet of the Swan
I'm hoping to get this updated with my recent reviews in the next few days. I've been getting a bit behind!
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If there isn't already a thread about the book, you can start your own under the 'Specific Authors or Books' forum. If you're not sure whether there's a thread, you can do a search for it. There's a thread for No. 1 here.
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ii, you might like to check out this article, which seems to give some pretty good recommendations. Of the books mentioned, I have A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole on my bookshelf and it really sounds like an excellent read.
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on what you choose.
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Hello and welcome to the BCF! I believe there are several members here who are fans of Alexander McCall Smith. I'm sure you'll love it here; everyone is very friendly and welcoming. BEWARE though: your TBR pile is about to grow exponentially with all the recommendations you'll be getting! Don't say I didn't warn you!
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I've just started Part 3. I enjoyed Part 2 more than Part 1 because the action picked up a little. Can't wait to see what this ending is that you all keep going on about!
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Dreams of Stone by Jonathan Wylie takes me back to a boring lunchtime when I was in Year 7. My friend had dragged me into the library (I loved books back then but didn't necessarily want to be spending every lunchtime indoors!) and I randomly plucked this book off the shelf and was hooked from the first page. I now have all 22 books written by this author. The same thing happened when I received from my teacher a copy of John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War Began, the most incredible series of books I've ever read.
My series of Trixie Belden books by Kathryn Kenny. I bought numbers 1-4 and 6 for 20c each from a small book stall at an open day at a university where my Dad used to work. Another moment that started a love affair for a series of books, of which I have almost a complete collection.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams was a book I picked up from a garbage bag on the side of the road. I was visiting my friend's grandmother and it was their local council pick-up day so we were roaming the streets and looking for free stuff.
The Beatles (Quote/Unquote) by Arthur Davis was the very first book I bought about The Beatles, when my interest in them was just starting. I fondly remember looking at the photo on the cover with my brother and trying to guess which one was which because I couldn't yet tell them all apart!
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Very impressive Oblomov! Do you have them all stored in those plastic protection sleeves? I probably have 100 or so comics, but nothing particularly special - they're just from my childhood.
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Donna Tartt's books certainly garner some different responses! I've heard a few people say The Secret History is definitely better, and others say that The Little Friend is far better. It will be interesting when I finally get around to reading them.
I had a dream last night that I was in a small bookshop that was full of Stephen King books and nothing else. I tracked down The Running Man and it looked reasonably priced so I think I was going to get it. I think I'll definitely add it to my wish list, thanks!
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I second Arthur C Clarke. He's absolutely brilliant. As Michelle said, the Rama series is great, as is the Space Odyssey collection. One of my personal favourites is The City and the Stars. I also have a collection of pretty much every short story he wrote and I can highly recommend that as well.
There's also:
Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked this Way Comes)
John Wyndham (The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos)
HG Wells (War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man)
Jules Verne (Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea).
A few other big names (that I haven't yet read) are Isaac Asimov, Robert A Heinlein and Orson Scott Card. Ooh, I also recommend A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.
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Princess Ponti, I was looking at (and drooling over) the whole series of Anne... books in a shop the other day. I might wait until after Christmas and buy a few during the sales
I only read an ebook version this year so it would be lovely to own my own copy. Have you read the entire series?
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I understand what you're saying Talisman. I think we can all appreciate that authors are ripped off, but I'm sure they know what they're getting into when they decide to write, and hopefully they would keep a day job to pay the bills until perhaps they can make enough to write full time. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but we're all working hard and trying to get ahead in the world.
If it's a choice between having more money in my own pocket, or in someone else's pocket, I would choose me every time and I won't make apologies for it or feel bad about it
I've bought more than enough new books to help keep the book industry propped up so I think I'm entitled to buy a few cheapies now and then. Michelle was spot on when she said if she can't buy some of them used, she won't buy them at all. And if I was an author, I would prefer to have my work being enjoyed second-hand than being completely ignored by the book-buying public. Remember that this particular forum is full of book 'addicts'. We simply can't afford to feed our addictions by buying brand new books all the time. This is why we buy from second-hand bookshops. I think the average person who doesn't read as many books would be much more inclined to buy new rather than spend hours scouring second-hand shops for bargains. I don't think the BCF is indicative of the world at large.
Besides all that, most of the second-hand books I buy are written by long-dead authors who can't use my hard-earned cash anyway
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Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends. I hope you have had a great holiday! The food sounds so delicious
. If I ever get to go to the US, I think I'll time it for Thanksgiving/Christmas. It sounds wonderful -
I would think it's better to receive multiple copies of a book than no copies at all.
When I bought The Last Continent from a second-hand bookshop recently, the shop owner showed me a large collection (not sure if it was complete) of brand new Pratchetts that she had just received. She was debating whether to sell them as one big collection, or individually. I might need to take another trip to that shop soon to see what she has decided, then see whether it's too expensive to ask for them for Christmas
Update: Well, it wouldn't be so expensive for someone to buy them for me now that I've just knocked a few more off the list. I went out at lunch to look in a cheap book shop and found 3 Discworlds (I've never seen them in that shop before!).
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Welcome Chicken! Looking forward to discussing books with you (although not Diana Gabaldon, because I haven't read any of her work)
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Has anyone read The Running Man by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)? I was just reading a plot summary and it sounds pretty interesting.
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My goodness! How many of those do you reckon you've read? I'm so jealous 
I checked my LibraryThing tags earlier and apparently I've bought/received 170 books so far this year. That's about 1/3 of my entire collection.
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Whoops. I agree, still a great price. I don't think I've ever seen hardbacks anywhere near that cheap (except second-hand).
Favourite horror book
in Horror / Fantasy / SF
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Writeoff, I agree. Dystopians are my favourite kind of novel. It's so enjoyable (and yes, disturbing too) reading various authors' different takes on future societies.