frankie

What an interesting question! Who's yours, Athena? I think I've always related to Anastasia Krupnik (the series is written by Lois Lowry), in that I love making lists, I have entertained thoughts of becoming an author, and I think we are both rather introspective, and we are analytical in some respects and also like observing other people. I only wish I had a cool little brother like she does... And I was always envious of her own room, back when I was a teenager and lacked one!

You have a great and a loving Mom Well done Mrs Gaia's Mom!

Boss has told me on a few different occasions how I've inspired her to use the library more and how I've inspired her to read more. She wanted to watch the movie Room and I told her to read the book first, and she absolutely loved it. She then wanted to read the Natascha Kampusch book, when I mentioned to her I'd read it, too. As they are about the same subject matter... I also told her about this Finnish novel which had gotten a Man Booker Prize nomination (not the shortlist, unfortunately... It was in the 'top 12' or something), and she wanted to read it and I got it for her from the library and she loved that one, too. The Natascha Kampusch book, however, wasn't a big hit... She told me that after having read the two masterpieces, Room and Nälkävuosi, Kampusch's writing felt so amateur-like, which is of course fair as she isn't a professional writer... But she was bored nonetheless, hoping that 'the Kampusch woman would already get kidnapped in the book', having read 50 pages of it and nothing happening so far. She was also reading a few other books but wasn't feeling them, either, and she was getting frustrated, and I felt her pain... One day she wondered if the Gilbert Grape book was as good as the movie. I told her I loved the movie and that coincidentally, I'd found a copy of the book just recently and got it. This is happening with Boss always: we are freakishly similar and have similar taste and these coincidences just follow one after the other... I told her I'd lend her my copy. I then realized, now's the time to recommend Augusten Burroughs to her, and I wondered how I hadn't thought of it before :O She loves true stories and stuff about people with different mental disorders and stuff. So I told her about Running with Scissors, and she was sold. She's currently reading both RwS and GG at the same time When I brought her the copy of RwS, I thought of the story very fondly, and when I was leafing through the pages, I felt that I wanted to re-read the book very, very much... I haven't been doing any re-reading a lot in the past few years, but now it felt like it was time. I just checked and it was about 9 years ago that I first read RwS!! Where has the time gone... I myself started reading the book yesterday and I'm already on page 190. I feel like my mojo's back

20. Here's Looking at You by Mhairi McFarlane Amazon: Anna Alessi – history expert, possessor of a lot of hair and an occasionally filthy mouth – seeks nice man for intelligent conversation and Mills & Boon moments. Despite the oddballs that keep turning up on her dates, Anna couldn’t be happier. As a 30-something with a job she loves, life has turned out better than she dared dream. However, things weren’t always this way, and her years spent as the ‘Italian Galleon’ of an East London comprehensive are ones she’d rather forget. So when James Fraser – the architect of Anna’s final humiliation at school – walks back into her life, her world is turned upside down. But James seems a changed man. Polite. Mature. Funny, even. People can change, right? So why does Anna feel like she’s a fool to trust him? Thoughts: I think this one was also a new book at the library and I felt like reading a bit of chick lit. My mojo was still being fickle, as well, and I thought a light read might do the trick... I read the book in a day, so in that respect it was a success! I took it with me to work, and read it while in the tram, in the subway, and on my way from the subway station to work... And back home. It was easy enough to read it while walking, and I think spending that much time on a book made me instinctively remember what it's like to just keep on reading, and not watching TV and being online doing nothing particular instead. It was a welcome experience! The writing was bad. I don't know if it was a very poor translation (I read it in Finnish) or if I just don't like McFarlane... Or whether it's a combination of the two. It tried to be witty but either I failed to catch any of it or the author overdid it. However, as I was suffering from a major mojo loss, going on for weeks and weeks, I was just happy to be able to read and read and not forget what had happened a few pages ago... The story flowed okay and I did enjoy it, overall. It really helped with my mojo. I wouldn't probably go for any other of the author's books and I wouldn't recommend this one to anyone in particular, but I'm still thankful for what it did for me 3/5

19. The Last of the Bowmans by J. Paul Henderson Blurb: After an absence of seven years, Greg Bowman returns home from America to find his father lying in a bamboo coffin, his estranged brother Billy stalking a woman with no feet, and his 79 year-old Uncle Frank planning to rob a bank. While renovating the family house, he is unexpectedly visited by the presence of his dead father and charged with the task of 'fixing' the family. In the course of his reluctant investigations, Greg discovers an unsettling secret of his father's, and one that brings him face to face with the consequences of his own past. Thoughts: The title caught my attention when I was once again browsing the list of the new acquired books on the library's website. I thought this might make a quirky read if it was well executed... Having never heard of the author I was a bit hesitant but thought I'd give it a go nonetheless. My extremely fickle mojo could've totally ruined this book for me, and I do think that I would've enjoyed it even more if I could've read it in a shorter period of time than two weeks (!!), but it's pretty great, all things considered, how much I liked this book. I liked the characters and the plotline and the story telling. I wouldn't say my world was rocked and I wouldn't know to whom I would or could or should recommend this book, but I really much enjoyed it nonetheless. And I think I will look out for the author's other novel. 4/5

I finished The Last of the Bowmans the other day, and started Here's Looking at You by Mhairi McFarlane the day before yesterday and finished it yesterday. Since then I've started re-reading Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

I like your 'screw it!' attitude I should've gone for it sooner... One can't force these things! I'd definitely recommend it I'm loving all the cultural references and the time warp back into the precious 90s I was blown away when they played Ashanti in this one particularly great scene... Thanks Athena! I think I'm getting better... There was this one thing that was occupying my mind and it was seriously in my mojo's way, and when I decided to just forget about the thing and not think of it, I was more able to concentrate on books... Once I finished my then current read, I opted for a romance novel and decided to try and read it during my commute, too, instead of listening to music. I would read it in the tram and the subway, and even while I was walking from the subway station to work It worked wonders and I've already finished the chick lit book and started another book since then I hope it continues! Heck, as long as you enjoy it, it's all good! Is Reuben allowed with you, though, as you probably can't take him to the library? How is the fella doing these days? Sacrilege, and totally against all that the libraries represent Atonement must be an exception then, because it looks like a 200 pager... That's pretty short even for a bad book Yep, there's the pressure, but being able to renew one's loans is really great. Over here we can renew our books 5 times (unless there are reservations). I love it! You are dealing with a very opposite problem of mine... I'm glad you can get sucked into books and feel the urge to get sucked into others while you're still reading that one I've had the same problem before... Nowadays not so much...

Another one of my problems is that I have a lot of books that seem amazing borrowed from the library and I just don't feel like reading them, even though I really want to read them! This really sucks! I want to read but I am not in the mood. Here are the ones I'm totally keen on: The Butcher's Hook by Janet Ellis: The debut novel by actress and presenter Janet Ellis, The Butcher's Hook is the dark and unexpected tale of a young girl in 18th-century London determined to take her life in her own hands. No matter the cost. Anne Jaccob is coming of age in late 18th-century London. When she is taken advantage of by her tutor - and her father's great friend - her powerlessness in the world is brought home to her. And it joins several other formative experiences in her short life so far that will serve to dictate her future actions. Her saviour appears in the form of Fub, the butcher's boy. But will what she learns in his company actually be her salvation or her damnation? Anne's morality is certainly more than dubious, but the influences on her are no less so. And through Ellis' rich but deft storytelling and portrayal of Anne's strength of character, listeners will find themselves almost excusing her escalating crimes, even when self-defence becomes overridden by something darker. This is a book in which the panoramas and filthy streets of the city, the colour and bear-baiting of St Bartholomew's Fair, the nobility and the hypocrisy of learning and piety, the excitement and envy of love and obsession, and the visceral rites of passage of passion and death are all gloriously celebrated and scrutinised. A sweeping tale - but always an intimate one - told with the same intricate details as Sarah Waters' works and the compelling darkness of Hannah Kent's Burial Rites. The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler: "As Simon, a lonely research librarian, searches frantically for the key to a curse that might be killing the women in his family, he learns strange and fascinating secrets about their past. A tale full of magic and family mystery, The Book of Speculation will keep you up all night reading."―Isaac Fitzgerald, BuzzFeed Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. His parents are long dead. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival. One June day, an old book arrives on Simon's doorstep, sent by an antiquarian bookseller who purchased it on speculation. Fragile and water damaged, the book is a log from the owner of a traveling carnival in the 1700s, who reports strange and magical things, including the drowning death of a circus mermaid. Since then, generations of "mermaids" in Simon's family have drowned--always on July 24, which is only weeks away. As his friend Alice looks on with alarm, Simon becomes increasingly worried about his sister. Could there be a curse on Simon's family? What does it have to do with the book, and can he get to the heart of the mystery in time to save Enola? Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik: 'Brilliant idea! Excellent! Muslim dating? Well, I had no idea you were allowed to date.' Then he leaned towards me and looked at me sympathetically. 'Are your parents quite disappointed?' Unlucky in love once again after her sort-of-boyfriend/possible-marriage-partner-to-be proves a little too close to his parents, Sofia Khan is ready to renounce men for good. Or at least she was, until her boss persuades her to write a tell-all expose about the Muslim dating scene. As her woes become her work, Sofia must lean on the support of her brilliant friends, baffled colleagues and baffling parents as she seeks stories for her book. But in amongst the marriage-crazy relatives, racist tube passengers and polygamy-inclined friends, could there be a lingering possibility that she might just be falling in love . . . ? Here's Looking at You by Mhairi McFarlane: Anna Alessi – history expert, possessor of a lot of hair and an occasionally filthy mouth – seeks nice man for intelligent conversation and Harlequin romance moments. Despite the oddballs that keep turning up on her dates, Anna couldn’t be happier. As a 30-something with a job she loves, life has turned out better than she dared dream. However, things weren’t always this way, and her years spent as the butt of schoolyard jokes are ones she’d rather forget. So when James Fraser – the architect of Anna’s final humiliation at school – walks back into her life, her world is turned upside down. But James seems a changed man. Polite. Mature. Funny, even. People can change, right? So why does Anna feel like she’s a fool to trust him?

You should make him read Augusten Burroughs's Running With Scissors which is a memoir, and he'd say it never happened, even though it's non-fiction Okay, I'm convinced. I'm going to go and watch The Big Short, based on Steve's recommendation and the fact that I'll probably be able to watch the Finnish movie on television in a few years' time and also: Steve Carell is in The Big Short

^ All you D. H. Lawrence people: I found LC'sL really boring, too, but I haven't sworn off of him... There's one other book by him I want to try out but I can't remember which one it is. I have 10 pages left of The Last of the Bowmans and I'm dreading it... Poor book! It's been a good one but I'm just not in the mood for reading!

I've been reading the same old book for at least 2 weeks now... I've had to start it over once And this is so weird, but I've not been feeling like buying books for a while. I mean I do look at books and would definitely go for a bargain book, but I've not gone on BookDepo in ages to look at books. I guess it's partly due to me trying to reduce my TBR pile, but also it's to do with money. I wasn't made of it last year, and had no money to buy books, and so I'm kind of used to not buying books (even though I now have a job and could afford to buy a few books every now and then). Also, the library is stacked with books I want to read... No need for me to buy any of my own. But today I got an odd feeling... I wanted to go on Bookdepo to check how much a copy of Amy Tan's The Hundred Secret Senses would cost. I've been watching Fresh Off the Boat which I'm totally loving, and it's reminded me of Amy Tan and her The Joy Luck Club we read as an RC book on here, and the book The Opposite of Faith by hers that I almost finished one summer, as we were reading it for the Rory Gilmore reading challenge... I had only maybe 40 pages left but something came along and I didn't get to finish it, even though I'd loved what I'd read so far. I really need to read it soon! I'm totally in the mood for Amy Tan and some Chinese-American cultural stuff! It feels kind of good to want to buy a book again I don't know if I will buy it, though, but it was a nice feeling, browsing the website..

Oh wow, that's a high recommendation! What sort of movies does he usually go for? I mean what sort of movies has he previously liked? Just to see if we have a similar taste in movies...

Has anyone watched The Big Short? I have a free ticket to the movies and I can't decide whether to watch this or a Finnish romantic comedy...

I'm just going to say Augusten Burroughs and David Mitchell (the comedian/author).

So warm, so sunny <3

Sunny and warm again Here comes the summer!

Hello peeps, what are you up to?

April 17 The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine - library loan 18 Broken Promise by Linwood Barclay - library loan The Last of the Bowmans by J. Paul Henderson - library loan - currently reading So, that's pretty much what happened in April, reading-wise... At least I liked the books that I read! 3/5 for The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow (am going to read the sequel soon as I have a copy from the library) and 4/5 for Broken Promise. I'm also enjoying The Last of the Bowmans but I'm just not feeling like reading at the moment... My mind's otherwise engaged. It's the spring that's troubling me

I take my hat off to you! I should get fit, too... I like the idea of a pedometer. It seems to have worked for you very well? I like it that you are using the library as an 'excuse' to do your walk It's as good a destination as any, and better than most The downside, of course, is that you have way too many library loans now... You should ask them to set a limit to the amount of books you can loan per week So McEwan isn't pure gold then is he? I can't remember which books were suggested to me in the past. Probably Atonement at least. At least his books are short? And thanks for the congrats, it was no mean feat! Thanks! Yep, you could probably single handedly keep your libraries in full function even if the other patrons stopped going Well hello there Julie, long time no see! What's shaking?

I couldn't find a thread for May, even though we are 3 days in... I can't believe it's May already! What's your book activity today? I'm still reading The Last of the Bowmans by J. Paul Henderson. I'm enjoying it but I guess I'm just not in a reading zone at the moment

I know... The dilemma of patronizing the library... I hope there's a copy of the book waiting for you!! I know you might not get to it next, or even all too soon, but I'm just happy that you want to read it!

I've not read it, but one book that comes to mind is Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

He does? I never knew that He must be a good guy in real life!

In Finland as well Mother's Day was in March in the UK, I believe. No one in particular comes to mind... Oh! Anastasia Krupnik's mother Katherine! She's so cool So nice and intelligent and supportive.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Caught the beginning accidentally and then wanted to know what happened so watched the whole thing. I'm so glad Matthew McConaughey's gotten the chance to act in other movies besides the romantic comedies. He's so much better in the drama stuff he's been doing!