Mac
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I am pleased to tell you that my train shall arrive at St Pancras on the aforementioned 25th June at approximately 6.30pm. Maybe we could meet for a brew near this wondrous architectural delight close to this time? Speak, and your wish shall be achieved. Or something.
I went round to my friend Katy's the following morning with her present and card - only to discover that an even bigger party was about to commence. I had an hour before hoards descended upon the family home - so I mowed their lawn, made Katy, her sisters and her mum a cup of tea, made them laugh, apologised for freaking out and bid them farewell before anyone arrived. Excellent work, no?
How is it that I can be so gregarious and yet such a pansy at the same time? What is that?
Anyway. Giu, my friend, I wish you a lovely Bank Holiday filled with friendship, love and the odd beer or so and I'll pop back soon.
Take good care. x
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What do you stubbornly refuse to read, and why?
Mac replied to Freewheeling Andy's topic in General Book Discussions
As usual, Giulia writes how I think, but with such articulation and eloquence that I feel a little intimidated! Suffice to say, I feel exactly the same way. I appreciate that I may well be vilified for saying this (it may have cropped up in this thread already, but life is short and I want to mow my lawns) but I simply will not be reading anything Twighlight (is that how one spells it?) related. I can't do it. My mouth goes dry at the very thought of it. I tremble at it's very mention. And what's all the hoo-hah about he whom they named R-Patz? Now, I can see that there's something about the sulky-yet-vacuous looking lass on the posters, but, well...honestly... And with that controversial post, Mac scoots off gibbering wildly in search of emancipation and beer. Perhaps he will find one within the other... -
Good evening. I'm listening to Peter Gabriel covering Elbow's Mirrorball and Elbow covering Peter Gabriel's Mercy Street. Great stuff.
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Thanks, guys. I'll stick these into my star-shaped thing at the top there...if I can just...reach it...from here under...the wardrobe...
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Morning Paula. I'm not too bad, really, apart from being almost impossibly busy with the stuff I fill my life (my own fault). My cat, Frank, has turned out to be a lot older than the RSPCA told me - 12, not 7 - and he keeps throwing up his dinner, which is quite frustrating.
How are things up North? x
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I've been wondering if there's a website or some such thing where one can be alerted to each weeks book releases. I'm terribly worried about missing out on new books through no fault of my own - say I'm ill, or away, or trapped beneath something heavy, like a futon or something. Any ideas, folks?
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Aaaaaand here we are. Faffing about on a Saturday evening at nine o'clock, spazzing out because I'm supposed to be at a birthday party, unable to go precisely because of my general spazziness. My friend Katy wants me to go (it's her birthday) and will be upset because I haven't trolled over there, but I can't manage it. Total doughnut, that's me.
What a to-do. Social anxiety, and I only get it with the people that I love when they're mixing with people I don't know that well. Never get it when I'm in a crowd of strangers. Odd and spazzy, that's my middle name. Or names, I guess.
How are you, Giu? I'm coming down your way on 25th June. Art around, my friend? Coffee? Cake? Conflab? xx
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Hiya Kate. Just popped by to say "Mmmmm...Belle..."
I appreciate that many of my friends prefer Ariel, The Little Mermaid, but it's Belle for me every time. I mean, come on, she's gorgeous, brunette, with big brown eyes, loves reading and, man, when she wears that yellow off-the-shoulder number....
*sounds of Mac howling as if to a full moon
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Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger I awaited this novel with something akin to trepidation, largely due to the fact that I had waited for Donna Tartt
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I haven't seen the TV series, but I love the books. I've reviewed a couple on my Mac Reads thread. I think Wallander's brill.
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I have just purchased The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova.
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Caught by Harlan Coben Seventeen-year-old Haley McWaid is a good girl, the pride of her suburban New Jersey family, captain of the lacrosse team, headed off to college next year with all the hopes and dreams her doting parents can pin on her. Which is why, when her mother wakes one morning to find that Haley never came home the night before, and three months quickly pass without a word from the girl, the community assumes the worst. Wendy Tynes is a reporter on a mission, to identify and bring down sexual predators via elaborate
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Gallows View by Peter Robinson Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks has recently moved to the Yorkshire Dales from London to escape the stress of the metropolis. But soon he finds that life in the country is not quite as idyllic as he had imagined. A peeping Tom is frightening the women of Eastvale. Two glue-sniffing thugs are breaking into homes. An old woman may or may not have been murdered. In addition, Banks has to deal with his attraction to young psychologist Jenny Fuller. As the tension mounts, both Jenny and Banks
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A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami His life was like his recurring nightmare: a train to nowhere. But an ordinary life has a way of taking an extraordinary turn. Add a girl whose ears are so exquisite that, when uncovered, they improve sex a thousand-fold, a runaway friend, a right-wing politico, an ovine obsessed professor and a manic-depressive in a sheep outfit, implicate them in a hunt for a sheep, that may or may not be running the world, and the upshot is another singular masterpiece from Japan’s finest novelist. Once again, Murakami reels one in to his somewhat surreal world of magical realism with a story that’s part mystery, part love story and part comedy. There is true beauty in his writing. I must sound so predictable when putting my thoughts down about his books, but this chap is one of (if not the) my favourite authors ever. The closest any of the characters comes to having a proper name in this novel is a fellow referred to simply as ‘J’ – and what’s interesting is that this lack of names adds to the detached quality of the story, it’s all somewhat unreal and dream-like. As usual, the pace is perfect, the structure spot on and the language exquisite. Another wonderful novel. I’ll have all on not jumping straight into another of his. 9.5/10
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Sigh.
I have had a busy week, my friend. I'm tired, a bit fed up and hungry. And a bit fed up, to boot! My life seems to be most chaotic. I wonder how people would feel if I sold up and cleared off to the Orkney's or the Shetlands or somewhere like that...you know, started a walking holiday business in Scotland, only taking my books and my instruments and my CD's with me.
Did I mention I feel a bit fed up? Big hugs, Giulia, dear lady. Big hugs.
How's you?
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I am quite fine, thank you. My hike across the country proved to be quite a challenge - the weather, in the words of he-whom-has-the-acting-skills-of-a-chair Keanu Reeves, was heinous, dude. My mountain skills were put to the test in the extreme. I'm putting together some sort of journal type thing and will bang it on here so that anyone who may wish to bore themselves senseless are free to do so.
I'm still in the process of organising a weekend down London, but as soon as I know when I'm coming down, I'll let you know so we can meet for coffee and maybe EVEN CAKE!
Oxfambooks, eh? What's that all about? xxx
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I actually love cooking. It helps me relax, along with Radio 4 and a glass of wine. I like experimenting with recipes, altering them a little once I've tried them. And I wash up!
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Gah. It took me ages to carve that burial mound, dammit! You youngsters have no respect for us seniors...
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The James Herbert book Haunted is excellent as is the Dean Koontz novel False Memory. I'm sure you'll like these. The only vamp book I've ever read is Dracula - oh, no, wait - and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova which is a superb novel. One of my all time favourites!
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Hi Brian. I'm nobody's mum. I don't have the tubes, dude.
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Oooh! Hark at her! Saucer of milk over here, please, Gar