Lucybird

January 22, 2013

Finished Against My Will which was so-so, lots going on but too fast.

And in the ongoing kindle saga I have written a post on kindle UK's facebook page, maybe if other people can see it they will take notice? Worth a try, right?

Lucy, do read through this thread (3 pages)-

http://www.mobilerea...ead.php?t=91392

And this seems like something that would work too-

http://www.epubor.com/

*I haven't tried any of these - I don't have an e-reader - so please read carefully and try it out only if you're convinced*

Thanks, will have a look.

January 21, 2013

Good luck with that, I've heard great stories regarding their replacing kindles.

Apparently not. E-mail response was identical to the phone response.

Does anyone know if I can put kindle files on another e-reader e.g. a Kobo? I don't think I want to get another kindle if I'm just going to have the same problems in another 13 months

January 21, 2013

Yeah I have times when I'm reading less. Sometimes I just don't have the concentration for a book, or nothing is really appealing to me. I can't remember the last time I didn't have something on the go but sometimes it will take me days to read a few pages.

January 21, 2013

When I saw Jasper Fforde in 2011 he said there was going to be a new Shades of Grey book out this year, which at the time seemed a long time away, but now it seems to have been pushed back to 2015

I may give the new Bridget Jones a look at well, though I wouldn't expect a lot.

Oh I'd forgotten about that one, I may also give it a go. Apparently there's lots of social networking in it.

January 21, 2013

Work is closed today, but my manager didn't text until I was on the bus so I had to get off the bus then come back, and I just couldn't resist going back to bed!

Spent the day reading, watching The Gilmore Girls, and writing a polite but not very happy e-mail to amazon- who by the way can only it semed be contacted through their help centre, so who know where that e-mail will go.

You know that song from Oklahoma, 'I'm Just A Girl Who Caint Say No'?? Well, just change that to boy!!

That always makes me think of Faulty Towers, when Polly things it to entertain/distract the guests when all the usual crazy stuff is going on.

January 21, 2013

I'm so sorry to hear you're having such a hard time with it But don't give up, maybe something comes up!

Thanks. I've e-mailed amazon today so hopefully something will come of that

January 20, 2013

You might find this article useful, Lucy http://www.guardian....s.howtocomplain

Thanks. I read it, I'm sure amazon would saya kindle should last more than 13 months so this may be worth persuing.

January 20, 2013

Back to back Gilmore Girls. I finished series 1 today and am on the second episode of series 2

January 20, 2013

Deep Powder is still awful, and now has also included a lovely sex scene which seemed completely pointless to the plot. However it does seem to be getting a plot now, which is a slight improvement.

Yesterday I went to The Works and came out with Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and (thanks to everyone seeming to love it on here) 3 Men and a Boat.

Spoke to amazon on the phone. They won't replace my kindle but say they can offer me an 'upgrade' to a kindle touch for £67.99 (which is £2 less than the standard kindle). However I really don't see any advantage to the touch and they don't seem to sell them on amazon anymore which suggests they may not be the best kindle anyway. I told the woman on the phone I didn't want a kindle touch, I wanted what I already have but she couldn't offer me anything else. For now the boyfriend has lent me his kindle (cause he's awesome like that) so I can finish the book I was reading on it which was for a blog tour. My sister thinks that all electrical goods are meant to come with a 6 year warrenty so am going to have to look into that.

January 20, 2013

I was going to say the Yorkshire Moors, if you're after natural beauty.

For more city-ish things, The Jewish Memorial in Berlin, there's also a strip of the Berlin wall which has art painted on it which is worth seeing, and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is beautiful inside.

If you visit Malta the public gardens in Valetta are beautiful, we went in Winter which isn't when they are at their best but still lovely views of the ocean.

Venice is good for just walking around. Look at the canals, there are some lovely shops too, but they can be expensive in the most touristy areas, you're better to walk a bit more out from St Martin's Plaza ect. If you have a chance visit Murano as well for the glass shops, the glass museum is nice but if you're short on time you can miss it out.

January 18, 2013

A Possible Life- Sebastian Faulks

Synopsis (from amazon)

Terrified, a young prisoner in the Second World War closes his eyes and pictures himself going out to bat on a sunlit cricket ground in Hampshire.

Across the courtyard in a Victorian workhouse, a father too ashamed to acknowledge his son.

A skinny girl steps out of a Chevy with a guitar; her voice sends shivers through the skull.

Soldiers and lovers, parents and children, scientists and musicians risk their bodies and hearts in search of connection – some key to understanding what makes us the people we become.

Provocative and profound, Sebastian Faulks’s dazzling novel journeys across continents and time to explore the chaos created by love, separation and missed opportunities. From the pain and drama of these highly particular lives emerges a mysterious consolation: the chance to feel your heart beat in someone else’s life.

Review

Despite being rather disappointed with the last book I read from Sebastian Faulks I would still happily describe myself as a fan. Birdsong is one of my favourite books, although Engleby shows a greater writing skill. So when I was contacted about reviewing A Possible Life I was very eager. A small part of me worried that it would be in a similar vein to A Week in December, but you can’t expect to love every book by an author so I tried to approach A Possible Life without any reference to Faulks’ back-catalogue.

There was something strange about this novel in that it wasn’t really one. It was actually a collection of short stories. It was advertised as being a novel made up of stories with a link. Well there maybe was a link, if you insisted on finding it, but only because of something which featured in the last story, it wasn’t a link you would see if you weren’t looking for it, and I’m not really happy with calling it a list.

In some ways I think A Possible Life might be a good place to start with Faulks. It’s almost like a showcase. Different styles of writing, different themes. I think everyone is bound to enjoy one of the stories, however it might be a fight to get to the story you like.

For me the best stories were the first and the last.

The first had certain echoes of Birdsong, not just because it was a story of war but also because it had a certain level of insight to that experience. My problem with this story however was that it felt like it was stripped down. All the stories ran over a period of decades, which was good in a way because it showed the progress of a character, but also meant you didn’t feel you were getting enough detail.

The last story was the story of a gifted music artist. It’s the story which has stuck with me the most. Faulks’ descriptions of Anya’s music make me want to hear her sing- but seeing as she isn’t real I can’t do that! There was also an almost beautiful fragility to Anya which made me really care about her- or maybe that’s just what the narrator felt for her. Even if it is the second then it shows that Faulks’ first person narrative is realistic and evocative. I could have read a whole book about Anya, and it may have been able to make into a whole book, but only if it was either told by Anya herself, or without using the first person narrative, either of which I feel would have taken something away from the story.

Thinking about it all of the stories did have an element I liked, but (except for the possible exception of the last story) those moments seemed to be over all too quickly and were surrounded by moments which I didn’t care so much about.

I’m not really sure how I want to rate this book. The stand out parts are close to 5 stars, but other bits only really deserve 3. So (for now at least) I’m going to skip the rating on this one.

January 18, 2013

What happened to it?

This

It's worth contacting Amazon about it - I've heard instances of them replacing Kindles when they're only just out of guarantee as a gesture of goodwill. It's worth asking.

I will. Thanks Janet.

January 18, 2013

This is what I did today at lunch time, my friend Sarah decided to film it. This is an accurate representation of my maturity level.

Lol I am actually quite impressed with that

January 18, 2013

Did you try resetting it?

Yup, still the same

I've had it just over a year to so my warrenty only just ran out, although apparently amazon may replace it anyway.

January 18, 2013

Ignorance- Michèle Roberts

Synopsis (from Amazon)

Jeanne and Marie-Angèle grow up, side by side yet apart, in the Catholic village of Ste Madeleine. Marie-Angèle is the daughter of the grocer, inflated with ideas of her rightful place in society; Jeanne’s mother washes clothes for a living and used to be a Jew. When war arrives, the village must play its part in a game for which no one knows the rules – not the dubious hero who embroils Marie-Angele in the black market, nor the artist living alone with his red canvases. In these uncertain times, the enemy may be hiding in your garden shed and the truth can be buried under a pyramid of recriminations. A mesmerising exploration of guilt, faith, desire and judgement, Ignorance brings to life a people at war.

Review.

The synopsis above is rather different to the one which I read on netgalley, and I feel it represents the book much better. I went into the story expecting a story which looked back on war times, and something which had been hidden within that time, some great secret. What I got was the story of two women, childhood friends who had started on a similar path but ended up going in completely different directions.

The war was somewhat of an important factor in the story, however it was only significant in that a major storyline would not have happened outside of the war- there was never any real sense that it was war-time.

Marie-Angèle ended up going to an (arguably) better place, she still seemed to have some care for her old friend, however it came across as charity, or a duty. Marie-Angèle didn’t seem to actually care for Jeanne so much as to want to be seen to be caring for her. Jeanne in her turn actually seemed to dislike Marie-Angèle, and I didn’t blame her.

You see I didn’t like Marie-Angèle the whole way through this book, and that made her chapters a little difficult to read. I found her snobby, fake, and rather conniving. The nearest I can say I came to liking her was that I understood sometimes why she might think what she was doing was right, although she seemed to value her own opinion as being much above others.

Jeanne I ended up liking. We never really know what became of Jeanne, but I hope her life got better.

There were some elements to the story which I didn’t really understand the inclusion of. They added little to the plot, apart from fulfilling the promised secret which was not significant to the rest of the story.

3.5/5

January 18, 2013

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet- Jamie Ford

Synopsis (from amazon)

1986, The Panama Hotel The old Seattle landmark has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made a startling discovery in the basement: personal belongings stored away by Japanese families sent to interment camps during the Second World War. Among the fascinated crowd gathering outside the hotel, stands Henry Lee, and, as the owner unfurls a distinctive parasol, he is flooded by memories of his childhood. He wonders if by some miracle, in amongst the boxes of dusty treasures, lies a link to the Okabe family, and the girl he lost his young heart to, so many years ago.

Review

When Judith @ Leeswammes Blog saw that I was reading Garden of Stones (the review of which is scheduled for February) she suggested that if I was interested in the topic I should read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

Unfortunately for Garden of Stones I was reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet when I got around to writing a review. At the time of reading Garden of Stones I had really enjoyed it, but it pales in comparison to Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

I found Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet felt rather authentic, especially during the war years. In some sense the story seemed not so much a war novel as a romance.

A beautiful romance novel too. There was the level of uncertainty of first love, a sort of is this love feeling. At the same time Henry really had great conviction, even when everything was against his love he still held on, he never really let Keiko go. In a way this makes the end of the war a bit of an anti-climax. (highlight for spoiler)

It seemed at odds that Henry wouldn’t wait longer for Keiko. If his letter was returned especially she still might come to find him, but instead he gives up on her

Henry was the perfect character to explore the war element from because he could see lots of different sides as a Chinese-American in love with a Japanese-American. He wasn’t completely embedded in any of these perspectives but you could gain a sort of empathy for conflicting views which you wouldn’t have gained from seeing one perspective in detail. I would have liked to see the interment camps in a little more detail but from seeing the changes the Japanese citizens would return to meant that as a reader you can imagine longer-term effects.

In shot I’m glad I started my year on this book. Here’s to hoping 2013 brings lots more great reads.

4.5/5

January 18, 2013

Yes, luckily none of my paper books were in the bookcase my cat weed on this evening! Not a good day for books in this house

January 18, 2013

My kindle broke going to watch The Gilmore Girls to take my mind off it

January 18, 2013

My kindle just broke...I think I might cry

January 18, 2013

Blank post

January 18, 2013

The Out of Your Comfort Zone Challenge

This is a challenge I have created. The idea is to read up to 12 books which you wouldn't normally read. I'm crazy excited about this one.

Books read:

Deep Powder- Dirk Robertson

The Woodcutter- Kate Danley

The Pearl Savage- Tamara Rose Blodgett

January 18, 2013

The Wishlist Challenge.

This is one hosted by another blog. The aim is to read 12 books which were on your wishlist prior to 2013. My wishlist (on goodreads) holds 111 books so I should find it easy to pick a few!

Books read:

Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl- Tracy Quan

The Woman Who Died A Lot- Jasper Fforde

Still Alice- Lisa Genova

The Lifeboat- Charlotte Rogan

January 18, 2013

The Rory Challenge

This is a challenge I'm doing on here (see the thread). The aim is to read as many books mentioned in The Gilmore Girls as possible

Books read 2013:

January 18, 2013

The TBR Pile (38)

Emma- Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen
Persuasion- Jane Austen
Her Fearful Symettry- Audrey Niffeneger
Rebecca- Daphne Du Maurier
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell- Susanna Clarke
Jamrach's Menagerie- Carol Birch
Almost Home- Pam Jenoff
Pride, Prejudice and Zombies- Seth Grahame-Smith
House of Sand and Fog- Andre Dubus III
Eats, shoots and leaves- Lynne Truss
The Brothers Karamazov- Fyodor Dostoevsky
It- Stephen King
The Philosophical Baby- Alison Gopnik
Supersense- Bruce M. Hood
Monsieur- Emma Becker
Thieves- Hannah Dennison
Expose- Hanna Dennison
Northwest Corner- John Burnham Schwartz
The Good Angel of Death- Andrey Kurkov
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay- Michael Chabon
1Q84 (book 2)- Haruki Murakami
The Double- José Saramago
Break the Skin- Lee Martin
The Sins of the Father- Allan Massie
A Cupboard Full of Coats- Yvvette Edwards
All About Love- Lisa Appignanesi
A Game of Thrones- George R.R. Martin
Galapagos- Kurt Vonnegut
The Bloodletter's Daughter- Linda Lafferty
Three Men and A Boat- Jerome K. Jerome
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest- Steig Larsson