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frankie

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Posts posted by frankie

  1. Books read in 2018

     

    January

    1. Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella (re-read) 2/5

     

    As stated above, this was a re-read. I really really liked the novel when I first read it, but this time I found it somewhat boring. Maybe I wasn't in the mood or maybe I should've gone for something new and not a re-read. Or maybe some books are not worth re-reads? 

     

    February

    2. Dumplin' by Julie Murphy 3/5

    From Amazon: 

    Dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom, Willowdean has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . .  until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.  

     

    Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does.

     

    Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

     

    I picked this up on a whim and I guess I skim read the blurb because I didn't realize that this was a YA novel and about teenagers :D  My reading has been awful this year, I can't even read the blurbs right... The novel was easy to read and it was entertaining. My main niggles are that it was cut kind of short: I was hoping to know more of what 'became' of everyone involved. How things progressed after the main event. I also didn't like the main character... And I think I was supposed to like her. 

     

    3. Lukot by Pauliina Susi  3/5

     

    A Finnish novel which seemed very promising in the beginning and I really enjoyed reading it, but it came to a very rushed conclusion, unfortunately. 

     

     

    March

    No books finished! :o

     

     

    April

    4. Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi 4/5

     

    This was a re-read for me. As you may know, Charles Manson died last year and this prompted Kylie to pick up this book, and me to join her in the reading! It took me ages to finish.... Whenever I was reading the book, I was engrossed, but I didn't feel an urgent need to pick it up again once I put it down... I'm sure if it had been my first read I wouldn't have put it down! In any case, a recommended reading for true crime buffs.

     

    When I went on GR to set this book as read for this month, I noticed that the last (and first) time I read the book was in 2010. I was reading the book in March even back then :D March means Manson, murder & mayhem... Only back then it took me 9 days to read the book! This time it took me probably two months... :D

     

    Kylie, if you read this... here's my favorite quote! Re: Polanski:

    Spoiler

    "Another friend observed that Polanski's immense talent was matched only by his ego. Non-friends, who were numerous, had stronger things to say. One, referring to the fact that Polanski was just over five feet tall, called him "the original five-foot Pole you wouldn't want to touch anyone with.""  :lol::lol:

     

  2. On 17.3.2018 at 3:27 PM, Athena said:

    I'm happy your reason for being missing in action, is a happy one :friends3:! I'm happy that you've found someone you are happy with :hug:. Maybe you'll be able to do more reading in a while :).

     

    He is a gamer and he hadn't been gaming for a long time when we started seeing each other. The gaming comes and goes in his life :)  He's gone back to gaming now and he's finding it fun again, and that enables me to spend more quality time with books :D  

     

    On 17.3.2018 at 3:27 PM, Athena said:

     

    Good luck with finding a new job :). It sounds like a scary process, but I hope you find something you like :).

     

    I'm dreading the whole process. I wish I had more confidence in myself! :unsure:

     

    On 17.3.2018 at 3:47 PM, Lau_Lou said:

    That is a shame. If I am honest I found the first couple of chapters very slow.

     

    Maybe it's just a matter of sticking with it! And maybe trying an English copy. I'm not done with it, though, I'll be giving the novel further tries :D

     

    On 17.3.2018 at 3:47 PM, Lau_Lou said:

    I shall have to have a look at My Cousin Rachel soon.

     

    I hope you do! :smile2:

     

    On 17.3.2018 at 3:47 PM, Lau_Lou said:

     

    It is great to hear you’re happy in your new relationship :) at least the reason you are not reading as much is very positive. 

     

     

    That is true :)  And like I told Athena, I have more time now for reading since he's gone back to gaming :D

     

    On 17.3.2018 at 8:21 PM, Alexander the Great said:

    It sounds like everything's changing for you, but I'm happy that it's for all the right reasons! Sounds like you're moving forward. Happy reading this year!

     

    Thanks Alexander! :smile2:  It's like there's one change after another, and it has been that way since I moved to south... I feel like I've not had time to settle in yet! 

     

    On 17.3.2018 at 8:31 PM, Little Pixie said:

    Congrats Frankie ! :D

     

    Thanks Little Pixie! :D

     

    On 18.3.2018 at 1:29 PM, Athena said:

     

    I realised last night in bed, that my comment could be taken in a different way than I intended. I meant it in a way that maybe in a while, you'll both sit on the sofa and you'll read and he'll do something too (ie. watch tv or read or whatever), or something like that, and you'll enjoy being near each other and talk and such (sometimes I read while my boyfriend does something different, but we're sitting near each other and talking now and then, and I love that). I didn't mean anything bad by it, it just came out a bit wrong :blush:. I am so happy for you!

     

    Don't worry Athena, I understood exactly what you meant by your comment! :smile2:   :friends3:  There's not a single soul on here who would've thought you meant it in the different way than you actually did! I've already managed to do some reading while he's been playing or watching TV. So I know it's doable! 

     

    And in case anyone's wondering, no, he's not a reader. He has read some books (LotR for example), but it's not a hobby of his. He did say his NY's resolution would be to read one book and I happened to find a good one for him at a charity shop: Arnold Schwarzenegger's autobiography! :D  He likes (auto)bios and he likes Arnold :D

  3. 7 hours ago, poppy said:

     

    Been watching a series of Doc Martin I hadn't seen before. Made me wonder how Doc Martin and House would have gotten on if they met :lol:

     

    :lol::lol: My brain can't get itself around this!! :D  

     

    I've been watching The League of Gentlemen, it's been a very odd ride! :D

  4. ^ I ate three Easter eggs at work on Thursday and felt awful. Then they'd gotten me a Bebe and I was of course obliged to eat it and that was a whole lot of sugar :D After 2 PM I noticed I hadn't eaten my lunch at 1 PM which is my usual time... Didn't feel hungry after all the chocolate and sugar :D Yuck!! 

     

    I was going to buy some Easter eggs for me and J yesterday, a particular kind with white chocolate type of stuffing inside (they are really yummy!) but the shop had run out :( 

     

    Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates it, and a Happy Weekend to everyone else! :smile2:

    Remember, don't be fooled.....!! :hide:

  5. On 2/6/2018 at 7:29 PM, Little Pixie said:

     

    That`s the Gilmore Girls DVD, the 4 TV movies they made for Netflix ( I should`ve put ` book and disc haul` ) ; no idea when I`ll watch the discs, I have a bit of a backlog ( and a video backlog, and a book backlog... There may be a theme here. :lol:)

     

    I saw the picture and thought, what book is this, and why did I not know about it!! :D So the DVD(s) is out already, awesome! I have to buy it at some point! :)

     

    I'm really late in saying this (I'm still going around visiting people's logs for the first time this year), but I hope you have an amazing reading year!! :smile2: I see you've read a huge pile of books already :D

  6. On 10.3.2018 at 11:49 PM, Virginia said:

    Someone PLEASE explain to me WHY I'm always late to the party?  Why is it that its 2018 and I'm JUST beginning season 1 of Gilmore Girls?! I could KICK myself with cowgirl boots with spurs on!

     

    You're in for an amazing ride!! :smile2:

    I've now started the fourth season of The Office. I'm loving it! :smile2:

  7. On 31.12.2017 at 5:10 PM, Lau_Lou said:

    I see you have Rebecca on your list. I sincerely hope you enjoy that when you read it.

     

    I've started reading it maybe 4 times but it has never stuck :( I don't know why! Maybe I've not been in the right mood or maybe I shouldn't try and read it in Finnish. I don't know! I've read My Cousin Rachel by the same author and that book I loved! :smile2:

     

     

    Thanks everyone for your wishes, I hope we all have an amazing reading year! :smile2:  :readingtwo:

     

    I'm sorry that I've been missing in action... The thing is, I have found someone and I'm now in a relationship and he's been taking up a lot of my time!  My reading's non-existent most of the time and it's ... it's nice in a way but it's also annoying that I don't get to read as much as I used to :D  

     

    I've also come to the conclusion that I need to find a new job and that's going to be tricky and time consuming.

     

    Lots of changes in my life, I'm still getting adjusted to things!

     

     

  8. On 4.3.2018 at 10:39 PM, chaliepud said:

    A friend and I watched this at the cinema when it came out years ago...the scene where he is posing on the bed naked with the laptop in fromt of him, we nearly wet ourselves laughing! :D

     

     

    Yep, that was hilarious!! :lol::lol:   I've recommended the movie to my boss, I think she'll be watching it next week! :D

     

    I haven't watched any more movies recently, but I'm hoping to watch Elling today!

  9. On 10.3.2018 at 9:38 PM, bobblybear said:

    I'm now reading A Fraction of The Whole by Steve Toltz which is very good so far! 

     

    Oooh, I'm glad to hear that! I've got the book on my TBR pile! :smile2:

    I'm still plowing through Helter Skelter which is taking me a long time but I'm enjoying it!

  10. On 21.2.2018 at 6:32 PM, Athena said:

     

    Me either, I'm trying to have a relatively pressure-free year of reading, so no challenges for me this year. I hope you enjoy your Round Robin challenge :smile2:!

     

    A pressure-free reading year sounds great, I'm up for that! :D  :readingtwo:

     

    Quote

     

    I'm not entirely sure myself what the difference is between thrillers, mysteries and detective novels! But a lot of those Dutch ones say 'literary thriller' on the cover, so that's how I know about those. For others I try to see what other people on GoodReads say or what the synopsis says. Generally if it's a police investigator / detective working on a case, I call it a 'detective' (or mystery) and if it's someone not related to or experienced in policework but just a civilian being threated and chased or looking into the case, then I call it a 'thriller'. Generally for me in a detective it's more about solving the case but in a thriller it's also about the main character trying to avoid being killed themselves, if that makes sense? But what I do is probably not how other people would do it, I just do my own thing in my own bookshelves and collection (I have separate shelves for detectives and for thrillers). Indeed murder and mayhem :D.

     

    Your categories make sense!  I wonder, as we are talking about it, why are you guys thinking about these categories more than I am? I mean technically. Is it because you have different genres on GR and you like to make the distinctions there, when adding read books? I think you Athena probably like to keep statistics about the genres you read, so it would make sense for  you to think about it more than I do :D  I don't keep those kinds of statistics so I've not really had to think about the whole thing. I'm so bad at genres in any case, unless they are clear-cut stuff. 

     

    Quote

     

     

    Ohh I bought that Christmas one at a library sale, it has terrible reviews/ratings on GoodReads, one of them might have been yours :D. I haven't read it yet, but I have read a few of his thrillers and enjoyed those when I was a teenager. I was a young teenager with my family on holiday in France (with our big tent), I had read all my own books so I decided to have a look at my parents' books (while I was inside the tent looking for something to do), and there I found De Cliënt by John Grisham (or The Client as the English original is known). The story spoke to me at the time because one of the characters in the book was a child, so I felt like I could relate a bit. I liked Patricia Cornwell when I was a younger teenager but I haven't read any of her books since, so I don't know if they would still appeal to me.

     

    Yep, one of the 1/5's is definitely from me :lol: I hope you'll find it more enjoyable!! I don't think anyone in my family has read Grisham so I've never been 'exposed' to him :D  

     

    As for my bookish activity, I finished Dumplin' last night. I finished my second read of the year!! Wohoo! :D

     

  11. On 21.2.2018 at 11:20 PM, karen.d said:

    I've actually sort of started a bullet journal, which has a future log, a monthly log which I use it as a mini journal I suppose. I write a word to describe each day of that month. Then the dailys I use as a gratitude journal. I also have a page for what I read during the year and for a Stephen King Challenge I have set myself. This is probably NOT how you're supposed to use a bullet journal, but i seems to work for me so far.

     

    But that's how bullet journals are supposed to be used: in a way that works for you! :smile2: Everyone's different so everyone needs different things from their bullet journal. You use it in ways that you see fit and that's what it's all about :smile2:

     

    22 hours ago, Nollaig said:

     

    I did finish the monkey, though I'm not sure how much OH liked him as he didn't seem overly taken with it :mellow: He was very appreciative of the effort that went in, but I think maybe it's not the kind of look he originally wanted or something.

     

    Oh I'm sorry to hear that! :(  But he did show his appreciation so obviously he was really touched by what you did, and the idea and effort that went into it! :yes: It's probably about what you said, maybe he had a very different idea of what the monkey would look like? And as it's going on his blog, he'd like it to be a certain way. And you probably didn't know what it was supposed to look like in particular, or maybe he was unable to convey his vision of it to you. You did a great monkey but maybe not the kind of monkey he wanted. I'm sure you could make the exact kind of monkey he wants, with you talent! :)

  12. 11 hours ago, poppy said:

     

    They're saying it's too early to predict when this road will be cleared. There are 6000 residents and tourists over there and the only way out is by boat or small plane.  They're working flat out all over this area clearing blocked roads.

    Our water supply is cut, but fortunately we have a large tank so going very easy on water at the moment.

     

    It's going to be a lot of work! :(  I'm glad you have a tank and so you have your water supplies. I hope you get your main water back soon!! :hug:

     

    11 hours ago, poppy said:

     

     

    It's really sad to see all the damage to farmland and orchards. Some places are covered in a thick layer of mud and rubbish. But people are amazingly resilient and have started on the big clean-up.

     

    There's nothing else to it but to do it! :unsure:   If anything, it brings people closer? 

     

    11 hours ago, poppy said:

     

    And you live in one of the top 10 happiest places in the world! We'll all move in, Frankie :lol: Stay warm and get better soon :hug:

     

    You are all welcome, we have room :D If you can stand the cold :D:unsure:   Maybe we could live here in the summer and come live in NZ in the (Finnish) winter? That might be optimal, temperature-wise!!

     

    1 hour ago, Madeleine said:

    That stuff from Siberia is headed our way too, they're not sure if it will snow, and if it does snow, when where and how much of it there will be, but it's meant to get much colder.  Cold enough already, had quite a frost this morning, and the cold wind is the worst.  Thank you Siberia!

     

    Siberia is all about tough love :D  I hope it doesn't get too cold over there! :friends3:

  13. 22 hours ago, Athena said:

     

    I hope you will be, I always enjoy seeing you around the forum and talking with you :).

     

    Aww thanks! :smile2:   :hug:  I enjoy talking to you, too, and all you lot!  Being in a reading slump made me grumpy and I guess it made me envy all you others who kept reading away and I got tired of being grumpy and I didn't want to come on here because I felt I had nothing to give to them forum. Well it was partly that and partly me being busy with a thing. 

     

    However, I feel like I've gotten out of a real-life slump and it's been so much fun being on here for the past few days! I feel rejuvenated! :D   I still have a lot of threads to go through, especially new reading logs, but I'm looking forward to them! :smile2:

     

    1 hour ago, Madeleine said:

    35 isn't a bad total, so don't fret.  Good luck this year!

     

    Do you know what? You are absolutely right. I was just caught up on the number of books I used to read per year, and so 35 seemed like a small number. And it is a small number if I compare it to other years, but I shouldn't always compare things so much! I get so caught up on old stuff. I should just concentrate on NOW. And what literary gems I will find this year! :D  :readingtwo:   Thanks Madeleine for your wise words! 

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