Nollaig

I did the same thing! I'm tearing through The Cipher by Kathe Koja and while there isn't much happy, nice or good about what's happening to the characters (or about the characters themselves), I'm absolutely loving reading it.

Already a third of the way through The Cipher! It's weird and dark and kinda gross and full of unlikeable characters, but... I kinda love it? Reminds me of a more serious John Dies In The End.

I'm tearing through The Cipher by Kathe Koja and loving it, but it's on my tablet Kindle so it won't give me page numbers. I was at 31% when I started, I can do some math later on the alleged page total on Amazon Icky weather here so I think I probably will do at least a day or two of this readathon. Yay motivation!

*jealous* I wanna meet you guys Glad you had a good time though

Today I watched the latest episode of Supernatural. It featured Grumpy Cat briefly

I'm not sure if I'll participate, as it's my last weekend before I start work, but if I wind up with no other plans I might give it a bash

I'm probably going to end up coming back and editing this post several times, but for now... Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte The Importance Of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde (yes, it's a play, but one of my favourite 'stories') Inkheart - Cornelia Funke The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams Paper Towns - John Green The Coldfire Trilogy - C. S. Friedman A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness The Book Thief - Markus Zusak The Magicians - Lev Grossman Out Of Nowhere - Gerard Whelan Oh god that was hard. There are another 6 books I had to really fight myself on, but the above are all books/stories I've re-read multiple times, and I took that as my final deciding condition. I *might* replace The Book Thief with either To Rise Again At A Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris or with Off To Be The Wizard by Scott Meyer. Or even with The Painted Man by Peter Brett. But I've only read each of those once, and they're sort of favourites-in-waiting.

Really glad you enjoyed Burial Rites! I get what you mean about the flowery writing occasionally turning into a bit of an overgrown garden but I just let myself get swept up in the poetry of it, and really loved it. I have a friend from northern Iceland, and when I mentioned I was reading this he said he was familiar with the historical story, but fortunately didn't spoil it for me (though he threatened to!) I can't honestly say I was really swept away by any of the characters in it, but the writing was lovely and I felt compelled to complete Agnes' journey with her once I'd started.

This one has been on my wishlist for a while, glad to hear you enjoyed it. I've actually been waiting to buy a paperback copy rather than a e-reader one, because I love the paperback cover. I just read that too, but I haven't been on the forum! I hope you enjoy it! So glad you've enjoyed it, must pop over to your thread now to see what you've said. My review is still pending, but I loved it too. Really unusual book. I finished my re-read of Inkheart, and have started The Cipher by Kathe Koja.

I haven't been here much (again) the last few days. Reading mojo has been slightly on the blink, but hoping to get back on track now. Just had my mind a little derailed by a few things. Only four days of freedom before I go back to work - and I have nothing planned. What I wouldn't give to go to the beach, but they're all so far away from me and I don't drive!

Sarah Pinborough D: I can't do it, not with my new job crippling me financially until the end of June. I will suddenly be able to afford it all at once at the end of June, but until then I can't. If there are still tickets and flights at the end of June, I'll get them, but I just can't do it before then. I am however going to use that giant list of authors as a reference guide for finding lots of new YA stuff to read!

Very excited for this. Makes me want to re-read the novel, and also go buy that 3-volume box-set of the novel I saw last week for 8 quid second-hand. For practical purposes, of course - reading a thousand-page paperback is simply impractical!

Father Ted is a lovely Irish/British joint effort, Irish writers (including Graham Linehan of Black Books and The It Crowd) under/in conjunction with a British station, as far as I'm aware. It's a gem in Ireland, and I think a lot of Brits get a laugh out of it too. It's very very very typical of Irish humor.

That definition doesn't exclude Irish haha . Basically little indie drama films. Parked stars Colm Meaney (Chief O'Brien in Star Trek) and Colin Morgan (of Merlin fame) as two homeless guys in Dublin (homeless for very different reasons and from very different backgrounds) who sort of become friends. Very good film. The Guard and Calvary both star Brendan Gleeson, and are (very darkly) comedic, with hugely Irish styling in both cases. People wanting a real sense of Ireland and our humour should watch them, but very very dark films. Death Of A Superhero is about a kid (Thomas Sangster-Brodie) who is terminally ill with cancer, basically coming to terms with that. Sort of a coming-of-age story, based on a novel I've yet to read.

I still think Irish films are interesting, English-language or not. I used to like a French film called Love Me If You Dare (that was its English title anyway). Really weird film. I'd probably hate it if I watched it now, but it used to show on the movie channels years ago and I liked it.

Parked, Calvary, The Guard and Death Of A Superhero are all Irish films I'd highly recommend. (DoaS is partly German, I think.) They're all in English, but they're Irish made films. That's foreign to pretty much everyone here but me

Finished Burial Rites. Very good book. Concentrating now on my re-read of Inkheart

Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng Synopsis: Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet . . . So begins this debut novel about a mixed-race family living in 1970s Ohio and the tragedy that will either be their undoing or their salvation. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue—in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party. When Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. *** Review: Even if this was not a debut novel, it would be a remarkable read; the fact that it is only lends further credit to this talented author. This is not a crime thriller or mystery, but rather a dramatic tale of longing for missed chances, the pressure of expectation and the isolating nature of unshared secrets. Set in the context of 1970s Ohio, the Lee parents struggle against the racial prejudices of their time to become the things they want to be, to be seen as successful and normal, and if nothing else, to acquire those things for their children. As a story about domestic turmoil, this novel is beautifully written and exceptionally evocative. I liked the fact that the very first sentence tells you that Lydia is dead, it removes any element of surprise or mystery and instead says, 'okay, this is what happened, now let's talk about why.' Each character gradually weaves the threads of their perspective into the complex whole vision of the Lee family, ultimately revealing what exactly happened to Lydia. The story moves along at a gentle pace, encouraging you to really get wrapped up in the delicate writing. I liked all of the characters in the story, and enjoyed learning about the complicated twists and turns their lives took in order to end up at this tragic conclusion; although I would have liked to see more from Jack. That said, while the characters didn't lack depth, their depiction lacked a little imagination. I felt that the author depicted the 'type' and 'aim' of each parent, particularly, (see synopsis) so strongly that it became a tad cartoonish - it felt somewhat unlikely that such overt intentions would manage to remain unaddressed for so long. Regardless, the emotions expressed by each character are the driving force behind all of the actions and consequences throughout the novel, and they felt real. Anything that might be lacking in imagination is absolutely made up for with heartfelt emotion and immersive writing. Highly recommended read. Rating: 4.5/5

Cheerios #LivingLikeAStudent

I got offered a temporary contract with my old job in UCC, from basically now until about September/October. Sounds like good news, but it's not very well paid and I'm going to be financially screwed over until July, so that will be fun. Gonna have to ask my housemate/landlord can I defer partial payment of my rent til July when I get my first full paycheck. I guess the worst that happens is she says no and kicks me out, but that's hardly gonna benefit her so hopefully it'll be okay. Other than that, I gave my anxiety a good aul boot up the backside by going to meet the friend I stood up last week, and it was lovely, had a really fun time with him. So in theory, things are good. In reality, they're a bit stressful. Is life ever not stressful?

I've read more of Burial Rites and I'm weirdly enjoying it, despite not thinking it's as astounding as some people seem to think it is. The writing seems a tad pretentious, and the characters rather flat, but I'm enjoying it all the same. Think I'm also gonna re-read the copy of Inkheart I bought, its been years.

I'm sorry you have such bad memories of Wuthering Heights - I love that book so so much! If you do decide to give it another go, I hope you enjoy it more than last time.

It's way, way, WAY too hot for April. If this is April, I'm migrating in June, to get AWAY from the heat. Ireland, you're doing it wrong. You're meant to have MILD weather.

I'd be surprised if anyone could not cry, reading that ending! Rankings, ratings, it's all the same - just a general idea of preferences is all I was going for And that sounds awesome! We could do a little group read, and maybe even try drag some other people into it!

I finished Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde, really loved it. Review to follow. I've a few choices now, might stick with the adult fiction for a bit, so I've started Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, will see how it goes. After that might go back to YA for a little bit. Also in a charity shop today, I found Inkheart by Cornelia Funke for 3 euro. I gave away my copy of it to someone a couple years back, and haven't had one since, so it's nice to have a copy of one of my favourite books back in my possession