Kylie

The City and the Stars is probably my favourite Arthur C Clarke book, and rather underrated, I think. I understand what you mean about the flat characters though; characterisation certainly wasn't Clarke's strong point! I can usually forgive him for it though because I love the ideas in his stories. I've been helping my Mum move house for the past few days, so I haven't had much time to read. My book activity has mostly consisted of unpacking all of Mum's books and setting up her library. I found that she had two copies of John Le Carre's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (one of which I gave her!), so Mum gave me the extra copy (I've never actually read it). I've also borrowed a book from her by one of my favourite Australian comedians, Judith Lucy, called Drink, Smoke, Pass Out. I'm about two-thirds of the way through The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

If you have the same edition of Bluebear that I have, then it'll have a nice 'floppy' spine so you won't have to work so hard to keep it open. Is that what you meant when you said why couldn't it have been Bluebear? But just think, now that you have a couple of doorstops out of the way, that leaves more room in the jar for reads that are slightly thinner and 'lighter' reading! I bought a new book jar! And yes, I opened it in the store first and tested whether I could fit my whole fist inside before I bought it. The checkered-looking cloth is actually just cheap paper, so I'll get rid of that and try to pretty it up with something else. I've decided to make this a permanent feature in my library, so I want to make it look nice. The next stop is Officeworks to get some nice-coloured paper!

Yep, I found an ebook today. I read half a dozen pages but had to put it aside to do some work. It might be the perfect read for my train trip tomorrow—I won't have to concentrate so hard!

Ah OK. So you're not giving up forever then...phew!

Ah, so it was you who mentioned before that Countdown was about population growth? It sounds like it's just what I was hoping it would be. I'm really interested in the topic, and yes, population control is a rather sensitive subject! I'll be bumping this up my wishlist and hanging out to read your review when you've finished.

How many books are in the omnibus? Does it say on the cover? Is there no tables of contents? Maybe if you just flick through you'll notice a new book title every now and then. Are you all planning on reading all of the books? I think I might join in with reading the first book, but I don't want to interrupt my other reading too much, so I'll stop after one (unless I really, really enjoy it).

No more Aaronovitch?! Aww. Why didn't you like the Peter Grant series?

Oh dear. You do make me laugh, Kay! (With you, not at you, of course.) I've never heard of this book before. I just read the synopsis on Goodreads, and it sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to your review.

Aw, Poppyshake, that is such a cute photo of you! Frankie, so great that you found a skating rink and bookshop! Remember when we went ice-skating? Can't wait to hear what the bookshop is like!

I remember that 60-page speech very well. I actually found the book very readable and was flying through the pages until I got to that part. I think it took me as long to read that section as it did to read the rest of the book! I should have just skipped it. But don't let that put you off, Tim; it's a relatively small section. I really loved Atlas Shrugged. It was one of those books that I'd had sitting around for years, and after I finally read it, I was sorry it'd taken me so long to get around to reading it. It was a much easier read than I was expecting.

I saw Birdman last night. I discussed it a bit on Kell's Oscars thread, so I won't say much here except that I loved it!

Aw, Moses is a cute name for a dog. Yes, we need a pic please! I'm so glad you had so much fun.

I had a lovely little bookish dream last night. Well, it's lovely to dream about books, but not so lovely when you wake up and realise the awesome dream wasn't real. Anyway, I visited a big IKEA store and was wandering around when I suddenly spotted a huge area full of bookcases...and the books were arranged by colour! I wandered around for ages checking out the selection (they were English books—not the Swedish ones you find in real IKEA stores). I took some photos so I could post them on BCF later. It was a while before I thought to check the prices. I was hoping maybe the books would be cheaper because they were being sold by IKEA...and they were! I was so happy (duh). I think the dream ended before I actually chose any books, but it was certainly nice having a look around. I wish you could choose what to dream each night. It would always be book shopping for me, while surrounded by friends and family (especially my dad).

I agree with all of this, Melodious! I was talking to a friend about this very issue last night, and how our politicians (in my country, at least) are even refusing to acknowledge climate change. Our previous government implemented a carbon tax, and when they were voted out, the next government got rid of it. To be honest, I didn't look into it all enough to decide whether or not a carbon tax was the right way to go about things, but it was surely better than doing nothing! Governments clearly want it all to be someone else's problem. That book looks excellent! One food source that particularly worries me is our marine life. Those huge fishing trawlers with their massive nets just drag up anything and everything, and everything they don't want just goes to waste. Combine that with how much seafood we're eating, and the marine ecosystem has been hit so hard. I really believe that restrictions need to be placed on fishing to allow the fish population to recover and grow. I really don't think it would take too long. It just makes sense to me, but no one seems to want to think long term! I saw a really interesting interview on TV the other day, where two young gentleman in America have started 'harvesting' the tonnes of used fishing nets that are just left out in the oceans to kill wildlife, and they've worked out how to turn the netting into skateboards! I love hearing about stuff like this—where people work to find ways to turn something horrible into something useful that helps the planet. Maybe a bit intense, but I think my jar has been kinder to me than yours has to you! Yikes, two intimidating books in a row! You seem to have whizzed through Murdoch's letters though. I'm very impressed.

Great review of Printer's Devil Court. I've still only read The Woman in Black, and all of the reviews I've read of Susan Hill's other books are not as good, but I still think I'll enjoy them all, if only for the atmospheric writing. The books are just exquisite to look at (and touch), aren't they?!

Hmm...maybe my brother just told me there were both Indian and Chinese burns so he could torture me twice as much? In my family, a Chinese burn is when you use two hands to twist someone's arm in opposite directions, and you hold the position. With an Indian burn you do the same thing, except instead of just holding the grip, you quickly move your hands in opposite directions, so you're twisting back and forth. Does that make sense? ETA: I think muffs are lovely. I wish I lived in an area that got cold enough to warrant wearing one (I don't even know if people still wear them—I think it's an 'olden days' thing?)

Yep, I'll do just that, if I can find 'em! But I'll still redo the jar one day.

Now I'm scared.

Yeah, but that's the only good thing about the 80s! Everything else (hair, clothes, music) sucked, IMO! How about a Chinese burn? They're only slightly less painful than Indian burns. I'm not sure why they are named for the Chinese and Indians, but I suspect it's for a politically incorrect reason. What about a purple nurple? I've never received one of those, fortunately. Or a wedgie.

At least three days of doggy walking? Cool! Did you have to sign anything to say that you promise you'll give the dog back afterwards? I haven't used the blender yet. I've been a bit busy and I'm going away soon (but these won't be excuses from next week), so I guess I'll just wait until next week to start with it. I really can't wait!

Great link to the libraries, thanks Pont. A couple of those are for sale. Think we should all pool our money? That's a lovely photo, Ruth. I love that the library is part of an inmates program. What's Martha's Vineyard like? I'd love to go there one day. I believe it's quite an exclusive place—that the rich and famous have houses there?

Ooh. Maybe it's a sign that you should read it? When I got home tonight there was an Agatha Christie movie playing on TV. When I saw your post I got excited because I thought it was the same one, and I was all prepared to take the blame credit for it. But it wasn't (it was Evil Under the Sun.)

Yep. Sometimes I feel like I don't know you at all, Pont. I'm glad it's not just me who can't understand your distaste for Steinbeck. And I'm glad you didn't take it the wrong way when I said I couldn't understand it. I didn't want you to think I was being critical of you or your taste in books. It's just puzzling when you think you understand a person's likes/dislikes and then they go and surprise you like that!

Exactly. You can bet I'll be very strict and only allow 'my' kitties to go home with the best people possible...although I would probably think that all of them would be loved and treasured the most by me. Yes, it's the perfect job for you, along with being a librarian. You could be a librarian who walks doggies in her spare time. Hehe. I'm already wondering if this will be a good idea. I hope I don't get too upset when I have to give them up!

Great! I'll keep an (anxious) eye out to see what you think of it if/when you get around to it.