chesilbeach
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Posts posted by chesilbeach
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Thanks Noll.
Continuing on my Anita Brookner reading, I've just finished Hotel du Lac. I think you have to *get* Brookner in order to appreciate her books. I can imagine that plenty of people finding them boring with nothing much happening, and not see the humour in them, but I think if you can see beneath the words on the page, there's lots to admire and enjoy. It's witty and funny at times, and a fantastically observed piece about an author who has been sent away by her outraged friends after an indiscretion, that at the beginning of the novel, we're not quite sure what it was. It's a quiet sort of book, and was made more famous not only by winning the Booker Prize in 1984, but causing widespread criticism because it beat J. G. Ballard's Empire of the Sun that year. I have to admit, it's not the sort of book I'd expect to win a major literary prize, but I'm always delighted when something I enjoy does just that. A very enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to continuing my journey through Brookner's books.
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Before I forget ... I finished Sky Song by Abi Elphinstone last week. It's a fairytale quest style of story, set in the snowbound island of Erkenwald, where a young boy and girl have to bring save the tribes from the magic of the god who has staked her claim on the land. It's a middle grade fantasy, and a wonderful story full of magic and nature, and a perfect read for the winter months.
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Happy new reading year, Kylie
2 hours ago, Kylie said:My Library
Most of my library has been dismantled and packed into boxes. Soon all of my books and bookcases will be put into storage while I sell my house and find another place to live. Hopefully by the end of 2018 I'll have a new house and my library set up again, in which case I'll post pics here.
Check out what my library looked like in 2011!We've just come out of the other side of having all our books in storage while we were renovating our living room. Just before Christmas we starting bringing the books back and putting them out of the new shelves my partner has built. They'll have to come down again when the work starts again now that Christmas is out of the way, so they're not organised as the moment and it's driving me mad!
When we do organise them properly, we're going to get an app and software to scan them all so we can catalogue them properly.
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Cold and foggy
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@Ben My challenge to you is Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys
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Hope you have a lovely year of reading and Waterstones-ing, Janet!
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I didn't get much reading done at the weekend, but I did start my first Round Robin challenge book, Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart, and I'm still reading Hotel du Lac and Ma'am Darling. They're all really good!
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I watched the whole series of The Marvellous Mrs Maisel yesterday, it was so good!
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From the window all that could be seen was a receding area of grey.
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
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Quite windy today, and quite cold too.
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Finished Sky Song last night, and have started Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner today (and it’s really good!)
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19 hours ago, frankie said:
chesilbeach: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides - This is one of my all time favorites. An interesting topic and such a great story. Meaty book!
Thanks @frankie. I’ve been putting this one off a lot (I never should have read The Virgin Suicides first), so this will make me read it.
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13 minutes ago, Alexi said:
and the other is that I cannot be blamed for any horror reads
I'd never thought of it that way! Good plan
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5 hours ago, willoyd said:
What a great post; I loved the extra background to your accolades. It helps that where we've got common reading, I largely agree (we'll have to agree to disagree on MC Beaton!
) - which his really useful when finding other books to read!
Thank you!
I both read and listened to The Good Immigrant and I have to say, the audio experience was probably better than the reading experience, as each of the contributors narrates their own essay, and it just gives each one more resonance. I'm actually going to listen to it again, as it was just so interesting and thought provoking.
I'm glad I'm not alone on Lincoln in the Bardo!
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Almost two thirds of the way through Sky Song and might finish it this evening, and 100 pages into Ma'am Darling which I'm thoroughly enjoying (a surprise for me as I don't enjoy most biographies). Also collected an order from the local bookshop, so I now have a copy of Poppy Pym and the Beastly Blizzard by Laura Wood.
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Storm force winds and heavy rain overnight and this morning, but all calming down now.
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Oh I'm so sorry to hear this. At least you know he had a good, long life with you as his loyalty to you will have demonstrated.
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You’re right Virginia, plus the day after Christmas Day is Boxing Day/St. Stephen’s Day, which is another public holiday in the UK so there are only three working days between Christmas Eve and New Year, and because there are two weeks of school holiday around the Christmas period, lots of people want/need time off, so offices plan for it being a quiet period and some places close between the two holidays to save money on heating and support staff. Some manufacturers also close down as for the period too, as it doesn’t suit some manufacturing processes to stop machinery for a two days in the middle of the week and restart the machinery again for only one or two days before the next weekend, and then the same again the next week when New Year comes around. Most places will require you to use some of your holiday allowances if they do this though, and for those that don’t enjoy or celebrate Christmas, they find it hard because they have to take holiday at a time of year that’s not convenient, and would prefer the holiday in the summer during the better weather.
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Back to normal routine today. Can’t say I was happy when the alarm went off early this morning, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it might be. So, today was work during the day, then a bit of food shopping on the way home, and now time for a little bit of reading before tea. Looking forward to the weekend already!
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Hope you have a happy new year, and it’s an excellent reading one for you!
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@More reading time required, I’d like to challenge you to Wives & Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell, as I loved North & South and W&D has been on my radar for a while.
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Looks like the rain is just starting to settle in for the evening. I think the forecast is for it to last all evening and part way through the night, but it should be brighter tomorrow.
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Finished Sky Chasers by Emma Carroll and read about 60 pages of Ma'am Darling by Craig Brown last night, and today I was back to work, so started Sky Song by Abi Elphinstone during my lunch break, which is a middle grade fairy tale style of story.
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3 minutes ago, willoyd said:
Good luck Alexi - it'll be good having somebody else going for the double list!
I’m planning to do the double list too and I’ve specifically chosen books for others that I want to read myself.
Your Book Activity - January 2018
in Past Book Logs
Posted
Finished Hotel du Lac today, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Read some more of Wildfire at Midnight, which is shaping up nicely, and going to try and read some more Ma'am Darling this evening.