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BookJumper

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  1. What it says on the tin, really. As a student of literature, writer and bibliophile I am fascinated by words as well as the physical medium they are inscribed upon, the locations dedicated to safeguarding them, the people who work/gravitate around those places, etc. I am looking to dedicate a shelf of my OCD bookcase to the theme but, after a few days of Amazon cross-referencing, I am a bit stuck. I'll post my list so far; if you can think of anything I might have missed (either fiction, memoir or interesting-looking non-fiction) please do post here. Books I already have: Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers Bartleby & Co. by Enrique Vila-Matas Books, Baguettes and Bedbugs The Ingenious Edgar Jones by Elizabeth Garner Salamander by Thomas Wharton Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott The Tempestuous Voyage of Hopewell Shakespeare by Sophie Masson Books on my wishlist: Fiction The Last Resort Library by Irving Finkel Thomas the Rhymer: A Romance by Ellen Kushner Inkheart by Cornelia Funke Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton The Philosopher's Apprentice by James Morrow When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel of Obsession by Irvin D. Yalom The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett A mystery of Errors by Simon Hawke The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare by Lilian Jackson Brown Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders by Gyles Brandreth Memoirs of a Master Forger by William Heaney Bambert's Book of Missing Stories by Reinhardt Jung Dictionary of the Khazars by Pavic The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt The Logogryph: A Bibliography of Imaginary Books by Thomas Wharton The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay Non-Fiction The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel The Dictionary of Imaginary Places by Alberto Manguel Library: an Unquiet History by Matthew Battles At Large and Small: Confessions of a Literary Hedonist by Anne Fadiman Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski A Passion for Books by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan Will by Cristopher Rush Troublesome Words by Bill Bryson Oscar's Books: a Journey Through the Library of Oscar Wilde by Thomas Wright Dr. Johnson's Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story of the Book that Defined the World by Henry Hitchings Shakespeare and Company by Silvia Beach ... anything I might have missed?
  2. ... am I then the only one for whom the bringing to life of literary characters is the best part of Jasper's series, not something to be forgiven?
  3. Detract 5 years and you have just described me pleased to make your acquaintance, my fellow London-based travelling bibliophile!
  4. I beg to differ. As far as I was concerned the only good thing about that movie were the opening credits, featuring lovely dolphins and the quirkily adorable "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" song especially composed by quirky Neil Hannon (aka The Divine Comedy frontman). Sadly it went all downhill from there; I was asleep 20mins in. The comparison with the excellent TV series didn't help. I liked the first two HP films (admittedly, there wasn't much to cut, the books being so short!); three was appalling (vital plot elements were left out better to indulge on dramatic scenery, the result being a visually stunning mess); four was equally appalling (they pretty much deleted the entire beginning, which was the best part of the book IMHO); five was hysterically bad. I'll make myself watch six and seven just to understand how it all ends - given that I couldn't even bring myself to finish book seven. Like Twilight, which I watched as a book substitute when I gave up on the book.
  5. Go on, you know you want to... *flaming demonic chains, anyone*? Or, how not to adapt Homer. Unwatchable.
  6. Hello,

     

    I'm feeling a bit bleh to be quite honest (mainly due to uni worries) but I still realise the myriad ways in which I am lucky to have the life I have so I should not mope; however I take the liberty to as I know people here are (like you) lovely and will listen - that's all I need really.

     

    That and hugs, which is why it's good I'm going home next week - I'll be studying/melting/receiving jaw treatment while there but I'll also be receiving mummy hugs/cooking/belated strawberry & cream birthday cake, so all shall be well :D I am fairly easy to cheer up.

     

    Hope you're having a lovely day and that your cheque-bringing inspiration has returned home :friends0:

  7. I hope your cold is getting better and you can get back on track soon. It's nice you like your job so much btw, it's all about enjoyin what you do and making the tiredness worthwhile :) x

  8. My own appreciation of all things pink, quite coincidentally, is fairly recent - I blame the UK and university life. Before I hit my 20s I would not be seen dead in a skirt, never mind a pink one; now I seem to own little else...

  9. No previous ST experience?! My oh my, you are right - we do need to change that!

     

    As a plain clothes trekkie I'd particularly recommend The Next Generation (Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard is the "oh captain, my captain..."), and Enterprise (Scott "hasn't changed a jot since Quantum Leap" Bakula rocks my socks, as does the truly inspiring theme tune: *hand on heart*... I can reach any star, I've got faith, faith of the heart...).

     

    The very first series (which follows the adventures of Kirk, Spock & Co.) is brilliant if you don't mind model ships held up with string and fairly silly alien monsters - the budget was what it was, bless them. Voyager is more of an acquired taste so I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner, while Deep Space Nine I could never get the hang of. The films are very hit and miss, and as such probably only of interest to the seasoned trekkie - let us say that what you just saw at the cinema was the exception.

  10. Oh good :) I hope "Hercules" has the same mind-blowing, heart-rending, life-chancing effect on you as it had on me, or at least that you enjoy it very very much. If you do I might start a thread listing literary oddities by me recommended; they seem to be in demand...

  11. "Generation Dead" by Daniel Waters. I'm only 42 pages in myself but I've loved every single one so far, do recommend!
  12. I've been bad: I got two books from my reading list for my birthday, courtesy of the OH, and - despite not having quite finished "The Truth" - I have already made a dent in Daniel Waters's "Generation Dead". Good news is, a 42-page dent in a single day is the most sizeable in recent memory, and bodes well for the return of my mojo. I must say that so far I'm enjoying GD immensely... I think I've found my "Twilight".
  13. Phoebe and her friends held their breath as the dead girl in the plaid skirt walked past their table in the lunchroom. - Daniel Waters, "Generation Dead".
  14. I am a cheerful American goth girl intrigued by a zomb- living impaired boy in her school.
  15. Thank you :) it worked, a great time was had actually - Star Trek was everything I hoped it would be and then some!

  16. Hello

     

    My jaw's much better thank you, although when I go home next week I'll be upgrading my brace to a more intense which (I'm guessing) will be just as agonising as the current one was before I got used to it. It no longer feels like it's going to fall off though, which is a definite improvement!

     

    How is your self? x

  17. Thank you :) I did actually. Must say, I am approving the pinkness...!

  18. Thank you :) I did - it was AWESOME! Ta-tatata-tata-tatatata-tatatata-tata!

  19. Me neither - that film's got the bestest cast, hasn't it just? Apart from the Burton staples Johnny and Helena we have Cristopher himself, Alan Rickman, even Stephen Fry...!!
  20. Highly recommended. I picked it up second hand before starting my MA in Shakespeare last September, and I must say that the extra angle on Hamlet proved its worth. Admittedly I'm more of a Hamlet Prince of Denmark himself person; I went to see the RSC Hamlet with Tennant twice but that was research (second time round I had my nose buried in the text to check for cuts...); I would have liked to see the other one but only before Kenneth Branagh quit as a director to go back to Hollywood and film, of all things, Thor (*cough* sellout *cough*). Gregory Maguire twists the original in a way that Stoppard doesn't (i.e. he turns our notions of right and wrong in Oz completely on their heads); Stoppard rather takes themes and ideas (identity, purpose, decisiveness or lack thereof, the nature of theatre, predestination) that are crucial to Shakespeare's text and plays around with them in a funny and intelligent manner.
  21. Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead is part filling in the blanks of Hamlet (in that it takes place in the wings of Shakspeare's plays, before the beginning and in between scenes), part exploration of the nature of drama, and part philosophical reflection. Shakespeare's R and G have no real character or purpose, they are just vehicles for Hamlet's wit first and catalysts for the reappearance of his long lost ability to act later; Stoppard plays with this notion and shows us two characters who are unsure of why they are here, what they are meant to do now they're here, and who they really are anyway. This leads us to interesting ideas regarding the notion of the playwright as an all-powerful puppetmaster, as well as being a rehearsal of the most fundamental questions of philosophy. If you've enjoyed Hamlet's existential ennui, you should enjoy R and G's.
  22. *YAY*! I grew up watching this man, I used to tape his Dracula movies off the telly religiously... he's intitutional! On a sadder note, apparently he could not be starring in The Hobbit films - I read somewhere that because of his age his doctor might not allow him to fly over to the set! I do hope it's not true... he is after all a very sprightly old man, I remember reading an interview with Pippin a few years ago stating that, when they all went to the theme park as a cast outing, good old Saruman was having the time of his life on the rollercoasters!
  23. How could I foget? Our best quality that! In all seriousness though: admittedly, I'm not very good at false modesty, just because I don't see the point in pretending you think you're no good if you don't actually believe you're no good - but in the specific instance I was talking shared sense of humour, not necessarily talent. Much as I'd love to have the conviction that my writing is every bit as witty as Tommy's, even my lack of false modesty doesn't go that far. I only just discovered the existence of the film version thanks to Amazon and want it oh so bad; it seems however like my only options are Dutch or Korean imports as the non-marketplace version is just Region 1 *sniffle*! And indeed it is a very good play, reading it had me nodding sagely/scrunching my forehead in confusion by turns, which I believe was more or less the desired effect. Not a big fan of Robert Harris's plots, yet... is Enigma witty?
  24. 1. Amazon UK is my first port of call because of relative cheapness, free delivery, useful book-finding tools such as Listmania! and Users Who Bought This Books Also Bought; not to mention the fact that when weak, permanently injured ankles don't allow you to stand up for too long it is oh so convenient to be able to bookshop lying down. 2. Waterstone's. Their perennial 3 for 2 offer makes them the cheapest high street chain; also the friendliness and expertise of their sellers never fails to make me feel at home. I'd love them even more if they found a way of squeezing a chair or two into their smaller stores. 3. Charity & other second hand shops, if you're willing to take your time and hunt properly, often yield absolute bargains on books you never knew you wanted; however most write the price on the inside of their books, which I find a beastly practice as it never really rubs off completely.
  25. I'm like that, although for me it's not a matter of choice - a degree and a half in literature and the far too many close reading exercises therein contained have made me unable to ignore words I don't know/words or sentences which mean two things if I can't decide upon which one applies/continuity errors. All books contain at least one instance of at least one of the above, which means that in all books I will reach an impasse that it will take me a ludicrous amount of time and willpower to overcome. This annoys me for (as a child) I used to read, if not a book a day, at the very least three or four a week; there was this one famous time when during an oral test session in primary school I borrowed a book from my desk-mate (Emilio Salgari's "The Black Corsair", at least two/three hundred pages of mass market paperback) and returned it at the end of the lesson. He wouldn't trust that I had read it all so he actually quizzed me; obviously I passed. Why can't I revert to that stage?!
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